A healthy version of a classic fall dessert, this Paleo Maple Pecan Apple Crisp is the perfect warm and sweet comfort food on cozy nights. It’s grain free, gluten free, paleo, vegan, and soy free with simple whole ingredients and the fall flavors you crave.
I used to make non-paleo versions of apple crisp a few times every fall.
In fact, the first thing Adam ever witnessed me cook/bake was an apple crisp! We were dating for less than a month, and he was clearly impressed and still talks about the apple crisp day!
So, apple crisp was my original claim to fame with my husband.
I knew I had to get the paleo version of this right and luckily I came up with a crisp topping that’s SO delicious and made with good for you ingredients.
Toasty, crispy, just sweet enough. I know you’ll love it!
This recipe is such a hit with my family that whenever I make it it’s gone within a couple of hours.
The topping has a taste more along the lines of granola than anything paleo, so the seeds were definitely planted for a few of my homemade granola recipes!
I’ve said before that I used to have a major cereal habit and granola was probably my favorite of all. I LOVE my paleo versions now!
But let’s get into all the apple crisp details now 🙂
Ingredients Needed for Paleo Maple Pecan Apple Crisp
For the filling:
- Apples
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, & ginger
- Maple syrup (optional)
6 apples is the perfect amount for this Maple Pecan Apple Crisp. Make sure that you wash them well, then peel them, core them, and sliced into 1/4 inch thick pieces.
For the topping:
- Coconut oil
- Raw pecans
- Almond flour
- Maple syrup
- Coconut flakes
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, & allspice
- Sea Salt
What type of apples should I use?
There are lots of great apple varieties that are perfect for baking and since they’re in season right now, they’re even more flavorful than ever! I used Pink Lady apples but you could also use Jonagold, Honeycrisp, or Braeburn for a delicious apple crisp.
How to Make Paleo Maple Pecan Apple Crisp:
First, you’ll make the filling. Place the apple slices, spices, and maple syrup in a large bowl and toss everything together. Place everything in a baking dish, then set that aside and make the crisp topping.
The crisp topping is so easy – just place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse or process until a crumbly paste forms.
Crumble the topping over the apples and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the the topping has browned and the apple filling is bubbling.
This Paleo Maple Pecan Apple Crisp has become one of our favorite fall recipes. And that says a lot considering that it’s not even made with pumpkin!
In fact, I have a pumpkin sitting around that has my daughter questioning what I’ll make with it every day.
It’s so funny (and cool) that my kids see pumpkins and think about cooking with them.
I don’t think I knew you could cook with a pumpkin until I started eating paleo. Wild right?! But it’s time for APPLES now!
Grab your favorite baking dish and get your apples peeled because it’s time to bake – let’s go!
Paleo Maple Pecan Apple Crisp {Vegan}
Paleo Maple Pecan Apple Crisp
Ingredients
Crisp Topping:
- 1/3 cup organic coconut oil refined, solid, or vegan butter
- 1 cup pecan halves
- 3/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2/3 cup coconut flakes unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon *
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice or cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Apple Filling:
- 7 medium apples peeled, and sliced to 1/4 inch thickness. (Pink lady and Honeycrisp are great!)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon *
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 3 tablespoons maple sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon tapioca flour or arrowroot
Instructions
-
Preheat your oven to 350° F.
-
Begin with the crisp topping. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the nuts break down and a crumbly, pasty mixture forms. Chill in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
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In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with the spices, tapioca, maple sugar and vanilla, then transfer to a 9 or 10 inch pie dish or baking dish, set aside.
-
Drop/dollop the topping all over the apples to fully cover (or as fully as possible) and bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the apples are bubbling and the topping is brown and crisp. Check around 25-30 minutes and if the topping is browning too much, cover with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes.
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Let sit for at least 30 minutes to cool down before serving warm. Serve with coconut vanilla ice cream if desired.
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If you're lucky enough to have leftovers, you can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days (without the ice cream!) and reheat before serving. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*If you have apple pie spice, use 1 tablespoon of it in the topping and 2 teaspoons in the filling, instead of the individual spices.
Nutrition
Shop Products and Ingredients:
Want More Paleo Fruit Dessert Recipes? Try one of these!
Almond Butter and Jelly Cookie Bars
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Hahahaha SO PUSHY. But I”m totally ok with it, in this case!
Haha, I totally thought of you with that 🙂
Yuuuuuum, I need this in my life. Pronto. I’m making it!!
Hope you like it 🙂
Looks amazing! I’m all about apples in the fall. I’m not in the pumpkin band wagon.
I’m kinda on both 🙂 definitely love fall baking!
My kids would think I am the best mom ever if I made that! It sounds amazing and we DO have apple picking on our list for this weekend!
Fun, any apple bake is always appreciated by my kids 🙂
Looks yummy! I still have apples from apple picking a few weeks ago. I’m picking up my 10 year old niece from school today and we will be spending the weekend together. I have all of the ingredients except the pecans. We’ll make a stop at WF’s and then proceed to bake!
Thanks, Michele! Happy weekend.
Thanks! Hope you guys like it and have a great weekend!
I’m pestering my family to go to an apple orchard sometime in the near future. Apple recipes for all!
I love baking with apples, amazing recipes and also memories 🙂
Anything that ends in crisp or crumble is a win in my book! Mmm, looks amazing.
Thanks, hope you try 🙂
Yay thank you!!! Quick question.. how much can you taste the coconut? My fiance is not a fan.
I didn’t taste it really and my kids didn’t notice. I think with the food processor it all gets mixed pretty well. You can probably omit and just add more pecans for a nuttier flavor.
This looks awesome! I did pin it, but I know it won’t happen this weekend! 🙂 Lol…I thought your note at the end of your post was cute.
Have a great Friday!
Thanks 🙂 good one to try and thanks for pinning!
Love me some apple crisp! I just happened to stop at an apple orchard today and purchased a few big bags of apples 🙂
Best season and I love the feeling of coming home with tons of apples and deciding what to make!
Hi Michele,
Your delicious recipe has been nominated as one of the “Top 100 Best Apple Recipes of 2014 for National Apple Month”. You and your readers can vote for it here: http://thefoodexplorer.com/fruit-2/100-delicious-apple-recipes-for-national-apple-month/ (position #48 – random order).
Happy National Apple Month! 🙂
Two thumbs up! I made it for my church small group and they loved it!
Awesome! So glad everyone liked it 🙂
Hey Lovely! This recipe is DELICIOUS! Mind if I share it with your picture and a link to your blog for a roundup of yummy paleo dessert options for thanksgiving?
Thanks! Of course you can share 🙂
Thanks for the Apple crisp recipe. Just made it for Thanksgiving and it was delishish. Will definitely make it again.
Awesome! So glad you liked it 🙂
My family of four polished this right off without any problems at all. The top started to get too dark at 43 minutes, so I draped some foil over the top. I baked mine for an hour and thought the apples were a little too done for my taste. DELISH though and next time I will bake for 45 minutes.
Awesome, glad you guys liked it 🙂
I have apples and want to make this now, but I’m in the midst of a Whole30, so I want to freeze it for later. Would you freeze this before or after baking?
By the way, you are my Whole30 HERO! I don’t feel like I’m missing out on a thing because of several of your recipes. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
So glad you enjoyed the Whole30 recipes! I’m not sure about freezing, I don’t think I’ve ever frozen anything with already cooked apples so I’m not sure how they would reheat. I’m thinking raw apples wouldn’t freeze so well, so if you do try it baking first would be my guess.
Hey Ashley!
I know this is an old comment but did you ever freeze this and if you did, how did it turn out?
Easy to make, little added sugar and a big hit. This is a keeper. Thank you ?
Awesome, glad you liked it!
Hi. This recipe looks awesome but I can’t do the almond flour. Do you have any substitutions that would work instead?
Any other nut flour/meal would work, if you can’t do nuts you can try ground flaxseed.
Hey there! I’m in the same boat with the almond allergy… I have some coconut flour in the pantry. Do you think that could work??
Hey there! I thInk I posted this comment in the wrong place last time ? so here it is again! Lol!… I’m in the same boat with the almond allergy… I have some coconut flour in the pantry. Do you think that could work??
Unfortunately it would be too dry and crumbly in this recipe if the same amount is used. I think cassava flour could work a bit better but I’m not sure of the amount, go a bit under in measurement if you try it!
Did you ever try it with the Casava flour?
I have the same nut allergy
Made this last night for breakfast this morning. I baked it in my countertop oven and the crisp topping started to burn after 20 minutes so I shut off the convection setting and lowered the oven temp to 350°F. I should have thought about covering it. I used Gala apples and left the peel on. It still tastes great with the burnt crisp topping!
This was delicious. I have a wonderful apple tree in my yard. I’ll be making several of these for freezing. The flavors are delightful. Most recipes seem to count on cinnamon and the apple for all the flavor. Not this one. The ginger and nutmeg give it another level of flavor that makes you want more. Definitely comfort food. I love that it has only 2T maple syrup. Perfect!
I’m sure that it will freeze well. I frequently freeze all kinds of fruit crisps. They thaw nicely. Also, I didn’t peel the apples, I rarely do for most any recipe. I baked it at 350* in my toaster oven and I agree, 45 min. Would be the longest for my taste.
Big hit for our dessert after dinner out party. Everyone loved it and we used apples from our tree. Plan to make it a few more times this fall.
I made this and the topping was delicious. I didn’t add the optional maple syrup to the Gala and Honeycrisp apples. The Galas needed some zing and the Honeycrisps were better. My husband thought the optional maple syrup would have helped. I was wondering if 2 tbsp of lemon juice would have given it more zing. I would love your thoughts.
I like a little lemon along with the maple when trying to make the apple flavor more pronounced. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Could these be made in individual ramekins? Do you know how that would effect the cooking time?
So glad you posted this as I have a bunch of apples from apple picking and no idea what to do with them! Perfect solution. 😀 Keep doing delicious!
Holy cow! Delicious. I made it tonight. I should definitely have company when I make this so I don’t eat it all!
Great recipe! Loved it! (I doubled the amount of crisp and that was even better).
Just made this. Wonderful! Love all the spices, the pecans. Yum. I did not have pure maple syrup so used a sugar free version that I had on hand.. Next time I will invest in the good stuff to see if it makes a difference. Love it. Definitely going in my favotites.
This recipe is awesome. It’s a great and healthy version of an old favorite.
Really good !!!
Surprisingly tasty with good texture. Mine came out a bit dry so next time I will add 1/4 cup of water over the apple mix before you put the crumble on then the apples will be more moist and/or covered it with foil.
Absolutely delicious. Followed it to the letter. Used Macintosh apples and they’re my faves.
This is an absolute go-to for me. Thank you!
Great reviews from the family! I made it with the following substitutions: coconut sugar instead of maple, oat flour instead of almond, 2 Tablespoons of ghee and 4 Tablespoons of coconut oil for the crumble. I also added a Tablespoon of ghee to the apples. Delish! I have requests to make it again.
Hi Michele, this looks amazing and healthy. I love your recipes and been following you since like 5 years or so. I’m doing this apple crisp, just have a question, can I use muffin tray? To make them by piece and if so is the same time on the oven? Thanks a lot!
This was delicious!
Very easy to make and excellent flavor My 7 year old niece and I made it together she said Delicious
Thank you
Sooo goood. I added a bit of coconut sugar to the crumble. Will definitely make again.
I love to cook but not bake as I don’t like following a recipe. I liked the sound of this one and I had all ingredients so out came my measuring cups and spoons . I could have eaten the hole thing myself!! So tasty and texture was perfection!! I didn’t have pecans but had walnuts and it added a lovely taste. I will make this again and again and again.,
Can this be assembled a day earlier before baking? Just wondering if the apples would be OK. Thanks!
Hi Sarah! Did you try it? I’m hoping to assemble this Wednesday and leave in the fridge to bake until Thursday 😀
Thank you for this recipe. It looks delicious! I’m however trying to eliminate all oils from my diet. Do you think this would still work well without the coconut oil or if I substituted apple sauce instead?
I made this yesterday and it was so delicious! Thank you so much – crisps were always a favourite dessert of mine and I have missed oats so much.. this really gives the feeling you are eating oats. Can’t wait for dessert again tonight.. Will be trying your granola next!
Note: I did use a little less nutmeg as I am not a huge fan of it and omitted ginger and allspice because I did not have any. Flavour was great regardless!
What can you use to replace the coconut oil…I don’t like it.
Absolutely loved this recipe. One of the best Paleo desert recipes I have made. I used yellow delicious apples and they were delicious. Will definitely make again.
probably the tastiest apple crisp I have made since going Paleo!
What can I use in place of the coconut? We have a coconut allergy here so we are trying to learning all the replacements because there is so much coconut used in paleo cooking.
Hi! I didn’t have refined coconut oil, so I used vegan butter. It was amazing!!
Thank you so much for this great recipe!
It looks totally delicious, but, could I use coconut flour instead tapioca flour for the filing?
One of the worst apple crisps I’ve ever made or had. I had to take it apart and add Stevia and Monkfruit. The pecans added a good crunch to the topping, but also a kind-of bitterness. And there was not even close to having enough cinnamon, which you need sweetener with. I’m sorry, I will make using my sweeteners, just wasn’t good!🤷🏼♀️
Hi! I don’t do well with coconut. Any substitutes you’d recommend for the coconut flakes? Or could I just skip it altogether? Thanks!
I just made this and it is delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
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