Featured comment
This was fantastic! I made it for a gathering that I was pretty sure would include some gluten & dairy free folks. Everyone loved it!
This post is sponsored by my favorite beautiful, golden, always crunchy and always sweet Opal Apples.
Pop Quiz: what’s super cinnamony-cozy, made with wholesome ingredients (think oats, pecans, honey, coconut oil, and apples), and ultra joy-giving right here in the smack dab middle of winter?
(Pop Quiz Part Two: what have I secretly eaten for breakfast every day this week?)
Answers: THIS COCONUT OIL APPLE CRISP.
February is ticking slowly along, and you guys, I hate to be so cold weather depressed, but I am having none of it. I am, instead, having large, warm bowls of coconut oil apple crisp that is made without wheat (♡ held together by that textured, nutty almond meal! ♡) and sweetened without refined sugar (♡ kissed by the golden beauty of honey! ♡) and decorated with a little bit of that honey goat cheese drizzle-sauce that I whipped up because I can’t not drizzle stuff on my food.
I will survive.
Do you guys remember when we went to Washington last fall and toured the orchards where they grow Opal apples? And do you remember how I hoarded the apples in my tiny purse while walking through the rows and rows of apples? Moral of the story: I need a bigger purse.
I will be the first to admit that I am a die-hard Honeycrisp apple fan, and yet. AND YET.
I am absolutely certain that Opal apples rival the taste and texture of even the sweetest, crispiest, most juicy Honeycrisps, which makes them my snack-apple bread and butter (except, uhh, the healthier opposite of that) during my current 60 day experiment of ditching refined sugar. Seriously: these are a must-try.
I currently buy a big bag of them every week to keep myself snacking happy. If you are my neighbor in the Midwest, you can find these babies at Cub Foods and Lunds & Byerly’s. And guess what? They’re in season right now! through March. You’ve still got apple time.
Also, I don’t want to blow your mind or anything, but they naturally don’t brown after you cut them like apples usually do. Naturally as in non-GMO. I KNOW IT. It’s the little things.
With my 60 days of refined sugar free-ness, and the need for something absolutely warming and cozy in this negative nine hundred degree weather, THIS is what I’m eating these days.
Made with ingredients we can feel really good about, naturally sweet without loads of refined sugar, warm and cozy down to my tippiest toes, and perfect for bringing to our friends’ tonight when we go over to binge on Parks and Rec.
Love Love Love Love Love.
Coconut Oil Apple Crisp
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 1x
Description
Coconut Oil Apple Crisp – a wholesome, cozy treat made with oats, pecans, cinnamon, honey, almond meal, and coconut oil! So yummy!
Ingredients
For the apples
- 4 Opal apples, chopped
- 2 tablespoons almond meal
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the topping
- 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons coconut oil (in liquid form)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Toss the apples with the almond meal and cinnamon and spread in a single layer in the baking dish.
- Whisk the coconut oil and honey together until smooth. Place the rolled oats, pecans, almond meal, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Add the coconut oil and honey mixture; stir until combined.
- Pour the oat mixture over the apples to cover them evenly. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the topping is browning slightly. Let stand for 15-20 minutes.
Notes
I made a quick little Honey Goat Cheese Drizzle (pictured with the apple crisp in these photos) made from 2 ounces softened goat cheese, 2 tablespoons half and half, and 1 tablespoon honey. I whisked that until smooth and then drizzled it over the whole thing. Yummy!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: coconut oil apple crisp, healthy apple crisp, apple crisp recipe
Thank you, Opal Apples, for sponsoring this apple crisp goodness!
Great recipe. I have made numerous times, wouldn’t change a thing.
I made this tonight for the first time, I used Gala apples because this is what I had. I doubled it as I have teenaged boys – and OMG it’s amazing!!! Like a warm, delicious, soft apple cinnamon granola bar in a bowl. I didn’t have vanilla ice cream in hand but I’ll make sure I do next time! Thank you so much!
Should it be 4 cups of apples or just 4 apples? It doesnt seem like enough?
4 apples here. 🙂
A wonderful recipe
I love the coconut oil apple crip so much! It is very healthy and less sugar! I also love your writing style, like “ kissed by the golden beauty of honey!”. The words are so delicious like the food!
Glad you enjoyed the crisp, Elisa!
Hi – we made an apple crisp last night with coconut oil (the recipe called for butter/vegan butter but we didn’t have any) and it came out with such an almost spoiled taste. I tasted each ingredient individually, and everything was delicious on its own! The coconut oil is new, so it’s not rancid but I was thinking maybe it was the oil in such large quantities that made it taste off – and then I found your recipe that calls for just that! Have you ever found that to be an issue in your recipe testing? We’ve got this ginormous delicious apple crisp (with freshly picked Cortland, I’m in Ontario :)) and we got a dump of snow last night so it’d be perfect to crawl up with, except that I can’t stand it 🙁
Any ideas? Thank you so much!! I’d love to not have to buy expensive and processed vegan butter for all my future crisps!
Hi, Does this recipe come out crispy? I have a hard time getting the right crisp for mine and find I have to use butter to do so.
Thanks,
Marisa
This crisp is amazing!
I am studying coconut oil health issues. I am all about good food so this is one I like. Keep up the good works. One thing, where do you get Opal Apples?
Finally a recipe without refined sugar or butter! Can I just use a different type of apples I have on hand? Also I don’t have nuts so can I just omit them or would the recipe not work and if so could I substitute with something else? Thanks so much!
Different apples should work! If you’re going to omit the pecans, I’d just replace them with more oats.
Hi, i am looking forward to trying this, sounds delicious! What type of apple can I use besides Opal?
Is there an alternative to almond flour? (My husband is on a low-oxalate diet). thanks!
is there a non-flour, non-almond alternate?
I’d probably go with GF flour, coconut flour, or oat flour!
I would love to make this but my husband has an almond allergy do have any ideas for a good substitute?! We love opal apples!
Hi Brittany! You should be able to use just all-purpose flour. 🙂
I made this last night and it was AWESOME! Perfect balance of ingredients and flavors. I’m really impressed, and so grateful to find such a good vegan recipe. Thank you!
I’m def trying this! Would maple syrup work just as well if instead of honey?
I just made this and it was delicious! The only thing I would change is I would put a tad less coconut oil. It was quite oily. I would maybe reduce to 2/3 cup instead of 3/4 cup.
Thanks for the feedback, Stephanie!
This looks so good! Can you use almond flour instead of almond meal? Thanks!
We haven’t tried it, but I’m sure it would be fine!
Can you tell me how to make almond meal? Is it just ground up almonds? But don’t they turn to almond butter when processed?
Hey Dayna! Here’s a quick guide for making almond meal: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Almond-Flour-or-Meal
You might like to know a little history about the Opal apple. We have a close friend who sells some kind of timer to farmers here in Washington state. He brings us Opals all the time because one of his customers is the man who “discovered” the Opal. The story he told me is that this farmer’s wife, named Opal, had died. The next year he found on the edge of his orchard an apple tree he’d never seen before, and the apples on it were some he’d also never seen or tasted before. He named it Opal for his wife and cultivated it until he had an orchard full of trees. What a “sweet” tribute to his wife!
Love that! Thanks, Julie!
oh my good
I’m planning on making this for a dinner party, how far in advance can I prep this before popping it in the oven?
Hi, Dara! I’ve prepped this a day in advance, and it baked up just fine the next day.
This was fantastic! I made it for a gathering that I was pretty sure would include some gluten & dairy free folks. Everyone loved it!
Awesome, Dee!
I have this in the oven right now, it’s at 45 minutes and it’s still super oily and not like a crumble at all. I followed the amounts for the topping
This was delicious and totally hit the spot for my sweet tooth. I was quite skeptical about the coconut oil because it tends to overpower flavors, in my opinion, but I went ahead with the recipe and it was just fabulous! Thank you so much
Glad you liked it!
I have this in the oven right now, it’s at 45 minutes and it’s still super oily and not like a crumble at all. I followed the amounts for the topping, what could have gone wrong?
Hi, Natalie! It’s possible you used a little too much oil in the topping – or – too little of the dry ingredients. My guess is that it will come together a little better after letting it set.
I had that issue too. Since then I’ve added more oats and nuts and it’s worked much better for me. I’m not sure how much extra, maybe 1 1/2 of the dry to 1 of the liquid.
Thanks for the feedback, Marci!