Allergy-Friendly Apple Crisp: Nut-Free and Dairy-Free

October is apple season, and apple crisp is the dessert that shows up at every potluck, harvest dinner and Thanksgiving table. It is also one of the hardest desserts for an allergy family to accept from someone else's kitchen. The classic version can stack three of the nine major allergens in one dish, and it does it in the topping, the part everyone wants.

Here is why the usual crisp is a problem, a simple version made without nuts, dairy or eggs, and the "safe-looking" extras that quietly bring allergens back.

Why the classic apple crisp is a problem

• Wheat: most crisp toppings are bound with all-purpose flour.
• Milk: the crumble is usually cold butter rubbed into that flour.
• Tree nuts: pecans, walnuts or almonds are a common "upgrade" in the topping, and boxed crisp mixes and bakery crisps often include them.

The fruit underneath is rarely the issue. Fix the topping and most of the risk goes with it.

The shortcut: use granola as the topping

A crisp topping is really just sweetened, toasted oats with something to hold them together. Granola is already exactly that, so you skip the flour and butter entirely. It is also faster, because the topping only needs a short time in the oven at the end.

Not every granola works for an allergy family: many contain nuts, honey, milk powder, or wheat or barley malt. This is what we make, so here is how our flavors work in a crisp. Our 12 oz granola product page lists every flavor as free from the top 9 allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy and sesame.

• Original: the mildest choice, and the one whose ingredient list names no seeds. Let the apples and cinnamon carry the flavor.
• Pumpkin Pie Apricot: warm spice that tastes like fall. It contains pumpkin seeds, flaxseeds and amaranth, and its spice blend includes nutmeg. Nutmeg comes from a seed, not a tree nut, but if your allergist has told you to avoid it, use Original.
• Banana Cinnamon: works well with apples, but its banana chips are made with coconut oil, and it contains flaxseeds and amaranth.

Original may be made on the same equipment as flavors that contain seeds, so if a seed allergy is severe, contact us about shared equipment before you buy. Baking for someone with celiac disease? "Wheat-free" is not the same as gluten-free, because oats and barley malt can carry gluten, so check that any granola you use is labeled gluten-free. And whatever granola you use, ours included, read the ingredient list and allergen statement on the bag in your hand. Recipes and labels change.

Allergy-friendly apple crisp

Serves 6. Fits an 8×8-inch baking dish.

Filling

• 6 medium apples, a mix of tart and sweet (such as Granny Smith and Honeycrisp), peeled and sliced about ¼ inch thick
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• A pinch of salt

Topping

• 2 cups granola free of nuts, dairy and eggs (check the label), such as our Original
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola, or melted coconut oil if coconut is fine for your family. A bottle labeled "vegetable oil" is often soybean oil.
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Method

1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Toss the apples with the maple syrup, lemon juice, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt, and spread them in the dish.
2. Cover with foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the apples soften at the edges and the juices start to bubble.
3. While the apples bake, stir the granola with the oil and maple syrup until it is lightly coated.
4. Uncover the dish, scatter the granola over the apples, and bake uncovered for another 10 to 12 minutes, until the filling bubbles thickly and the topping is golden. Granola is already baked, so it browns fast: check it at 8 minutes.
5. Let it rest for 15 minutes so the juices thicken before you serve it.

Make ahead: mix the filling the day before and keep the topping separate. Add the granola only when the dish goes back in the oven, or it turns soft. Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to 3 days; re-crisp them at 350°F for about 10 minutes.

Where allergens sneak back in

The crisp itself is the easy part. The extras are where a careful dish goes wrong.

• "Non-dairy" whipped topping: some products labeled non-dairy contain caseinate, which is a milk protein. Read the full ingredient list and any "Contains" statement, not the front of the tub. Milk can be declared either way, for example "sodium caseinate (milk)".
• Dairy-free ice cream: many are made from almond or cashew milk, and others use coconut, soy or oats. "Dairy-free" says nothing about nuts, so the ingredient list is the only reliable check.
• Caramel sauce: usually made with butter and cream.
• The serving spoon: at a potluck, one spoon moved from the pecan pie to the crisp undoes all your work. Give the crisp its own spoon and a small card listing what is in it.

Keep your own kitchen clean

If anyone in the house bakes with butter, flour or nuts, make the allergy-friendly dish first, on a washed board with clean bowls and utensils. A shared measuring cup that held flour for the pie crust is an easy way to add wheat to a wheat-free crisp. Bake it in its own dish, and cover it before anything else goes in the oven.

For the bigger holiday picture, our allergy-friendly Thanksgiving breakfast plan covers the morning before the meal.

A note on school parties

Many schools only allow store-bought, labeled food at class celebrations, and some do not allow homemade food at all. This crisp is for your home, family dinners and gatherings where you control the table. For classroom treats, see our guide to allergy-friendly Halloween and the teal pumpkin, and check your school's policy first.

Going apple picking this month? Pack a bag of nut-free trail mix for the orchard, and bring the apples home for this. Leftover crisp also makes a good weekend breakfast with a dairy-free yogurt; our gluten-free, dairy-free breakfast guide has more ideas. Many dairy-free yogurts are made from coconut or nuts, so check the label.

Questions about our ingredients or how a flavor is made? Contact us before you buy. We would rather answer the question than have you guess.