Finally, it’s fall time! Apples abound and my boyfriend and I can’t always eat them quite fast enough before they start to go soft. When your apples tend to look a little worse for wear don’t throw them away. Those bruised apples will be perfect for baking into my gluten free apple crisp recipe! When you’re peeling your apples simply run the peeler over the mealy spots until they magically disappear. Perfect apple once more. For those who are better prepared than I am don’t worry you can use un-bruised apples too.
You may remember my recipe for stuffed baked apples where I remarked about struggling to recreate that crispy crumbly topping without oats (I think I did a pretty good job with it but you can be the judge. Also if you can’t tolerate oats the filling used in that recipe would still make a great topping for this crisp!). Good news! Oats have made a comeback in the OCD Kitchen. Be sure if you are gluten free that you buy certified gluten free oats, I use Bob’s Red Mill quick cooking oats for this recipe.Now that I have successfully reintroduced oats back into my diet I’m finally able to make that nice crumbly apple topping which if you ask me really is the best part. Just take a look at that sexy up close and personal shot of it below.
Oooo, ahhhh, right? I decided not to add any type of thickener to this recipe. If you can tolerate it you could add a little corn starch, flour, or arrowroot powder when cooking down the apples to help thicken the resulting liquid. Otherwise simply don’t transfer all the liquid into the baking dishes (or do, I like that sugary liquid) it will continue to thicken slightly especially as it cools.
I precooked my apples before baking them in this recipe. The nice thing about this apple mixture is it could be used for any number of applications. Apple pie, fried apple fritters, a cold snack in a lunch, no topping required. It’s always nice when on elimination to have multiple uses for a product and I’m sure this apple mixture will be popping up again before the season is over! After all an apple a day right?
This would be great served with some coconut whipped cream, regular whipped cream, banana ice cream, ice cream, chocolate or caramel sauce. Can you tell I had some thoughts about what I wanted to do to this apple crisp? If you’re like me you just eat it right out of the pot and hope your boyfriend doesn’t catch you. He did.
What are you doing to celebrate fall? What’s your favorite apple recipe? I’d love to hear from you. Comment below or subscribe to never miss a yummy minute!


- 6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
- 1/4 cup ghee
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 3 tbsp cold ghee
- 1/2 cup quick cooking oats (if gluten free, used certified gluten free oats!)
- 1/4 cup cane sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp walnuts (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a medium sauce pot add all of the filling ingredients. Stir to combine. Start pot on Medium High heat.
- Stir occasionally until a liquid starts to form and sugar begins to melt.
- When mixture starts to bubble - cook, stirring frequently, until apples are just softened, about 8-10 minutes.
- While apples are cooking combine all topping ingredients into a small bowl. Use a pastry cutter or 2 forks (or your fingers) to mash cold ghee into the other ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Spoon cooked apples evenly into 2 ramekins and evenly spread oat mixture over the apples to the edges of the baking dish.*^
- Bake 10-15 minutes or until the top is golden and sides are bubbling.
- *I used two deep ramekins for this recipe but any oven safe dish with steep sides will do. You could even create one large dish instead.
- ^The apples themselves create a lot of liquid in this recipe which is usually thickened before baking. If you tolerate it could you thicken with some corn starch, flour, or arrowroot. The other options are to not take all the liquid to the baking dishes, or like me, eat that sugary goodness like it's no bodies business. If you decide not to thicken, the mixture will naturally thicken as it cools or gets refrigerated.
This apple crisp looks SO tasty! I am so excited that fall is here and therefore it’s apple season! Thanks for sharing… I can’t wait to make this soon!
Thanks Marcia!