This healthy twist on the classic Apple Crumble is one of our all-time favourite autumnal desserts. With a spiced apple filling and golden, nutty topping, it’s comfort food at its best!
Apple Crumble is a quintessential British dessert. However, in contrast to the traditional version, which is typically loaded with refined sugar and white flour, I’ve created a more nourishing take using nutrient-rich ingredients. The white flour is replaced with wholegrain flour, oats, and chopped nuts, adding delicious texture, flavour, and heart-healthy goodness. And by using naturally sweet apples instead of tart Bramleys, I’ve been able to significantly reduce the sugar without sacrificing any of the flavour.
This year, our apple tree blessed us with a bumper harvest — over a hundred apples and counting! With so much fresh fruit to use, we’ve been enjoying lots of seasonal treats, and this Crunchy Nut Apple Crumble has been the standout favourite. It’s easy to make, wonderfully comforting, and loved by the whole family. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Why You’ll Love This Crumble
- Made with simple, wholesome ingredients
- Naturally vegan and dairy-free
- Full of warming cinnamon spice
- Delicious hot or cold
- Freezer-friendly
Those lidded Pyrex glass dishes are brilliant for making and transporting crumbles. I recently packed up a couple to share with family in Essex. Tucked into a thermal bag, they stayed warm for over six hours!
Recipe Card
Crunchy Nut Apple Crumble
Ingredients
For the Apple Filling
- 1 kg / 7 medium sweet apples (e.g. Gala) peeled, cored and sliced into 0.6cm / ¼-inch thick pieces
- 60 ml / 4 tbsp water
- 35 g / 3 tbsp coconut sugar or golden caster (unrefined cane) sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 60 g / ⅓ cup sultanas
For the Crumble Topping
- 100 g / ¾ cup fine wholemeal (wholewheat pastry) flour or chapatti flour or gluten-free flour blend
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 75 g / ¾ cup rolled porridge oats (quick oats, not jumbo)
- 50 g / 4 tbsp coconut sugar or unrefined cane sugar
- 70 g / 4½ tbsp vegan butter or dairy-free spread
- 30 g / ¼ cup pecans chopped
- 40 g / ¼ cup almonds chopped
- ½-1 TBSP Demerara (or turbinado) sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190°C (170°C fan) / 375°F.
Cook the apples:
- Place the water, apples, sugar, cinnamon, and sultanas in a large saucepan. Stir, cover with a lid, and simmer over a low heat for around 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples are just tender but still hold their shape. Taste and add a little more sweetener, if needed.
Make the crumble topping:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, oats, and sugar. Add the vegan butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the chopped pecans and almonds.
Assemble the crumble:
- Spoon the cooked apples into a 1.5-litre / 1½-quart ovenproof dish (approx. 22cm x 17cm x 6cm / 9” x 7” x 2½”). Level the surface and gently press down. Spoon the crumble topping evenly over the apples and sprinkle with Demerara sugar.
Bake:
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 20–25 minutes, until the topping is crisp and golden. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Serving Suggestions:
- This crumble is delicious served with dairy-free custard, cream, or yogurt
- It can be served warm, or cold straight from the fridge (we actually love it this way as the topping becomes even crunchier!)!
Notes
Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. It is also freezable.
If you make this Crunchy Nut Apple Crumble, I’d love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for adaptations! Leave a comment below or tag your photos with #bitofthegoodstuff on social media – I always love to see your creations! You can also connect with me on my social media channels here:
Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest.
With love,
Apple crumble will always be one of my top desserts. I grew up with the traditional unhealthier version but love the healthier interpretations these days 🙂
Wow, so impressed with your apple crop? Did you have to climb the tree to pick them all or did you wait for them to fall? Really like the idea of using coconut butter instead of dairy. Will have to get the Suma canteen chefs to give it a try. Proper wholesome food, well done 🙂
It was a fantastic crop of apples this year! Here in the South West we seemed to have the perfect weather for fruit. The berries were amazing too! We had to use a ladder to get to the apples, then we dropped them down to Lil’ L. Luckily he’s good at catching 😉
Mmmm apple crumble!! A Fall must-have! And your recipe sounds delicious… Especially with that non dairy cream on top! I think apple crumble is my favourite. I’m missing out this year, though- we have an apple tree in our backyard that always produces enough for a few pies and tarts and crumbles!
Wow, Sharon, these apples are gorgeous – I remember picking apples when I was a kid and it was pretty fun, I would like to do some apple picking someday! You’ve created a yummy crumble and I’ve never made a crumble before, but I love apple crumbles – they look splendid and crunchy! I love apple and berries crumble, I’m not a huge fan of rhubarb crumble.
Wow that is quite an apple haul! I love coconut butter, it’s too good!
I’ve used coconut oil and creamed coconut for years, so I can’t believe it took me this long to discover coconut butter! I’m loving the aroma-free Tiana butter… it’s fantastic for savoury & sweet baking.
This is a perfect autumn dish 🙂 It reminds me of the sorts of crumbles my Mum made for us as children too – classic comfort food done well!
Thanks Kari ♥ Apple Crumble reminds me of my childhood too. The funny thing is, I used to love the stewed apples best, and my sister loved the topping most. Some things never change 😉
Delicious. Apple Crumble. I’m going back up the tree at the weekend to pick the last few. Remember to leave a small child under the tree who can catch any falling apples. T.x.
There’s still a few on the top most branches that I can’t reach… might have to send the small boy up the tree 😉
Delicious like all you cook !!
Thanks dear Sharon to share with us your great recipes !
It’s a pleasure Maria ♥ I’m so pleased you’re enjoying the recipes xx
I’ve never used coconut butter. Did your pasties taste of coconut? We didn’t do very well with our apple crop this year, usually we have loads of apples.
I love crumbles, this looks perfect, I could just eat a bowlful now!
Crumble is yummy isn’t it? I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it 😉
The Tiana Coconut Butter is aroma-free, so perfect for use in savoury dishes & pastries. It behaves similar to shortening, so needs a little extra water compared to vegetable spreads, but gives the pastry a lovely texture and crisp bite. I’ve made the mistake of using virgin coconut oil in pastry making before and I really don’t like the coconuty flavour, even in sweet pastries.