This Gluten-Free Caramel Apple Skillet Crisp is made with Granny Smith apples, date caramel, gluten-free oats, and pecans! Vegan too.
This skillet crisp has everything you need.
Warm cinnamon apples wrapped in a silky date caramel. Toasted oats and pecans. A little more date caramel drizzled on top for good measure.
Add a scoop or three or four of vanilla ice cream and pass out the spoons!
Caramel Apple Skillet Crisp Ingredients
Sound good? Let's talk about ingredients. To make for a healthy caramel apple crisp, I've used one of my favorite substitutes, date caramel, to work some magic.
Made from Medjool dates, maple syrup, and some vanilla, this caramel sauce does the job. No cream, no butter, no added refined sugar needed. And, of course, this caramel is gluten-free.
Ingredients
Here are the major players you'll need:
- Medjool dates
- Almond or coconut milk
- Maple syrup
- Granny Smith apples
- Lemon juice
- Arrowroot starch or cornstarch
- Coconut sugar
- Gluten-free oats
- Pecans
- Vegan butter or coconut oil
- Ground cinnamon
- Vanilla extract
Substitutions
Like with most of my recipes, there are easy substitutions you can make for some of the ingredients.
Don't have arrowroot starch? Cornstarch works just as well in its place.
Out of vegan butter? Coconut oil will work here too.
Don't have almond milk? Coconut milk or really any non-dairy milk will work just fine.
Have a bunch of apples you need to use that aren't Granny Smith? Go ahead and use them here, there will just be a slight difference in sweetness.
Looking for a compliment to this gluten-free dessert on Thanksgiving? This gluten-free pumpkin pie from Megan looks delicious and it has options to make it dairy-free as well!
Want more crisp? This nectarine peach crisp is mouth-watering. And this strawberry crisp is delicious any time of year.
More Gluten-Free Apple Desserts
Apple Cobbler with Oat Flour Biscuits
📖 Recipe
Gluten-Free Caramel Apple Skillet Crisp
Ingredients
Date Caramel
- 1 cup Medjool dates pitted and halved
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup coconut or unsweetened almond milk
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Apple Filling
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter or coconut oil
- 5 Granny Smith apples about 5 cups, peeled and sliced
- pinch of salt
- juice of half a lemon
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch or cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Crisp Topping
- 1 cup gluten-free oats
- ¾ cups raw pecans chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter or coconut oil
Instructions
- Place dates into a blender. Cover with hot water and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Drain water and place dates back in blender. Add salt, coconut milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons vegan butter over low heat in a 10-inch oven-prooof skillet. Add apples and salt. Cook for 3-4 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add lemon juice, cinnamon, arrowroot starch, coconut sugar, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine. Take off heat.
- Pour about 1 cup of the date caramel over the apples. Stir to evenly incorporate.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a medium bowl combine oats, cinnamon, coconut sugar, pecans, and salt. Stir to evenly incorporate ingredients.
- Add small pieces of solid vegan butter or coconut oil to oat mixture. Using your hands, incorporate the vegan butter so that it has moistened the oat mixture. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly on top of apples.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes until apples are bubbling and the oat mixture on top has become golden. Watch to make sure your pecans do not burn. Serve warm with ice cream.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator and reheat in microwave to serve again.
Kim
Perfect fall treat!
Tessa
All you need is a big scoop of ice cream on top! :)
Sarah
My family gobbled this up!
Tessa
Thanks, Sarah!