Wholesome Nutty Apple Crumble + Video
Every time my sister spies a crumble being made in my house, she starts singing this song. Although supremely annoying, it's actually kind of hilarious. And makes me want to bake more crumbles. And sing the song while doing so... "everybody's good at cooking something, and I'm good at cooking crumble..." Okay, I'll stop.
So, as you can see, I was inspired to post a fruit crumble on the blog. And since it's January/freezing, I decided to go with a winter crumble, i.e. a crumble containing a winter fruit.
And therefore, today I present to you an apple crumble. An nutty apple crumble. As in a crumble with nuts in it, not a crumble that went a little insane. And notice the word "wholesome" in the title. Yep, this nutty apple crumble is nutrient-dense too.
Before I go on, how about you watch my video on cooking crumble:
Or, watch it on Youtube.
So what makes this nutty apple crumble wholesome?
Let's start with the fact that there's no refined sugar in this recipe. No white sugar, no brown sugar, and even no coconut sugar. Just good old maple syrup. Or honey, if you prefer that.
There's also no flour in the crumble. It's gluten-free. Oats and almond meal make up the majority of the dry ingredients in this recipe.
There's also no dairy in this apple crumble. No butter. No milk. Which means this crumble is also vegan, if you use maple syrup instead of honey.
And then there's even more nutritious goodness added to this apple crumble: an assortment of chopped nuts, for starters. And ground flax seeds. And chia seeds. And coconut oil. And some spices. And that's about it.
Oh, and apples. Tart, juicy, Granny Smith apples, preferably.
A slightly tart, but mostly sweet, apple mixture, kept simple with lemon juice and cinnamon and maple syrup (and almond meal for thickening), makes up the fruit part of this wholesome apple crumble.
And a crispy, crunchy, oaty, nutty, mixture makes up the crumble part of this dessert.
This apple crumble, like most fruit crisps and crumbles, is very versatile. You can really choose any type of pan or dish to bake this crumble in. I went for a deep pie dish, but a rectangular pan, a round pan, or even individual ramekins would work.
You can also omit the ginger and nutmeg if you're not a fan of those spices, use any combination of your favorite nuts, choose between coconut oil or any other neutral oil you desire, and swap maple syrup for honey if you'd like.
It's a custom apple crumble, if you will.
I love crumbles with nuts in them. But usually, when a fruit crumble has nuts in it, the nuts are few and far between, and I have to sit and comb through the crumb topping for hours trying to find a couple. Not fun. And not this time.
This apple crumble uses a generous amount of nuts, making the nuts one of the key ingredients in this recipe.
Another tidbit of personal information: shortage of crumble in a crumble is a major dessert pet peeve of mine. You know what I mean - those crumbles that have a boatload of fruit with a few measly clusters of crumble on top. Ugh.
You'll have no such worries when it comes to this nutty apple crumble. I was very liberal with the crumb topping in this recipe, to say the least.
Getting back to the crumble song.
I would like to say that perhaps you've found that you actually aren't good at cooking something. But, if you make this wholesome nutty apple crumble, everyone will definitely agree that you're good at baking crumble. (Aaaaaaaaaaw)
wholesome nutty apple crumble
Yield: one large crumble
Crumble:
2 cups (gluten-free) rolled or quick oats
3/4 cup almond meal
2/3 cup chopped mixture of nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds, macadamia etc.)
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
1 tablespoon chia seeds
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder (optional)
2/3 cup solid or melted coconut oil (or regular oil)
1/2 cup maple syrup (or honey)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Apple Mixture:
5-6 tart apples (I used Granny Smith)
3 tablespoons almond meal
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons maple syrup (or honey)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a deep pie dish or any other large pan of choice.
In a large bowl, stir together the first 8 dry crumble ingredients, through ginger powder.
Add in the coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and mix till crumble forms. Set aside.
Peel and slice apples into small cubes or thinnish wedges and add to another large bowl. Stir apples with almond meal, cinnamon, maple syrup, and lemon juice until evenly coated.
Pour apple mixture into prepared baking dish and then sprinkle all the crumble on top. Sprinkle more nuts on top if desired.
Bake apple crumble for about 40 minutes, or until crumble is browned and apples are soft. Serve warm with ice cream if desired.
