Apple Crumble Recipe- Gluten Free, Grain Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Options (And Regular)

One of the hardest things about baking with gluten free flours is that without gluten, these flours are more crumbly than wheat flour. To be able to bake gluten free goodies properly, therefore, usually requires a mix of specific different (and expensive) gluten free flours, or lots of eggs to hold it together. This doesn't always work for everyone, because not everyone always has the "right mix" of flours, and not everyone can or wants to eat eggs, either for health, moral, or frugality reasons.
Crumbles, therefore, are the perfect solution. They don't need to stick together, so they can be made with just about any flour that you want, and they don't need any eggs or egg replacements. They also are so versatile, so that you can mix and match ingredients as much as you want, and still end up with a very delicious dessert. I've included instructions for the basic guidelines, but feel free to play around with it.
I especially like crumbles because I always liked pies, but never the crust- I found them to be too dry and lacking taste. Crumbles have the taste of pie, but the texture is much more appealing to me!
One other thing that makes crumbles be one of my desserts of choice is that they are the perfect solution for fruit that is past its prime. Not only can you use bruised and overripe fruit for this- it actually tastes better and sweeter if your fruit is overripe! If your fruit is so overripe it's falling apart, you usually can leave out all the sweetener from this recipe and it'll still be good! No need to cut off any bruises- just cut off rotten parts and chop up the rest.

For flour, feel free to use any of the following: Wheat flour, whole wheat flour, spelt flour, oat flour, cornmeal, rice flour, millet flour, buckwheat flour, sorghum flour, teff flour, chickpea flour, garfava flour, almond meal, potato starch, corn starch, tapioca starch, arrowroot powder, etc... Ideally, if you're using anything other than wheat or spelt, you should mix at least 2 types of flour, especially if you're using a starch or a strongly flavored flour.
For oil, feel free to use any, whether regular oil, melted butter, coconut oil, etc... Don't use a strongly flavored oil like olive oil.
For sweetener, you can use white sugar, brown sugar, sucanat, rapadura, jaggery, xylitol, honey, or none at all, depending on the sweetness of the fruit. If you're using honey, reduce the water in the rest of the recipe to account for it.
For fruit, you can use any of the following: apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, apricots, or plums. You can also use blueberries, strawberries, rhubarb, cranberries, or other fruit, but you may need to adjust the filling ingredients.

Apple Crumble Recipe- Gluten Free, Grain Free, Sugar Free Options (And Regular)

Filling Ingredients:
6-7 cups chopped apples- approximately 8 apples (or other fruit)
Up to 1/2 cup sweetener (I prefer jaggery as it's the cheapest unrefined sugar I can find locally)
1 teaspoon-1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
1 teaspoon ginger (optional)
1 pinch powdered vanilla, or 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar, vanilla extract, or almond extract (optional)

Topping Ingredients:
3 cups flour (I used 1 1/2 cups ground millet and 1 1/2 cups potato starch)
Up to 1 cup sweetener
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 c water (leave out if using honey)
1/3 cup oil
2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:
1. Chop up the fruit. I don't peel my fruit for this. I generally just chop my fruit in cubes, but you can do it in slices if you want.

2. Mix the rest of the filling ingredients with the fruit. Place it in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

3. In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients for the topping. (Add honey now, if using.)

4. Add the oil. Mix.

5. Add water, a little bit at a time, until you get a crumbly mixture. Break apart the crumbs with your hands by putting a bit between your two hands and rubbing the palms of your hands together. You should get pieces roughly the size of bread crumbs. If your crumbs are smaller than this, add more water.

6. Put the crumbs over the filling mixture.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until the top of the crumble starts to brown.

Do you make fruit crumbles? What flour do you usually use? What fruit do you usually use? What oil do you usually use? What sweetener do you usually use? 

Do you think you'll try out this recipe?