Warmly spiced with cinnamon and topped with an einkorn streusel crumble, this einkorn apple crumble is the perfect dessert for those long fall and winter months. Comforting and cozy on its own, it’s even better with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream. Here in our home, we often enjoy it served à la mode style.

Before we get begin, take a moment to look at the notes and substitutions sections for both the filling and crumble, as well as batch and pan size adjustments.

What is Einkorn?

Einkorn is an ancient grain – the oldest form of wheat known to man – and one that has remained unchanged for thousands of years. Unlike modern durum wheat varieties, Einkorn has not been hybridized. It contains a much simpler gluten structure, making it much easier to digest overall.

I typically bake with freshly milled einkorn flour, but I have found that this particular recipe performs best with all-purpose einkorn flour.

You can find all-purpose einkorn flour here.

Filling

Ingredients

3-4 medium sized apples

½ cup organic cane sugar

1 tsp ground ceylon cinnamon

2 tbsp butter

Directions

1. Sauté chopped apples and butter in a cast iron skillet for 20-30 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently. Cooking the apples first breaks down their natural pectin, which prevents watery filling and creates a soft, cinnamon-spiced base.

2. Add sugar and cinnamon to the apples and mix thoroughly.

5. Butter an 8×8 baking dish. (click here for alternative pan and batch sizes)

6. Pour the cinnamon apple filling into the newly buttered baking dish.

Substitutions

Sugar

You can substitute coconut or maple sugar 1:1 in place of cane sugar.

Substitute sugar for honey:

Alternatively, you can use 6 tbsp of honey in place of ½ cup of cane sugar.

Decrease sugar

This recipe is very versatile. As apples are naturally sweet, you may choose to decrease, or even forgo the sugar entirely. You can do this without negatively impacting the texture of the filling.

Notes

Apple Selection

A crisp apple such as granny smith, honeycrisp, or gala works best for this recipe. Any soft apple, such as red or yellow delicious, will turn to apple sauce.

Cooking Method

I find that cooking the apple filling in a cast iron skillet is the simplest method as cast iron is naturally non-stick (when properly seasoned), as well as non-toxic. If you don’t have a cast iron pan, I recommend buttering a stainless steel pan and sautéing the apples that way.

Alternate Batch & Pan Sizes

8×8: 1x the recipe. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes.

9×9: 1.25x the recipe. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes.

9×13: 1.75x the recipe. Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes.

Crumble Topping

Ingredients

¼ cup all purpose einkorn flour

¼ cup organic cane sugar

¼ teaspoon ground ceylon cinnamon

⅛ tsp salt

1 tbsp cold butter

Directions

1. Mix the all purpose einkorn flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.

It is essential that dry ingredients are mixed before adding the butter so that no one ingredient forms into clumps without being fully integrated.

2. With a hand pastry blender, blend the butter into the mixture until it becomes a nice crumbly texture. You should have granules of various sizes. If you don’t have a pastry blender, use a large fork.

3. Sprinkle and spread the topping evenly over the cinnamon apple filling.