These sugar free apple desserts make the most of crisp apples, warm cinnamon, and naturally sweet flavors in pies, crisps, cakes, and simple baked treats.
Warm apples bubbling around their edges, cinnamon drifting through your kitchen, buttery toasted nuts, crisp oat toppings, and tender fruit that practically melts when your spoon hits it… these sugar free apple desserts prove you do not need to dump cups of sugar into apples to make dessert taste like dessert!
Sugar Free Apple Desserts
1. Cinnamon Walnut Baked Apples
These baked apples are what I make when I want apple pie flavors without making crust, rolling dough, dirtying half my kitchen, or wondering why flour has somehow reached my shirt!
Each apple turns tender and juicy while keeping enough structure that it can still be served upright. Inside, oats and walnuts toast against cinnamon, vanilla, and buttery apple juices, creating little pockets that taste almost like an apple crisp tucked inside each fruit.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 medium-large Honeycrisp, Fuji, or Pink Lady apples
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Small pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided into 4 small pieces
How to Make It
Heat your oven to 375°F and choose a baking dish that keeps apples fairly close together without squeezing them. A dish around 8 inches square works nicely because apples help support one another as they soften.
Wash and dry apples, then slice roughly 1/2 inch from top of each one. Use a melon baller, sturdy teaspoon, or small paring knife to remove core and seeds while leaving about 1/2 inch of flesh around sides and, very importantly, leaving bottom intact.
Do not tunnel straight through unless you would like your lovely oat filling to escape into baking dish halfway through cooking!
Set apples inside baking dish and brush exposed flesh lightly with lemon juice.
Combine oats, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl. Stir melted butter and vanilla together, pour them over oat mixture, then toss thoroughly until oats look evenly moistened rather than swimming in butter.
Filling should feel crumbly when pinched but hold together for a second before falling apart.
Pack mixture into each apple, pressing gently enough to fill hollow centers but not so firmly that you turn oats into cement. Let a small mound sit above each opening. Place one little piece of butter on top of every apple.
Pour 1/3 cup water around apples, not over filling. That small amount creates steam inside baking dish and helps apple flesh soften without burning juices collecting underneath.
Cover dish loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 to 25 minutes. Start checking around 35-minute mark because apple variety and size matter much more than people think. Slide a thin knife into side of an apple.
It should enter easily with slight resistance. You want tender fruit, not applesauce wearing an apple costume!
If oat topping needs more color, leave apples uncovered for another 3 to 5 minutes.
Let them rest for 8 to 10 minutes before serving. Resting allows hot juices inside apples to settle and gives filling time to absorb some buttery cinnamon liquid sitting around fruit.
Serving Suggestions
Serve each apple warm with a spoonful of plain unsweetened Greek yogurt. Cold creamy yogurt against hot cinnamon apple is excellent!
You can also sprinkle extra toasted walnuts over top right before serving, or spoon a little warm liquid from bottom of baking dish around each apple.
For dessert after a larger dinner, cut each apple in half and serve smaller portions. They are surprisingly substantial once oats and walnuts join party.
2. No Added Sugar Apple Crisp
If what you really want is a bubbling apple dessert with golden crumbs scattered across top, this is your recipe!
Instead of disguising apples beneath a thick sugary syrup, we cook them with cinnamon, vanilla, lemon, and just enough cornstarch to turn their own juices into a glossy sauce.
Topping uses oats, almond flour, pecans, and butter, which gives you crisp edges, toasted nuttiness, and plenty of texture without one spoonful of added sugar.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
For apple filling
- 6 medium sweet apples, about 2 pounds
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- Small pinch of salt
For crisp topping
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
How to Make It
Heat oven to 375°F and lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish with butter.
Peel apples if you prefer a softer filling, although I often leave about half of peel intact because it gives finished crisp a little more color and texture.
Core apples, then slice them roughly 1/4 inch thick. Try keeping slices reasonably similar in thickness because tiny pieces can become mushy before larger wedges soften.
Place apples in baking dish and add lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt.
Mix cornstarch with 2 tablespoons cold water in a tiny bowl until completely smooth, then pour it over apples and toss thoroughly. Do not sprinkle dry cornstarch directly over fruit.
You will almost always find little white pockets afterward, usually in exactly whichever spoonful you serve to someone else!
Spread apples into an even layer.
In another bowl, combine rolled oats, almond flour, pecans, cinnamon, and salt. Pour melted butter and vanilla over mixture, then stir with a fork until you have damp crumbs with some larger clusters.
Pinch several pieces between your fingers to create those bigger craggy bits because they become especially crisp during baking.
Scatter topping evenly over apples, but resist pressing it flat. Little peaks and uneven bits are your friends here because more exposed edges mean more browning.
Bake uncovered for 38 to 45 minutes. You are looking for three signs rather than blindly trusting timer: apple juices should be visibly bubbling around edges, topping should smell toasted and nutty, and center apples should feel tender when pierced with a knife.
If topping browns too quickly before apples soften, loosely lay foil over dish for final 10 minutes.
This next bit matters: let crisp rest for 15 minutes before serving. Straight from oven, apple juices are very loose.
During that short rest, cornstarch finishes thickening them into a silky sauce that clings to each slice instead of running across your plate.
Serving Suggestions
Spoon it into bowls while still warm and add plain Greek yogurt for a creamy contrast.
For a little extra crunch, toast a handful of chopped pecans in a dry skillet for 2 to 3 minutes and scatter them on top immediately before serving.
Leftovers are also delicious cold from refrigerator, although warming each portion for about 20 seconds gives topping and apples a softer, pie-like texture.
3. Soft Apple Cinnamon Oat Bars
These bars sit somewhere between an oatmeal cookie, baked oatmeal, and a soft apple cake, which makes them very useful when you want dessert that can actually be picked up rather than chased around a bowl with a spoon.
Ripe banana provides natural sweetness and helps hold everything together, while finely chopped apples create little juicy pieces throughout each square.
Walnuts add crunch, cinnamon gives classic apple-pie aroma, and a little butter keeps bars from tasting like something you reluctantly packed for a hiking trip.
Servings: 9 bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 very ripe medium banana
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups finely diced sweet apple
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened milk, if needed
How to Make It
Heat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper, leaving enough hanging over two sides to help lift bars out later.
Put 1 cup rolled oats into a blender or food processor and pulse until they resemble coarse flour. Do not worry about getting perfectly powdery oat flour. A little texture actually helps bars stay pleasantly chewy.
Combine ground oats with remaining 1 cup whole rolled oats, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl, mash banana extremely well with a fork. This is one place where I would choose an aggressively spotted banana rather than a pretty yellow one.
Dark spots mean riper fruit and noticeably more sweetness, which matters when we are not reaching for sugar later.
Whisk egg, applesauce, melted butter, and vanilla into banana until mixture looks smooth apart from tiny banana flecks.
Pour wet mixture into oats and stir until no dry pockets remain.
Fold in diced apple and walnuts. Dice apple fairly small, roughly 1/4-inch pieces, because oversized chunks can make bars fall apart when cut.
Check batter. It should be thick but spreadable, similar to very thick oatmeal. If it seems unusually dry because your oats absorbed lots of moisture, stir in 1 tablespoon milk, then add second tablespoon only if needed.
Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan and press it gently into corners. Smooth top without compressing batter too heavily.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until top looks dry, edges are lightly golden, and center springs back slightly when pressed.
A toothpick inserted near center should come out without wet batter, although a little moisture from an apple piece is perfectly fine.
Do not overbake these! Since recipe contains no added sugar, overbaking can make oat bars dry much faster than a traditional sugar-and-butter cookie bar.
Let pan cool for 20 minutes, lift slab out with parchment, then cool another 10 minutes before cutting into 9 squares. That cooling period allows oats to firm up enough for neat slices.
Serving Suggestions
Serve one slightly warm with a spoonful of unsweetened Greek yogurt and an extra dusting of cinnamon.
For a simple plated dessert, warm a bar for about 10 to 15 seconds, add several thin slices of fresh apple alongside it, and scatter chopped walnuts over everything.
These also travel well once completely cooled, making them handy for packed lunches or an afternoon sweet bite.
4. Crustless Apple Cinnamon Custard Cake
This is for anyone who loves creamy desserts more than crumbly ones.
Thin slices of apple are baked inside a delicate vanilla custard made from eggs and milk. As it cooks, edges puff slightly while center becomes soft and silky around fruit.
Think of it as apple pie filling meeting baked custard, only neither one brought any sugar to party!
Because recipe has no added sweetener, choosing naturally sweet apples is especially important here. Fuji, Gala, or Golden Delicious work beautifully.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet apples
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup plain unsweetened Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter, plus more for pan
How to Make It
Heat oven to 350°F and butter a 9-inch pie dish well, making sure you get into sides because custard likes to cling once baked.
Peel and core apples, then slice them very thinly, ideally around 1/8 inch thick. If you own a mandoline and enjoy having fingertips, use its guard. Otherwise, a sharp knife works perfectly well!
Arrange apple slices across bottom of prepared dish. They can overlap, and you do not need to make decorative concentric circles unless you find that sort of thing relaxing. What matters more is distributing fruit evenly so every slice gets plenty.
Crack eggs into a large bowl and whisk until whites and yolks are completely combined.
Add milk, Greek yogurt, vanilla, melted butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk again until fairly smooth.
Add flour gradually while whisking so you do not end up with stubborn little lumps floating around. Batter should be thin, much closer to pancake batter than cake batter.
Pour mixture slowly over apples. Gently press any floating apple pieces downward with back of a spoon, although a few peeking above surface are good because their exposed edges will color beautifully.
Bake for 35 to 42 minutes. Do not judge doneness only by browned top. Give dish a gentle jiggle instead. Outer portion should look set while very center can still have a slight wobble, similar to cheesecake. It should not slosh.
If you use an instant-read thermometer, center of an egg-based custard should reach 160°F for a safely cooked mixture.
Remove dish and let it rest at least 20 minutes. Custard continues firming as it cools, so cutting too early gives you a delicious puddle rather than a neat wedge.
For cleaner slices, let it cool completely and refrigerate it for an hour. For a softer dessert, serve it slightly warm from dish.
Serving Suggestions
Sprinkle each slice with cinnamon and add thin fresh apple slices alongside it.
A spoonful of plain Greek yogurt works particularly well if serving cake warm.
For more texture, scatter toasted sliced almonds or chopped walnuts over each portion just before serving. Add them after baking rather than before so their crunch stays noticeable against soft custard.
5. Apple Cinnamon Banana Nice Cream
Not every apple dessert needs to come out of an oven! This frozen version is cold, creamy, naturally sweet, and loaded with apple-cinnamon flavor without sugar, syrup, or sweetened condensed milk sneaking into blender.
Cooking apple briefly before blending is worth those few extra minutes.
Raw apple can turn an otherwise creamy frozen dessert icy and watery, while a gently cooked apple becomes concentrated, aromatic, and soft enough to disappear into frozen banana.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet apples, peeled, cored, and diced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon water
- 3 large very ripe bananas, sliced and frozen
- 1/3 cup plain unsweetened Greek yogurt
- 2 to 4 tablespoons unsweetened milk, as needed
- Small pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans, optional for serving
How to Make It
Start by putting diced apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1 tablespoon water into a small skillet over medium-low heat.
Cover pan and cook for about 5 minutes, then uncover and stir. Apples should begin releasing juice and becoming softer around edges.
Continue cooking uncovered for another 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pieces are very tender and most visible liquid has evaporated.
Turn off heat and stir in vanilla.
Transfer apple mixture to a plate rather than leaving it in hot skillet, spread pieces out, and let them cool completely. Do not blend steaming apples with frozen bananas unless your goal is apple smoothie soup!
Once apples have cooled, add frozen banana slices, apple mixture, Greek yogurt, and tiny pinch of salt to food processor or powerful blender.
Process for about 30 seconds. Stop, scrape sides, and process again.
At first mixture may look crumbly and you may question every decision that brought you to this moment. Keep going! Frozen bananas normally pass through that awkward crumb stage before turning creamy.
If blades genuinely cannot move, add 1 tablespoon unsweetened milk. Process again and add more milk just 1 tablespoon at a time. Use as little as possible because excess liquid makes finished nice cream softer and icier after freezing.
Continue blending until mixture becomes thick, glossy, and smooth with no frozen banana chunks remaining.
You can eat it immediately for a soft-serve texture. For proper scoops, spread mixture into a shallow freezer-safe container, cover, and freeze for about 2 hours.
If frozen longer than 4 hours, let container stand at room temperature for 8 to 12 minutes before scooping.
Homemade fruit-based frozen desserts firm up considerably because they do not contain added sugar helping keep ice cream soft.
Serving Suggestions
Scoop into chilled bowls and sprinkle with toasted pecans plus a little cinnamon.
You can also top each bowl with finely diced fresh apple for a crisp contrast against creamy frozen mixture.
For a more dessert-like presentation, spoon nice cream over a warm baked apple half. Hot cinnamon apple against frozen banana cream is a very good reason to keep both recipes nearby!
Whichever one wins tonight, these sugar free apple desserts let ripe apples do what they already do beautifully: soften, release fragrant juices, mingle with cinnamon, and turn into dessert without needing a blanket of added sugar.
Serve one while it is warm, cold, creamy, crisp, or straight from baking dish with an impatient spoon nearby! Dessert should still feel like a treat, and these five absolutely know their job!!
Hungry for more feel-good meals? Explore these 21 Anti-Inflammatory Breakfast Recipes for a nourishing start and 10 Anti-Inflammatory Dinner Recipes for delicious evenings that make healthy eating easy!
