Summary:

Whether you call it apple crisp or apple crumble, this low carb version is free of sugar, flour, and oats. The fruity filling is made with apples, blackberries, and cinnamon, simmered in a skillet until thick and saucy. This is nicely complemented by a crumbly pecan and almond flour topping, mixed with enough butter to perfectly toast during baking.

Apple Crisp

5 from 8 votes

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Prep: 25

Cook: 35

Cool: 10

Yield: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS

Topping:

▢ 1/2 cup chopped pecans (Note 1)
▢ 1/2 cup almond flour (Note 2)
▢ 1/4 cup confectioners swerve sweetener (Note 3)
▢ 3 tablespoons salted butter, melted
▢ 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Filling:

▢ 3 small golden delicious apples, peeled and cored (Note 4)
▢ 1.25 cups fresh blackberries (Note 5)
▢ 1/4 cup confectioners swerve sweetener (Note 3)
▢ 1/4 cup water
▢ 2 tablespoons salted butter
▢ 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare: Position oven rack in center of oven, and preheat to 350 F.
Make Topping: Stir all topping ingredients except melted butter in large mixing bowl until well-mixed. Stir in melted butter until mixture becomes moistened crumbles. Set aside.
Cook Filling: Melt butter in nonstick 10-inch skillet over medium heat. As it starts to bubble, stir occasionally to avoid burning. Once it starts to brown and releases nutty aroma, carefully stir in water to cool butter, then stir in sweetener, cinnamon, and vanilla until dissolved. Bring to simmer, and add apple wedges and blackberries. Cook until most of released liquid is evaporated and softened apples are easily punctured, 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Turn off heat.
Assemble: Transfer filling to 9×5-inch baking dish (Note 6), using spatula to scrape out every last bit of sticky sauce. Spread out filling to cover bottom of baking dish. Spread topping evenly over filling, breaking up large chunks and making sure filling is fully covered.
Bake: Transfer baking dish to oven. Bake uncovered at 350 F until topping looks crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. It will be very hot, so cool for about 10 minutes before serving (Note 7).

NUTRITION

Makes 8 Servings

Amount Per Serving:

Calories 200 (72% from fat)
Total Fat 16g	24%
Saturated Fat 5g	25%
Cholesterol 19mg	6%
Sodium 60mg	3%
Net Carb 8.5g
Total Carb 13g (Note 8)	4%
Dietary Fiber 4.5g	19%
Sugars 7g
Protein 3g

Vitamin A 6% · Vitamin C 8% · Calcium 4% · Iron 4%

PHOTOS

peeled apple wedges and blackberries in bowl

bowl with apple crisp topping ingredients

closeup view of apple crisp in baking dish

close up of apple crisp served on white plate

NOTES & TIPS

(1) Pecans. About 2 ounces weight. You can substitute them with your preferred chopped nuts.

(2) Almond Flour. About 2 ounces weight. I use almond flour that is blanched, which means the skins are taken off of the almonds, so the resulting flour looks white. I typically use Costco’s Kirkland brand, which has 2 grams of net carbs per 1/4 cup serving. Don’t substitute with coconut flour or other flours, which vary in their absorbency.

(3) Sweetener. About 1.3 ounces weight. Confectioners Swerve is a dry sweetener that measures the same as regular powdered sugar; it’s not the same as pure erythritol, which is about 70% as sweet. You can make powdered sweetener by running granules through a blender like a Nutribullet. Substitute with your preferred dry or liquid sweetener by adding it to taste or checking its packaging to determine how it compares to regular sugar.

(4) Apples. About 1 pound total. Use sweet and crisp varieties such as Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, or Braeburn, which maintain their texture and shape during cooking.

(5) Blackberries. About 6 ounces weight. You can substitute with a different type of berry such as blueberries or raspberries. For a larger filling double the amount of berries and optionally use 50% blackberries and 50% of another type — just add an extra 5 minutes for cooking the filling until thickened. Note that the berries are mostly disintegrated after cooking, so they provide flavor and color to the apple crisp’s filling, not texture. The reason that a mixture of berries and apples are used for the filling — as opposed to 100% apples — is to keep carbs at a minimum.

(6) Baking Dish. I use a glass 1.5 quart loaf baking dish that measures 9×5 inches. You don’t need to line or grease it.

(7) Serving / Leftovers. This apple crisp is perfect when served with a scoop of keto vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate leftovers, either in the original baking dish or divided into separate containers. To reheat, transfer the apple crisp to an oven-safe dish and bake at 350 F until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes. Do not use the microwave, which will turn the topping into a soggy mess.

(8) Carbs. The nutrition calculation assumes you are using Swerve or a similar erythritol-based sweetener that uses sugar alcohols, whose carbs are non-impact and therefore not included in the nutrition estimate. Apps that count sugar alcohols will show a higher number of carbs.

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Laurel

Wow! What a fabulous recipe! I don’t know what we liked better, the wonderful taste or the smell that filled our house when it was baking. It is a real challenge to find keto desserts that taste anything like the original recipe but this one definitely does! Thanks SO much for this recipe!

Nicole

Made this tonight. Winning recipe. I used coconut sugar for sweetness and slivered almonds instead of pecans. Changed out blackberries for blueberries. So good.

Stephanie

I made this for Thanksgiving, my daughter and I follow low carb but my dinner guest don’t. It was a big hit with everyone. This is a recipe I will make often. I added some ground ginger to the topping and filling. I ate mine with a dollop of creme fraiche, absolutley wonderful!

Frank komarek

I’m not sure how many other people have made this, but putting water in hot butter threw up a flag for me! I tried it anyway, and my fears were confirmed!! I had butter and water splattering everywhere on my stove and me! May want to put a warning by this step!
Crisp turned out good after the 30 minute ckean-up!!!

Debbie

Having trouble getting almond flour, so used ground almonds with coconut flour, and Stevia resulting in the most lush dessert I have tasted in a long while. Thank you for this recipe, I didn’t realise how easy it is. I have no excuses now when passing a blackberry bush but to pick some!

Susan

Great recipe! Served to friends tonight and they shared that it was delicious and then I told them it was low carb. They were surprised & loved it! Thanks for this recipe. I’ll be making again.

Kai

Hi Julia! I have an allergy to most nuts including almonds and pecans so what do you propose I substitute the chopped pecans and the blanched almond flour with? (I’m not low-carb or on a keto diet so that doesn’t concern me too much 🙂 )
Thanks again! -Kai

Julia

Hi Kai! Since you’re not on a low carb diet, I would substitute the pecans and almond flour with oats and regular (wheat-based) all-purpose flour. The proportions will differ, so I would prepare the topping without flour, then add the flour in small amounts until the melted butter is absorbed and the mixture looks like moistened crumbles.

You probably know this already, but you can use regular sugar in place of low carb sweeteners like Swerve — they measure the same so you don’t need to perform any conversions. Brown sugar would be a good replacement.

Suze

I made this recipe tonight. I exchanged the blackberries for blueberries, but all the other ingredients stayed the same. It was a hit. I will definitely be making this again. It was so tasty.

jmjt

i switched out some zucchini slices & chayote squash & used just 1/3 of the apples…
also added apple flavored drink mix to give it more of that taste…

Dave Elgass

Hi Julia,
This recipe looks delicious. Before jumping in to making it, I would like to know if there would be any issues with using only erythritol (same weight as Swerve), other than it being less sweet?
Thanks

I don’t see any other issues — like you said, it’ll be less sweet so you can add a bit more to compensate.

Harold Burton

I made this the other day and it was wonderful! My family loved it! Since then, my husband has learned he is allergic to tomatoes. I wondered if you might have any suggestions for a good substitute? I’m thinking of maybe adding some beef or veggie broth for the liquid, and maybe some black beans for substance? Just wondering if I should add some extra seasonings too, and/or if there are some other things you might recommend. Thank you!?

Which recipe are you referring to?

Apple Crisp With Blackberries