How To Make A Vegan Raspberry Apple Cinnamon Crumble

If you’ve been searching the internet for the perfect dessert to make during the transition from late summer into fall, we highly recommend trying your hand at this vegan raspberry apple cinnamon crumble. 

Raspberries are in peak season between the months of June and August, although depending on the variety, you can still get perfectly ripe raspberries as late in the year as October.

How To Make A Vegan Raspberry Apple Cinnamon Crumble

Meanwhile, apples come into season between August and September. 

This means that the combination of apples and raspberries is perfect for late summer and early fall, especially with the added flavor of cinnamon. 

Today, we’ll be sharing our recipe for plant-based raspberry apple cinnamon crumble as well as our top tips for perfecting this incredible dessert!

The Ingredients 

Before you can get started making this absolutely delicious raspberry apple cinnamon crumble, you’ll need to make sure you have all the right ingredients! 

Luckily, this is a fairly simple recipe, so you won’t need any fancy or inaccessible ingredients. All you need is: 

  • 6 apples
  • ¾ cup raspberries 
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon (ground, for the filling)
  • ¾ teaspoon cinnamon (ground, for the topping)
  • ¼ cup maple syrup 
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups oats (gluten-free if desired)

Making The Crumble 

This crumble serves 4 people and you can make it, including prep time and cook time, in approximately an hour. Here’s how to do it: 

Making The Crumble 
  1. Preheat your oven to 338 degrees fahrenheit or 170 celsius. 
  2. First, you’ll want to peel your apples and core them. It’s really important to core the apples so that you don’t get any seeds in your crumble. Once you have cored the apples and peeled them, you will want to slice them thinly. 
  3. Once you have prepared your apples, put them into a saucepan along with the cinnamon and the apple juice (Also check out How To Make Apple And Beetroot Juice). Turn up the heat under your saucepan and bring the contents to a boil. You only need to do this for about 6 or 7 minutes (maybe 8). By the time you turn off the heat, the apple and cinnamon mixture should be soft, but it shouldn’t have a mushy consistency. 
  4. Transfer the apple mixture from the saucepan into a sieve and drain away the excess liquid. 
  5. Once you have removed the excess moisture from the apple and cinnamon mixture, it’s ready to transfer into your crumble dish. You’ll want to spread the apple mixture into an even layer over the bottom of the dish making sure there are no gaps and that the layer isn’t thicker in some places compared to others. This will ensure that after you bake the crumble, you won’t end up with some slices having more or less apple than others.
  6. Next, it’s time to get your raspberries and arrange them evenly over the top of the apple in the bottom of the crumble dish. The best way to do this is to scatter them rather than placing them individually.
  7. Now that the fruit layer is ready, you can set it aside and get to work preparing the crumble mixture. This will involve using a blender. Take your pre-portioned oats, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and coconut oil and blend them using the pulse setting. You’ll know the mixture is ready when it has a crumbly consistency but seems to have mostly combined. Don’t overdo it to the point where you’re left with thin crumbs because this won’t work well as a crumble layer.
  8. Add your crumble layer over the fruit layer in your crumble dish, being sure to spread it evenly without disturbing the fruit underneath. 
  9. Your oven should already be preheated at this point, so you can now go ahead and put your dish straight into the oven. All ovens cook slightly differently, even at the same temperature, so the crumble could take just 25 minutes to bake or it might take up to 35 minutes. Wait until the crumble layer on top looks a nice golden brown color.
  10. Using oven gloves, take the crumble dish out of the oven and let the crumble stand for a few minutes. The filling will be much too hot to eat if you serve it straight away, but it’s still best served warm with your choice of vegan cream or custard.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Should I Use Eating Or Cooking Apples For This Crumble?

You should use eating apples and not cooking apples for this crumble.

While it might seem logical to use cooking apples since you’ll be cooking them, the flavor of the crumble overall will be sweeter and much less bitter if you use eating apples. 

The sweetness of eating apples pairs better with the slightly tart flavor of the berries and the strong, spicy flavor of the cinnamon. 

Are Fresh Or Frozen Raspberries Better For Crumble?

You can use frozen raspberries or fresh raspberries for this crumble – it’s equally delicious either way! 

However, bear in mind that if you use frozen raspberries, the filling of your crumble may end up being a little more watery.

The extra moisture isn’t necessarily a bad thing and the difference shouldn’t be drastic, but it’s good to know this going into the process. 

Is It Necessary To Use Gluten-Free Oats?

You may have noticed that we suggested using gluten-free oats if you want, but you definitely don’t have to use gluten-free oats if you only have regular oats at home or if you’d simply prefer not to make this recipe gluten-free. 

However, making the gluten-free version of this crumble is a good idea if you’re catering to a group of people in case of unexpected or unknown dietary requirements. 

Final Thoughts 

We hope you enjoy the process of making this crumble as well as the experience of eating it! 

Remember that the cinnamon goes in both the filling and the topping, but in different quantities, and you should use eating apples rather than cooking apples for the perfect amount of sweetness.

Kimberly Kidd
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