We hope that you enjoy our recipe and find value in the products we recommend. We thoroughly research our picks before sharing them with our loyal readers like you. Just so you know, if you click through a link we post or purchase a product that we recommend, we collect a small share of that sale or other compensation from the links on this page. If you have any further questions, you can reach out to us on our "Contact" page.

16K Shares

Share67

Pin16K

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

Sometimes your just crave a certain dessert. When you are on a diet, you probably crave specific desserts all the time, mostly one’s you ‘can’t’ have. Apple crisp was something I was craving so, I did what had to be done. Created a paleo apple crisp! You’re gonna love it!

Contents

Paleo Dessert Recipes

I had been enjoying the paleo diet for months and everything was going really well. There is actually a surprisingly wide variety of foods you are allowed to eat. Lots of fruits and veggies, meats and just ‘real’ foods. I was loving it. And, I was feeling better in my day to day life. I had more energy and felt like my diet was finally on track and one I could sustain.

However, one thing that was lacking was the desserts. When you can’t have dairy (aka milk, butter, ice cream…) or refined flours, your options for desserts goes way down. There just isn’t a lot you can have or make at home especially if you are looking for something that is quick and easy to throw together. Most paleo dessert recipes take a lot of time and planning and, of course, specialty ingredients. The grocery store also wasn’t very helpful in helping me find Paleo desserts that I really wanted. Most that I tried were not very appetizing…

Luckily, with the popularity of eating a paleo diet catching on, there are a few options of things you can make at home that are also simple. Many paleo desserts revolve around fresh fruits and that is great but, after weeks of having a few grapes as a dessert, what I really wanted was baked goods. True, delicious, hot-out-of-the-oven baked goods. I had to find a way to satisfy this craving and stick to my diet that I truly was loving.

Benefits of Paleo Diets

Before I start talking about my amazing Paleo apple crisp, I just wanted to let you know a little more about the Paleo diet in case you are still new to this lifestyle or just checking out what it is. The Paleo diet revolves around the idea of eating unprocessed foods. When you eliminate processed foods, you are much more likely to be eating “clean” which means no preservatives, no additives and no chemicals. You go back to eating the way humans were meant to eat- naturally!

When following a paleo diet, people have reported that they loose weight (when you cut out all those processed sugars and fats, loosing weight is bound to happen!), have more energy, lower any inflammation they may have had and have improved heart health. All of this sounded fantastic to me when I was looking to change how I eat. Eating “real” foods and getting real results? Sign me up!

Now that I have been following this diet for a while, I can report that I have definitely felt all of the effects first hand. The energy one the most- I definitely have more energy! Eating foods that my body can absorb and digest slowly rather than lots of carbs which the body burns quickly then crashes had a positive effect on me for sure.

That was a super fast run down about Paleo but there is a lot more you can read and learn! However, back to out Palso apple crisp recipe that you are probably craving right about now…

Healthy Apple Crisp

Before I started the Paleo diet, I would bake all the time. Flour and butter were my world. Now, I was looking to convert one of my favorite pre-paleo recipes into something I could eat now. I wanted my favorite, family-famous, healthy apple crisp recipe to become a healthy paleo apple crisp recipe.

Since apples are already allowed if you are following a paleo lifestyle and spices are very paleo friendly, the filling of my apple crisp could essentially remain untouched. Of course, the sugar I use to use was easily replaced by honey (you could also use maple syrpu or coconut sugar- just stay away from that refined stuff!) but then came the harder part- what to do about the topping that was usually filled with butter and flour…

Paleo Baked Goods

When baking paleo recipes, many people skip butter and replace it with coconut oil. Coconut oil is considered natural and paleo approved as long as you choose the unrefined version. Coconut oil is also considered to be one of the healthiest fats out there! Seems like a no brainer to use it in my crisp recipe! Also, I really like the taste of coconut oil especially in baked goods. There is a very subtle tropical taste that goes so well with almost every baked good out there. Coconut and chocolate- yes! Coconut and peanut butter- sure! Coconut and apple crisp- absolutely!

Using ground oats in place of flour also works fantastically in paleo baking. The fact that my crisp topping was already essentially all oats made this a perfect fit as well. I replaced the all purpose flour with ground oats which I made by pulsing rolled oats in my food processor until they resembled flour. If you have never tried making oat flour, be prepared to be surprised at how easy it is and how much it truly resembles all purpose flour. It’s a Paleo miracle!

Adding extra oats also adds some more nutrients to your baking. Antioxidants, minerals, the ability to help lower blood pressure- oats has it all! Clearly more oats is always the answer when you are baking Paleo. I was starting to think that this recipe would be even better than my original apple crisp….

Gluten Free Apple Crisp

After tossing together the filling, pouring it in the pan (after eating a few of the seasoned apples, of course!), sprinkling my topping on and placing the pan in the oven, I was dying to try this paleo apple crisp.

As it baked, I started to think of all the goodness that was in that pan…

The crisp was paleo friendly
The crisp was gluten free
If you are a vegan who is okay with honey, this would be a good option for you too!
Apples are very healthy and full of natural vitamins and minerals
Oats, coconut oil and apples all taste amazing and are nutritious as well!

Could this dessert get any better? Is it even a dessert when it is so good for you? The heavenly smell coming from the oven said definitely yes!

Oh yea, let me add one more thing that is awesome about this crisp- you can freeze it! Bake it fully, wrap it well and put it in the freezer for up to three months! Take it out and reheat it in the oven whenever you are ready for an amazing dessert. Seriously though, what more could you ask for in a Paleo dessert?!

Best Paleo Dessert Recipe

As you may have guessed, one bite of this paleo apple crisp and I was hooked. I loved it. I wanted to eat the whole tray. While I did restrain myself from eating the whole tray, I did go back for seconds. It is, after all, healthy -right?! Definitely, yes!

Hope you Enjoy! =)

More Simple Paleo Recipes