Apple Crumble Pie (Gluten Free, Paleo + Vegan)
This Apple Crumble Pie is so delicious, it’s bound to be a holiday dessert staple! Filled with soft, caramelized apples and topped with a nutty, crunchy paleo crumble topping, you’ll love this gluten-free, paleo + vegan pie. Thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring this post.
As you may have guessed from the fact that I have a baking blog, I have a pretty big sweet tooth. But, over the years, I’ve managed to develop a pretty good sense of self-control. I always taste and try the treats I make, but I usually don’t eat too much of them…otherwise, I’d be 300 pounds.
Certain treats though? My self-control goes all out of the window. I need to either get the treat out of the house or double up on my workouts that week. This Apple Crumble Pie is totally one of those treats. I seriously can’t stop eating it.
Apple crisps and crumbles have always been my weak spot in the dessert world. I love chocolate and peanut butter so much, but there are always times where I can turn it down and am not “in the mood” for them. I’m always in the mood for soft, baked apples with piles of crumble topping.
This apple crumble pie delivers on all of the things I love about this kind of pie: flaky crust ✔, soft + spiced apples ✔, and big crunchy crumbles ✔. It manages to do it all while staying paleo and vegan, too!
Let’s make Vegan & Paleo Apple Crumble Pie!
To get that flaky crust and crumble topping, I use flours from one of my favorite brands, Bob’s Red Mill. For the crust, I use a combo of their blanched almond flour and tapioca flour. The crumble top uses the almond and coconut flours.
We thicken the apple filling with a little bit of tapioca flour. For the filling, you make a quick caramel-like sauce to coat the apples in. It bakes into the most luxuriously sweet and flavorful filling. The spices and vanilla permeate the pie so every bite is perfection!
The crumble topping skips the usual oats to stay paleo. Instead, it uses flaked coconut and pecans to add some of the texture that’s missing due to the lack of oats. We make this apple crumble pie with wholesome ingredients but it tastes just as decadent and delicious as your classic apple crumb pie.
Warm up a big slice, top it with ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce, and you’ve got the perfect holiday dessert. I hope you’ll add it to your holiday dessert menu – it’s the pie I’d choose :) enjoy!
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PrintApple Crumble Pie
- Yield: 12 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Apple Crumble Pie is so delicious it’s bound to be a holiday dessert staple! This gluten free, paleo + vegan pie is filled with soft, caramelized apples and topped with a nutty, crunchy paleo crumble topping.
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1½ cups (144g) Bob’s Red Mill almond flour
- ½ cup (60g) Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
- 3 tablespoons ground flax seeds
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons coconut oil, cold
- 2 tablespoons cold water
For the filling
- 2 pounds apples, I used a mix of Honeycrisp, Granny Smith and Jonagold, peeled, cored and sliced into ¼” slices
- ¼ cup coconut oil or ghee, I used 4th & Heart’s Vanilla Bean Ghee
- 2 tablespoons (14g) Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
For the crumb topping
- 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill almond flour
- 2 tablespoons Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour
- ½ cup Bob’s Red Mill flaked coconut, chopped into bits
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut oil, softened, use refined for no coconut flavor
- ¼ cup pecans, chopped
Instructions
For the crust
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Combine the almond flour, tapioca flour, ground flax seeds, coconut sugar, salt, and coconut oil in a food processor, or use a pastry blender in a bowl. Pulse or blend until the texture of coarse meal, being careful not to over-blend the coconut oil.
- Add the water and pulse or stir until the dough comes together. If you’re mixing in a bowl, you may want to use your hands to bring the dough together at the end.
- Roll out the dough in between two sheets of parchment or on a silicone baking mat into a 12-inch circle. Carefully lay dough into a 9-inch pie dish (not deep dish). If the dough breaks, that’s okay! Just press it back into place and repair any holes/cracks that may have formed. Place in the freezer while preparing the filling.
For the filling
- Place the sliced apples in a large bowl. Melt the coconut oil or ghee in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the tapioca flour to form a paste and then whisk in the coconut sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 3 minutes before removing from heat and pouring the caramel sauce over the sliced apples. Toss to coat all of the apples, and pour into the prepared crust.
- For the crumble topping, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, flaked coconut, maple syrup, coconut oil, and pecans in a mixing bowl. Stir until the dry ingredients are completely moistened and then crumble evenly over the apples.
- Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake 15 minutes at 425°F. Reduce the temperature to 350°F, and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes or until the apples are tender and the pie is golden brown on top. Tent with foil if the pie starts to brown too quickly!
- Let cool for at least 1 hour, preferably 4 or more, before serving. Serve warm or chilled. Keep any leftovers stored in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
- Calories: 274
- Sugar: 21
- Fat: 16
- Carbohydrates: 33
- Fiber: 4
- Protein: 3
This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Bakerita!
Don’t you mean ditches the oats to stay paleo? :)
Looks great!
You’re right, thanks for catching that! :)
This looks amazing – yet I admit being a tad confused as steps 4 & 5 seem to contradict each other. Am I reading it wrong? If not, can you clarify whether you mean to melt the filling ingredients together & pour over apples or whether they should be tossed into the apples & mixed unheated?
TIA,
Iris
Hi Iris, my bad! I ended up switching the method but left both instructions in there – that’s what happens when I forget to proofread! The steps in 4 are correct, to melt the filling together first. It’s fixed now. I appreciate you pointing it out! Enjoy :)
I just printed it out give it try. Looks and sounds delicious!
I LOVE your pie plate and dishes! Where did you get them?
Thanks!
Peace! :-)
Hope you love the pie, Tena! All of the ones pictured here are from Facture Goods (https://www.facturegoods.com/). Aron makes everything by hand, and you can follow him on Instagram to be alerted as to when he’s restocking the shop :)
Hi, just a quick question l. Can I use 2 eggs instead of flax seed?
Hi Nora, this recipe was specifically developed to be a vegan crust. To use egg, I’d suggest using the crust recipe from this post: https://bakerita.com/paleo-chocolate-pecan-pie/. Enjoy!
Love this pie so much Rachel! I’m with you on the apples and cinnamon anytime. Can’t get enough… especially this time of year. This recipe is going on my must make list!
Thanks so much Debs!! :)
This pie will make my daughter so happy for Thanksgiving. She has a newly discovered egg, grains and dairy allergy so this pie recipe will allow me to still make her favorite dessert! Thanks so much!
Aw yay, I love it! Hope it’s a hit :)
I am making this pie right now and it says to add water to the melted coconut oil and tapioca paste but you don’t mention the amount in your ingredient list? So I guessed and added 1 tbsp water and it immediately seized up…..
Im going to remake it and omit any water. Hope its right.
Hi Lori! My apologies for the confusion. I did end up omitting water from the final recipe, which is why it’s not in the ingredients, but I forgot to remove it from the directions, so sorry about that. I’ll fix it now. Anyways, I hope it worked better your second try and that you have a delicious pie in the oven! :)
Can you clarify a couple of things please?
1. How much water goes into the filling mixture? (It says to mix in water but there is no amount)
2. I assume the apples are peeled but it doesn’t say so. Just wondering.
I’m actually in the middle of making this now so I’m going to wing the water amount but I can’t wait to bring this to Thanksgiving!
Hi Karen, there is no water in the filling – not sure where you’re seeing that in the instructions! The apples can be peeled or unpeeled, it’s up to preference, I prefer them unpeeled.
Thank you, Rachel!! I figured out the water part– I think I was blending two directions together. Thanks for the quick reply!! Happy Thanksgiving! <3
No worries at all! Happy Thanksgiving to you too :) hope it’s a wonderful & delicious one!
Well, never mind the water part– I must have misread that because now I don’t see it in the directions…. I may be losing my mind in this heat ;)
This pic looks so amazing, but I’ve tried the caramel twice now and it keeps seizing up when I try to add anything to the tapioca and fat. I tried once with ghee and the other time with coconut oil and both times it went totally haywire when I added the other ingredients. My MIL suggested maybe it’s because we are at high altitude. Any thoughts??
Hi Kassie, so sorry I’m just seeing this! I hope you ended up figuring it out…altitude could definitely have something to do with it, but because I’m at sea level, I’m not sure how it would’ve affected it!
It’s was Thanksgiving so I knew it would be a long shot for you to reply. I ended up making the caramel by totally omitting the tapioca powder and tossed the apples in it instead. Not sure why it wasn’t working, but the pie turned out delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe
Thrilled to hear you figured it out and made it work! Glad to hear you enjoyed it, and sorry you had some trouble.
Can you omit the tapioca flour or substitute it for something else??? Thank You and love your recipies!!! :)
You can use arrowroot powder or cornstarch instead :)
Does this pie freeze well? Also, what make ahead and freeze dessert recipes would you suggest?
I haven’t tried freezing the whole pie ahead of time so I’m not sure how it would go, but I have frozen the crust and crumble and then made the filling and baked it all when I was ready to serve. For make ahead desserts, all of my no-bake cheesecakes are amazing and meant to be made ahead and stored in the freezer!
I don’t have ground flaxseeds. Is there anything that I can replace it with?
Hi Sarah, I’ve only tried it with the ground flax as written. You could probably use ground chia seeds for similar results!
Is there something you’d recommend substituting the flaked coconut that goes on the crumb topping? I’m not a huge fan of coconut flavors unless you think it’s not too overpowering then I’ll definitely still try it!
Thank you!
Hi Ariana, you could use oats in place of the coconut, but that would make it not paleo. The coconut is primarily there for texture. You could also use sliced almonds for a similar texture. Hope this helps!
would almond meal work ok here or does it really need to be blanched almond flour? thank you!!!
Hi Heather, for the crumble either is fine but for the crust I’d stick to blanched almond flour, as almond meal isn’t as fine and will be harder to work with.
thanks!!
Hi, there! I was just reading through the ingredients and the reviews and had a question. So you do or don’t use water in the pie crust?
Hi Sara – you do use water! 2 tablespoons. It’s listed at the bottom of the ingredients list and is added as the last step in making the crust (beginning of third instruction under ‘For the crust’).
Made it and it was absolutely yummy! thank you so much for the recipe
Just a few Qs pls-
-What can I use instead of tapioca flour (that isn’t arrowroot or cornstarch)?
&
-How long can I keep it in the fridge for?
Hi Vanessa, so glad you enjoyed it! Unfortunately, I couldn’t confidently recommend any substitutes other than arrowroot or cornstarch, since those are the most similar to arrowroot in performance. You could try rice flour or a smaller amount of cassava flour, but I haven’t tested that and can’t make any guarantees. It should keep well-wrapped in the fridge for about 5 days!
I made this today with two substitutions…I subbed ground chia seeds for the ground flax and I also subbed quick oats for the coconut in the crumble. The pie turned out amazing!! So good!!
So thrilled to hear that, Alex! Thanks for letting me know and sharing how your changes worked out :)
THE BEST APPLE PIE IN THE WORLD!!!! Made it at 9pm Wednesday and it was all gone at noon the next day:-) very dangerous because you can’t stop once you try the first bite; it is so light and all 3 layers work perfectly together; my man doesn’t like apple pie and he ate most of it:-) making another one today
thank you so much and now I have to try all your recipes :-)
Sylwia
The best compliment!!! So glad you’re loving it Sylwia :D
Truly the best apple pie on earth! Rachel is a master baker! The directions are so detailed making it easy for novice bakers to turn out a hit! The house smells delicious too!
So glad you’re loving it, Paula!! The best compliment :)