Simple, practical, and full of everyday flavour, Vegan Apple Custard Squares is a vegan, vegetarian American dessert made with smooth nut butter, maple syrup, and flour in about 45 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 35 minutes
  • Total time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 9
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 1/3 cup smooth nut butter (such as almond butter or cashew butter)
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup flour ((I use a mix of 2/3 cup all purpose and 1/3 cup spelt),For Gluten-free: Use 3/4 cup gf blend and 1/4 cup almond flour)
  • 1 tbsp almond flour (, optional)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Apples:

  • 1 apple (, thinly sliced)
  • 1 tbsp flour

Custard:

  • 1 1/4 cup non dairy yogurt (, or half yogurt and half cashew cream **)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract (, adds a nice flavor to the custard)
  • 3 tbsp sugar or maple
  • 2 tbsp non dairy milk (such as almond milk or oat milk)
  • 1 tbsp flour ((rice flour for glutenfree))
  • 1.5 tbsp cornstarch

Topping:

  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp coconut sugar

Method

  1. Line a (8 by 8 inch or similar) brownie pan with parchment. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180c).
  2. Warm the nut butter and maple syrup in a pan or microwave until warmed. Mix well to combine. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix. You will get crumbly mixture. Sprinkle some water in if needed to make it a bit more clumpy (depends on the nut butter moisture content). Transfer to the pan and press evenly to make a crust.
  3. Toss the apple slices in flour and arrange on the crust. (You can put the apple on top of the custard as well, or have 2 layers, one above the crust and one above the custard.)
  4. Blend all the custard ingredients until well combined. Taste and adjust sweetness and flavor. Add some lemon zest for a lemony custard. Pour over the apples.
  5. Mix the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on top. Bake for 45 to 55 mins. Let cool for 15 mins, then remove from pan. Chill for an hour before slicing.
  6. Store: Refrigerate for upto 5 days. Freeze for upto a month.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.