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Spiced Apple Crisp

dessert, parties, recipes, sweet treats / by

As the summer fades into fall I begin to crave warm, spiced foods and desserts. Apples are always the first thing I want in the fall.

A couple of weeks ago, we spent the morning picking apples in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. We ended up with 3 huge baskets of apples. I began dreaming of all the apple things I would make. I mean, how could we ever eat this many apples? 

Of course I underestimated the apple-eating power of my little apple monsters. They went through an entire bag of apples in a couple of days. 

I did manage to save enough apples to make this apple crisp before they finished off the rest of the apples. It is tart and just-the-right amount of sweet. Warmly spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla. And topped with a “buttery”, crunchy, almond streusel. It’s the perfect dessert to welcome fall.

Spiced Apple Crisp

Apple Filling

  • 8-10 apples (a mix of Granny Smith and another sweet-tart apple like HoneyCrisp, Fugi, or, Jonna Prince)
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp tapioca flour
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp ginger powder (depending on how gingery you like it)
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 3/4 tsp cinnamon 
  • seeds from 1 vanilla bean (optional, but so good)
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Directions for the apple filling:

  1. Peel and core the apples. (I like to use a serrated vegetable peeler to remove the apple peel. Trust me, it makes peeling things really easy.)
  2. Cut the apples into 1/2 slices, or, 1 inch chunks. (It’s totally up to your personal preference. Do you like to eat slices, or, chunks of apples?)
  3. Put the apple slices in a large bowl and add all the remaining ingredients. Toss to evenly coat the apples.
  4. Set aside and make the almond streusel.

Almond Streusel 

  • 1/4 cup coconut oil (room temp)
  • 1/4 cup coconut butter (sometime called coconut manna)
  • 3/4 cup blanched almond flour
  • 3/4 sliced almonds
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup 
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions for the almond streusel and apple crisp:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
  2. Roughly chop the sliced almonds, then add them to a medium sized mixing bowl. 
  3. Add the coconut oil, coconut butter, blanched almond flour, brown sugar, maple syrup, sea salt, and cinnamon to the sliced almonds. Combine with your fingers until the mixture makes big crumbles. 
  4. Pour the apple filling into a pie dish.
  5. Sprinkle 1/2 inch- 1 inch crumbles of streusel evenly over the top of the apple filling.
  6. Bake for 10 minutes.Then cover the apple crisp with aluminum foil to prevent it from burning.
  7. Bake for an additional 25-35 minutes. When the apples are tender, the crisp is ready. (You can tell when the apples are tender by piercing them with a fork. If the fork goes in easily and the apples seem tender, the apple crisp is ready.)
  8. Remove the apple crisp from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.
  9. Serve warm (with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of dairy-free salted-caramel sauce if you like).