Enjoy all the best elements of an apple crumble with this gluten-free, vegan apple pie recipe with a buttery streusel topping. Perfect for a mid-week dessert or for holidays and special occasions!
I will fully admit that the combined aroma of cinnamon and apple coming from my kitchen is one of the most addictive smells ever. From this Apple Crisp Without Oats to these Vegan Apple Muffins with streusel topping, I’ve got several delicious cinnamon and apple desserts to enjoy on this blog. They’re comforting, warm, and perfect for the cooler fall and winter months (and holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas) – but can also be enjoyed year-round!
A Comforting Vegan Apple Pie With A Streusel Topping
This vegan apple pie recipe is comfort food at its best; combining a warming cinnamon apple pie filling with a gluten-free pastry crust, and a streusel topping. The combination creates a dessert that is tender, yet crisp and crunchy – with a lightly fruity middle and buttery, rich crust and topping. Could it get any better?
By omitting the dough pie topping, you get to avoid rolling out a second load of dough and enjoy a slightly lighter, crispier dessert. It’s great for anyone who isn’t keen on dough-heavy pies. It’s also easier to deal with – simply crumbling over the top of the filling rather than combining into a dough, rolling out, cutting, crimping, etc. as a top crust.
Best of all, this apple streusel pie recipe is gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and can be made nut-free and grain-free! Perfect for large gatherings where you need your apple dessert to appeal to all. I’ve shared this apple pie with non-vegan or gluten-free friends on several occasions and have never heard anything but compliments!
The Best Apples For Apple Pie
When making any apple dessert, the star ingredient is, of course, the apples you use. So making sure to use a variety that will give you the best flavor and texture is critical.
For this vegan apple pie, you can use any of your favorite baking/cooking apples; Granny Smith, Gala, Honeycrisp, Jonathon, or Braeburn will all work.
You can also combine tart vs. sweet apples for more depth of flavor. For example, Granny Smith (tart) with Honeycrisp or Gala (sweet).
Tip: How soft the apples are will lead to a dessert with more discernible chunks vs. The apple breaking down into a fluffy consistency. i.e. McIntosh and Red/ Golden Delicious apples are all soft and not great for baking.
The Step-By-Step Instructions
Note: For the full ingredients list, measurements, complete recipe method, and nutritional information, read the recipe card below.
Step 1: Prepare the vegan, gluten-free pastry
The pastry will be used for the vegan pie crust and the streusel topping.
- First, prepare the flax eggs by combining the flaxseed and water and set aside for five minutes.
- Then, add all of the ingredients for the pastry into a food processor and blend until it starts to clump and form a dough. If the dough seems a little dry or crumbly then add a little more water or vegan butter, 1 tsp at a time until a dough forms.
- Once ready, roll the dough into a ball and chill in the fridge, wrapped in cling film, for 30 minutes.
You can also do this process by hand in a bowl, though it will take longer.
Step 2: Prepare the apple pie filling
- Peel, core, and chop the apples before heating with the remaining filling ingredients in a large pot. Stir over medium heat for a few minutes, taste, and adjust the amount of sugar if preferred.
The type of apple/s you use will change the amount of sweetener you may want to add to the recipe, so it’s always a good idea to taste and adjust as you go along. If you’re wanting to make a sugar-free apple pie, use sweeter apples and then just a little of your favorite sweetener keto/low carb sweetener.
- Once ready, the mixture will cool slightly as the dough chills in the fridge.
Step 3: Prepare & fill the pie tin
- First, preheat the oven to 360F/180C and lightly oil or butter your pie tin.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and remove around 1/3 of it to use as the streusel topping. Roll out the remaining dough and fit the vegan pie crust to the bottom of the pan, large enough to go about 2-inches (5cm) up the sides of the tin.
- Add the filling and then crumble the remaining dough over the top of the vegan pie.
Step 4: Bake & serve the vegan apple pie
- Bake the apple streusel pie in the oven for 45-50 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown then remove from the oven. Allow it to cool slightly before serving.
Enjoy this apple pie alone or with your favorite dairy-free vanilla, caramel, or cinnamon ice-cream, a vegan vanilla pudding, whipped cream, or even caramel sauce.
How To Make Ahead & Store
To make ahead:
Prepare the dough and filling; roll out the vegan pie crust into the tin and leave the streusel crumbles in a bowl covered with cling film. Leave the apple pie filling in a separate bowl, covered, and leave everything to chill in the fridge up to a day in advance. When you’re ready to bake the gluten-free apple pie, add the filling and topping to the pie tin and bake.
You may need to add an extra couple of minutes to the baking time as it was chilled.
To store the gluten-free apple pie:
Store any leftovers of this vegan pie on the counter, covered, for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.
You can also freeze the cooked and sliced vegan apple pie for between 3-4 months, though the texture of the dough/streusel may slightly change.
When you want to eat it, allow the apple crumble pie to thaw on the counter or in the fridge then reheat in the oven until warmed through.
Recipe Notes
- Feel free to add a dusting of cinnamon powder and sugar over the streusel topping, for a sweeter topping.
- You could leave the apples unpeeled for added nutrients and fiber. Often, the baking process breaks them down enough that you can hardly tell they’re there.
- You can optionally sprinkle some chopped nuts over the streusel topping. Almonds, walnuts, and pecans will all work well.
- Optional Add-ins: You could add a little vanilla extract, rum extract, raisins, or other dried fruit to change up the apple pie filling.
- For a refined sugar-free apple pie, you can use the sweetener of your choice, such as Erythritol or Stevia.
Related Apple Dessert Recipes
- Apple Crisp Without Oats
- Plum And Apple Crumble
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake
- Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Apple Crepes
- Vegan Apple Muffins
- Easy Apple Strudel
If you try this vegan apple pie recipe, I’d love a comment and recipe ★★★★★ rating below. Also, don’t forget to tag me in re-creations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan/ #elavegan – I love seeing your recreations.
Vegan Apple Pie with Streusel
Ingredients
Pastry + Streusel:
- 3/4 cup (120 g) rice flour white (see notes)
- 1 cup (110 g) tapioca flour (see notes)
- 3/4 cup (90 g) almond flour (see notes)
- 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax seeds + 5 tbsp water)
- 3-4 tbsp coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 6 tbsp (84 g) margarine or vegan butter
- 1 pinch of sea salt
Apple Filling:
- 2 pounds apples (about 5, peeled and cored)
- 1/2 cup (100 g) brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour or arrowroot flour or cornstarch
- 1 tbsp lemon juice or lime juice
- 3/4 - 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup of raisins (optional)
- A few drops of rum extract (optional)
Instructions
- First, prepare the flax eggs by combining the ground flaxseed and water and set aside for five minutes.
- Then, add al the ingredients for the pastry into a food processor and blend until it starts to clump and form a dough.If you don't have a food processor, simply add all ingredients for the pastry to a bowl and use your hands to knead the dough until it clumps together.If the dough appears too dry, add a tiny bit of cold water or more vegan butter.
- Roll the dough into a ball, wrap it in clingfilm and place it into the fridge. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, peel and core the apples and chop them into slices (approximately 0.2 inches / 0.5 cm thick). Add the apples and all other "Filling Ingredients" to a large pot and stir to combine over medium heat. Let simmer for about 2 minutes and turn off the heat. Taste it. If you think it's not sweet enough, add more sugar to taste.
- Preheat the oven to 360 degrees F (180 degrees C) and brush an 8-inch pie pan (or a springform) with either coconut oil or margarine (or vegan butter). Set aside.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and set around 1/3 of it aside to use as the streusel topping. Roll out the remaining dough and fit the pie crust to the bottom of the pan, large enough to go about 2-inches (5 cm) up the sides of the springform.Instead of rolling out the dough, you can place the dough ball in the pan and spread it out with your fingers.
- Add the filling and crumble the streusel on top.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown and let cool. Enjoy!
Notes
Video Of The Recipe
- You can use arrowroot flour instead of tapioca flour.
- One reader commented that it works perfectly to use 230 grams of 1 to 1 Bob’s Red Mill baking flour (gluten-free) plus 90 grams of almond flour.
- To make the recipe nut-free, you can use ground shredded unsweetened coconut or ground sunflower seeds instead of almond flour.
- You can use ground chia seeds instead of ground flax seeds.
- If you want to make the recipe grain-free you can experiment with using either buckwheat flour (instead of rice flour) or adding more almond flour. This will, however, change the consistency of the dough, and you might need to add some water if the dough is too dry or adding more flour if it's too wet.
- Regular flour or spelt flour instead of rice flour and tapioca flour should work fine too if you aren't gluten-free.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Simple and Delicious Vegan Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!
I once used flax eggs in baking and they gave off revolting fish smell. The result was inedible. Have you ever encountered this when working with flax eggs?
Hi Inga, no, I didn’t. Maybe the flax you used in the past wasn’t good anymore. Ground flax seeds can get rancid quickly. 🙂
What’s a nut free flour substitute that will work instead on the almond?
Desiccated coconut, sunflower seeds, or any other seeds of choice.
Tökéletes recept! Köszönöm!
Thank you very much 🙂
Sorry part of my previous question was cut off. Looking for substitute for vegan butter and OIL have some ideas but would like to know since We do not consume oil. Thank you soooii much
Hello! You can try applesauce or nut butter, however, the pastry will turn out rather dry and not flaky. 🙂
AND OIL. Somehow that got cut off from our original question above. We do not consume oil, thus the inquiry to replace both. Have some thoughts. But would appreciate yours.
Thank you for expending your time and energy to share your ideas. Can you think of a substitute for the vegan butter? Have some ideas but would like yours. Thank you again.
Hey Ela,
it‘s almost exactly the recipe from my mum that I changed into a vegan one years ago! I only use almonds or almond flour for it quite often. Nice is also a bit of orange in it or ginger and cardamom:)
And for an even quicker way of doing it: you can skip the rolling of the dough and use the whole dough as Streusels (is our german word really the english one as well? I’m confused and surprised!) and press it in the pan just like this! Works as well, taste as nice and you can enjoy the cake even quicker :))
I love your recipes! Stay happy
Hugs,
Jen
Thanks for your kind comment, Jen. 🙂 Yes, same word (streusel or crumble). 🙂
Hello Ela!
I already made this crust several times and with different fillings and it’s amazing! Do you think though if I can use Mochiko sweet rice flour instead of the white rice flour?
Thank you very much!
Hey, I am so glad you like it! I never tried sweet rice flour but I think it should work fine. Please report back if you try it. 🙂
It worked perfectly! 🙂
Thanks so much for reporting back, that’s so helpful! 🙂
Just baked this and it turned out great! I used less sugar for the filling and covered the pie with a whole layer of dough and oh my..me and the wife loved it! It’s so hard to find gf and vegan recipes that actually work when it comes to baking,but this crust is amazing and will use it again with different fillings!
Do you have a recipe for a savory crust or one that I can use to make a pot pie?
Thank you very much!♥️
That makes me so happy! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
I actually have a recipe for a vegan pot pie with gluten-free crust.
Thank you,I’ll try that soon!????
This recipe looks great!
question :Assuming Im OK with gluten, how can I replace the flours with whole wheat/spelt flour? I don’t have rice flour, not sure if to replace both the rice and the tapioca or just the rice.
Thank you!
Hi Tal, I think it should be fine if you replace both with regular flour. However, if the pastry turns out too dry because of the flour substitution, simply add more vegan butter. Hope this helps! 🙂
Thanks!
I made this pie and it was a hit! Also that crust!!! It is my go to recipe for all things pie. Love your recipes so much thanks for sharing them with us
Yay! I am so glad it turned out delicious. Thanks for your feedback, Lena. 🙂
Delicious apple pie. We have made this several times, following the recipe exactly, and all of us have loved it!
That’s wonderful, Michelle! Thanks so much for your great feedback. 🙂
Can I use coconut oil for the crust?
Yes, that should be fine! 🙂
I baked this applepie today, but the crust is so rubbery, I don’t like to eat it.
How is this possible? I used riceflour, tapoicaflour and amondflour and followed your recipe.
Hi, I am sorry you didn’t like the crust. I never had a rubbery crust, but I think it will happen if you “handle” the dough too long. It’s best to process it in a food processor but not to knead it for too long with your hands.
I want to know the nutrition facts of this pie please ela…
I’ve tried making many vegan desserts and this is definitely one of the best. I used rice flour, arrowroot and almond meal for the base and pink lady apples. Be sure to include the raisins. The dinner guests were very impressed. Thanks Ela!
That’s awesome, Kat! So happy you all loved the recipe. 🙂
Made the apple streusel cake yesterday , it looked just like the picture , had to add a little water to the dough , as it was a little dry . I used pink lady apples and left the skin on for extra fibre . Shared some with my German neighbour and they loved it as much as we did . . I baked the mango pie a few weeks ago and have to bake more of your recipes as I love the ingredients you are using . It is also gluten-free, which is good for my coeliac friend. Thank you for sharing.
My pleasure, Yasmine! I am so glad you like my recipes. 🙂
Hello Ela! Because I am a new baker this may be a silly question, but what are the ingredients for just the streusel part of this recipe? I am using a pre-made pie crust.
Hi Taylor, don’t worry. I used the same recipe for the crust and streusel. You will need 1/3 of the recipe for the streusel, so divide all ingredients by three. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi, Can I put mapple syrup instead of sugar ?
Do you mean in the crust/streusel or in the filling? It should work in the filling. If you want to use maple syrup for the crust/streusel, I would recommend using only one flax egg, as the mixture might turn out too wet with maple syrup. Hope this helps! 🙂
I made this cake yesterday and it turned out amazing. It’s so delicious and so easy. I even had all the ingredients at home without shopping first. Thank you for this great recipe, Ela!
I am so glad it turned out amazing! Thanks for your great feedback, Magdalena. 🙂
Hi Ela, your recipes look mouth watering! Again I made the mistake to look at them before bed time ;).
I have a question: I eat eggs. Can I replace 1 flax egg for 1 plain egg?
Hi Bettina, I would not replace the flax egg with a regular egg. You can add more vegan butter or margarine instead to make the crust more buttery. 🙂