Healthy apple crumble

A good crumble should be the staple of all autumn and winter dinner parties, as it is simple enough to make on a whim with little time. The recipe is totally fool proof and doesn’t require expensive ingredients that you wouldn’t find at your local supermarket. So no excuses not to make this one. It can be gluten free, is totally vegan and doesn’t need refined sugar in it. It is high in fibre, contains slow release carbohydrates and is so delicious you could serve it to the most discerning of guests without them knowing it’s at least semi-healthy.

Ingredients:

Filling

• 7 large apples (cooking apples work well)

• 1-2tsp cinnamon

• ½ tsp ginger (optional)

• 1 tbsp maple syrup (optional but works well with cooking apples)

Crumble

• 200g ground almonds (or make your own by blending almonds to the desired consistency) – can use flour if you’d prefer

• 200g oats

• 80g maple syrup or muscovado/Demerara sugar

• 3 large tbsp coconut oil or margarine

• 1tsp cinnamon

• Coconut/almond milk

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C

• Begin by chopping the apples into 1-2 cm pieces, leaving out the core*

• Place these in a large saucepan with about 1-2cm water covering the bottom of the pan

• Add cinnamon, ginger and maple syrup, if using

• Stir occasionally until the mixture starts breaking down

• Turn off the heat and pour into a 20cm deep dish, before making the topping

• Mix together the ground almonds, oats and cinnamon

• In a saucepan, melt the coconut oil/margerine and mix with the maple syrup/sugar

• Once mixed, pour this over the oats and almonds (or flour) and mix

• If there isn’t enough liquid, use small amounts of coconut or almond milk until the whole mixture is well mixed and slightly sticking together (but don’t form large clumps)

• Pour evenly over the top of the apples and pat down

• Bake for 20-30 minutes until the top is lightly browned at the edges

Cooking the apples beforehand releases the sugars in them and means less cooking in the oven (which means eating sooner).

Making your own ground almonds is easy and often cheaper than buying it ready made

Very few smells are as good as an apple crumble in the oven

* I know that some people prefer to peel their apples before using them in crumble. I don’t bother as a) I am lazy and b) the skin adds to the texture and increases fibre content. However, this is up to you!