Apple and Cinnamon Crumble
Soft, cinnamon-scented apples baked beneath a golden topping of flour, oats, sugar and vegan butter. Crumble is the most forgiving of puddings, and the secret to a good one is a topping rubbed together by hand until it resembles rough breadcrumbs, so that it bakes crisp rather than doughy.
By Vegan Cook. Published 1 November 2026
Ingredients
Serves 6.
- 1 kgcooking apples or firm eating apples, such as Bramley or Granny Smith
- 2 tbspsoft light brown sugar, for the apples
- 1 tspground cinnamon
- 1 tbsplemon juice
- 1 tbspwater
- 150 gplain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 75 grolled oats
- 100 gsoft light brown sugar, for the topping
- 1 pinchsalt
- 110 gcold vegan butter block, cut into small cubes
- to serveoat cream or coconut yoghurt
Cookware
- Baking dish, about 20 by 28 cm
- Large mixing bowl
- Sharp knife and vegetable peeler
Method
Read each step end-to-end before starting.
- 01
Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan, 375°F) and grease the baking dish lightly with a little vegan butter.
- 02
Prepare the apples
Peel and core the apples, then cut them into chunks roughly 2 cm across. Toss them in the baking dish with the 2 tablespoons of sugar, the cinnamon, the lemon juice and the water. The lemon keeps the apples from browning, while the splash of water helps them soften into their own syrup as they bake. Spread them out in an even layer.
- 03
Rub in the topping
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, oats, the remaining sugar and the salt. Add the cubes of cold vegan butter and rub them into the flour between your fingertips, lifting the mixture as you go, until no large lumps of butter remain and it looks like rough breadcrumbs with a few pea-sized clumps. Keeping the butter cold, and working with your fingertips rather than your warmer palms, is what gives the finished topping its crisp, sandy texture.
- 04
Bake
Scatter the topping loosely over the apples without pressing it down, since a loose layer lets the heat through and bakes crisper. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is deep golden and the fruit is bubbling up at the edges.
- 05
Rest and serve
Let the crumble stand for 10 minutes before serving, which gives the juices time to thicken slightly. Serve it warm with oat cream or coconut yoghurt.
Allergen profile
Every recipe here is fully plant-based. Cross-contamination risk depends on your kitchen, so check all packaging.
Swap note
Wheat flour contains gluten. For a gluten-free crumble, use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend along with oats labelled gluten-free, since ordinary oats are often processed alongside wheat. Some vegan butters contain soy, so check the label if you are avoiding it.