This Gluten-FreePeanut Butter Apple Crisp is the perfect sweet and salty treat. The Honeycrispapples are packed with sweet-tart flavor, balancing the toasty peanut buttercrumble to create a decadent Fall dessert that no one will guess containshealthier ingredients. This recipe is gluten-free but can easily be made withregular flour and oats if preferred.
Course Dessert
Keyword Easy Apple Crisp, Gluten-Free Apple Crisp, Gluten-Free Apple Crumble, Healthy Apple Crisp
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 40 minutesminutes
Servings 8Servings
Calories 545kcal
Author Amanda McGillicuddy
Equipment
Large skillet
Veggie peeler
Knife
Cutting board
Rubber Spatula
Large mixing bowl
8x8 Baking dish (or similar volume)
Ingredients
Apples
¼cupUnsalted butter4 tbsp
2lbsHoneycrisp apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼ inch slices About 3 large or 4 medium apples
⅔cupPeanut Butter, unsweetened160 g - select a drippy peanut butter that contains only peanuts and salt
Instructions
Preheatthe oven to 350 F.
Peel,core, and slice the apples into about ¼ inch half-moon slices and set aside.
Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Once the butter hasmelted, add apples and cinnamon and begin to sauté. Sauté the apples until theybegin to soften, about 10 minutes, stirring throughout. Once the apples havesoftened and the butter starts to smell a little nutty, add in ¼ cup of coconutsugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Stir the apples until the coconut sugardissolves and becomes syrupy. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add ¼ cup ofpeanut butter to the apples and stir until it dissolves into the syrupy mixturethat the coconut sugar and butter have made.
Transfer the apples into a 8x8 baking dish, scraping the sides of the skillet with a rubber spatula to get all of the syrupy sauce from the pan. Spread the applesevenly and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the old-fashioned rolled oats, gluten-freeall-purpose flour, ⅔ cup of coconut sugar, salt, and ½ tsp of cinnamon. Stirall the dry ingredients together.
Melt the remaining ½ cup of unsalted butter in the microwave on high for 30 secondsor until it is fully melted. Pour the melted butter directly into the bowl withthe dry ingredients. Add in the ⅔ cup of peanut butter and 1 tsp of vanillaextract. Stir with the rubber spatula until everything is well combined and acrumble topping begins to form.
Transfer the crumble to the dish with the apples. Break up larger chunks by crumbling them with your hands over the top of the dish.
Place apple crisp in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the crumble topping bakesand turns a subtle golden brown.
Remove from the oven and serve hot. Top with ice cream, caramel sauce, or serve as is.
Notes
Allow the apples enough time to cook at least halfway in the skillet because they will only have 20 minutes in the oven. They should start to lose their structure when you pick them up but might still have a slight crunch in the center if you bite into one. It should take about 10 minutes in the skillet for them to soften over medium heat. Don’t forget to stir throughout this process!
Adding the peanut butter to the apple mixture last is important because the peanut butter does not need to cook as long and may start to smell burnt if it is added while the heat is on.
Peanuts and salt go together like PB&J, so this recipe is on the saltier side. If you are sensitive to salt, salt this recipe to taste. The crumble does not contain eggs so it is safe to taste uncooked. Add ½ tsp of salt, taste, and adjust accordingly. Remember to use sea salt and unsalted butter to avoid over-salting.
Store leftover peanut butter apple crisp in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat to serve or enjoy cold.