Easy Healthy Apple Crisp Recipe – Gluten Free

Homemade healthy apple crisp recipe is a delicious and naturally-sweetened dessert. Tart apples get baked to perfection, creating a soft center with a crunchy, sweet-and-salty nut crust. Everyone will enjoy this gluten-free apple crisp; so much that you’ll forget it’s healthy. I won’t tell if you even eat it for breakfast!

This recipe is grain-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free. Even Whole30 creator Melissa Hartwig approves of this recipe for a special Whole30 occasion, like to bring to a holiday party.

I love to bake. It’s relaxing, it’s a creative outlet, and the best part is that when you’re done, you have something delicious to eat. Baking is a really great hobby… unless you’re on the Whole30. 

Starting Whole30 on May 1st began as a last-minute decision. There was no prep work involved, and so, in my mind, I would simply eat eggs for breakfast every day, meat and veggies for meals, and fruit in between. 

Forget dessert; I was going to break myself of dessert. I was prepared for 30 days of total misery. And besides, May doesn’t really have any major holidays (or so I thought), so this would be the right time to do it!

Whole30 Day 10: The Hardest Day

On day 10, appropriately dubbed one of “The Hardest Days” on the Whole30 timeline, I was faced with some amazing local pizza to celebrate my dad’s birthday. Okay, no biggie. I had a nice salad and practiced great self-control.  

Then, along came the second wave of “The Hardest Days” – day 11. During my Whole30, this day happened to fall on Mother’s Day.  My first Mother’s Day, to be clear.  To celebrate, my sister baked two lemon meringue pies to enjoy at my parent’s home. 

Suddenly, my mind could not comprehend why anyone would start a diet that would discriminate against lemon meringue pie.  

It’s a pie based on fruit and eggs.  It’s probably the healthiest pie of them all!  The most Whole30-loving pie there ever was. Right?? 

I watched those pies as my large family heartily dug in, while I pretended not to care one bit.  

Oh, I cared. But I also stayed true to Whole30, and it was totally worth it. I can say with confidence that I own and practice a monstrous amount of self-control, and I didn’t give in to the lemon meringue pie. However, I was itching to bake and I wanted to celebrate Mother’s Day. 

Whole30 Dessert: Paleo Apple Crisp

So, needless to say, I decided a Whole30 dessert was in order.  Although Whole30 might be disappointed in me for this homemade apple crisp, I’m quite at peace with that. 

Update: Funny story, Melissa Harwig actually linked to this recipe as a perfect Whole30 “dessert” to bring for the holidays… so there is that.  At some point the post was removed, so now I have no proof. But I promise I’m not lying ha.

The Whole30 queen herself even approves of this healthy dessert.  

I threw some ingredients together — whatever I had on hand and seemed right at the time — and the result was actually amazing.  

I didn’t know there was delicious, healthy dessert outside the realms of sticky sugar and flaky crust.

I’ve even served this dessert to non-Whole30 people. You know, regular folks. And they loved it!

Recipe Highlights:

Classic fall dessert: This is the perfect recipe for the holidays, but really any time of year. Tender apples topped with a crumble topping with warm spices. I love making this during apple season since we are apple picking constantly on our property.

Easy apple crisp: Only takes a few minutes to whip up. 

Healthy: Naturally sweetened with no added sugar. Great option for those wanting a healthy dessert.

The best baking apples for apple filling:

• Braeburn
• Pink lady
• Granny Smith
• Honeycrisp
• Golden Delicious
• Gala
• Jonathan
• Apple crisp

Just to name a few. If you don’t have these, any apple that bakes well will do just fine. And if you don’t, I still encourage you to make this with whatever apples you have on hand. 

Tips:

• Start with the best baking apples you can (see above). My favorite is granny smith apples or applecrisp apples.
• Add your favorite nut. In this recipe I used almonds, but I would definitely be up for trying a few different nuts, or a mixture of different kinds of nuts. If you try it, let me know. 
• To go totally off the rocker, you could absolutely make this into different fruit crisps like a berry apple crisp by substituting frozen mixed berries for the apples, or do half apples and half berries. The other day, I made it with pears and apples. Delish! It helps that crisps are one of my favorite desserts. 
• Top it with some coconut whipped cream to make it extra delicious. I like using the fat from the full-fat can. Just refrigerate the can of coconut milk, then skim off the fat off the top and whip it up with a stand mixer or hand mixer.
• If you don’t have raisins, you could swap them out for dates. 

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Ingredients:

Fresh apples

Dates or raisins: Either work, whatever you have on hand.

Almonds: Or any other type of nut.

Spices: Cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg add such a delicious flavor.

Salt

​Tools you may need:

8×8 baking dish or pie pan

Food processor

Knife

Cutting board

Measuring cups and spoons

How To Make Healthy Apple Crisp

Preheat your oven to 400.

Grease an 8×8 baking dish (or a 1.5 or 2 quart baking dish) with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.

Place the apple slices (or chopped apples) in the dish.

To a food processor, add the remaining topping ingredients. 

Process the mixture until it resembles the texture of coarse sand.

Evenly distribute the crisp topping over the fruit.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes, then bake uncovered for another 10 -15 minutes, or until fruit is bubbling and apples are soft. Your almond and raisin topping should be golden brown.

Enjoy!

If not doing whole30 or paleo, serve your warm apple crisp with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Storage: 

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat in the oven or toaster oven for best results.

This recipe is so easy and takes very simple ingredients. Because of its simplicity, it doesn’t have any grains or refined sugars, so if you bake for someone who is paleo or gluten-free, then this recipe is perfect for them.  

Find More Apple Dessert Recipes:

• Sourdough Apple Scones With Cinnamon Glaze
• Sourdough Apple Muffins With Cinnamon Streusel
• Healthy Gluten Free Apple Muffins
• Sourdough Cinnamon Apple Bread Recipe
• Crustless Apple Pie

If you try this recipe and love it, please come back and give it 5 stars! I will greatly appreciate you and give you a virtual hug.