Clean eating apple crumble: Coconut and Oat crumble on top of sweet, juicy apples. This is SO Good!
This recipe is based on a Masterchef episode I watched a couple years ago. Since then, its been a regular addition to our meal plan. 3 out of 4 of my kids love it. I'm still working on No. 4. But not too much as it means there is more for me. It makes a good mid morning snack too after dropping kids at school :)
Clean Eating Apple Crumble
This Clean apple crumble is a cleaned up version of the apple crumble I'm sure you know and love. Having an easy, healthier version of old favorites has been key to making eating Clean successful, and this yummy dessert doesn't disappoint.
It's actually so simple to make and you probably have most of the ingredients already in your pantry. You can use fresh apples, but I used canned apple so I always keep a couple cans in my pantry for an easy dessert.
It's main ingredients are: Apples and apple juice, so that's OK with me. If I don't go out of my way to make Clean Eating easy, then it just wouldn't happen.
Then sprinkle the crumble on top of the apple filling and pop it in the oven. If you are making the apple crumble earlier in the day, you can cover and refrigerate at this stage so it's ready to go in the oven later that evening.
The crumble topping on this can be made by hand or in a food processor. I've used flour here, but you could add a little more fiber and use oatmeal whizzed in a blender instead. Mix the crumble in a large bowl to keep the kitchen clean! Oat flours are great for extra fiber and can often be used in place of flour.
A Medium Sized Apple (Or Pear)
I've made an apple crumble here but you could use pears if you prefer. Pears offer the same sort of finished fruity crumble and the crust works just as well with pears. I've discovered the beauty of pears with cinnamon recently and they work just as well as apples, so use whatever fruit you have to hand or can buy reasonably priced locally to you.
Gala, Fuji or Pink ladies are all good apple varieties to use for this crumble, they're all really sweet and keep their shape well whilst cooking.
Bonus points if you have apple or pear trees in your back yard, it'll be even more delicious if they're free :)
Apple Crumble Filling
The apple crumble filling here is the main event. I unashamedly use tinned apples to make this pudding. I keep a store of these in the pantry so they're always on hand, and they're quicker and easier than peeling and stewing fresh apples.
When you're buying tinned apples, you want the ingredients to be: apples. And that's it. No sweeteners, not preservatives (the canning process does this for you!), nothing else. Just apples: This way you know they're clean.
Of course, if you've got a glut of fresh apples needing to be used up, feel free to peel and stew them. Most fresh apples work well with this recipe, however, the naturally sweeter the apples, the sweeter the end pudding's gonna be!
To sweeten this apple crumble, or apple pie if you prefer I've used the apples themselves to give the main hit of sweetness and then topped it up with coconut sugar. Feel free to use honey or pure maple syrup if you like. Using shredded coconut in the crumble topping adds more natural sweetness again, this is dessert after all!
A Handful Of Raisins
If you like you can throw in a handful of raisins or sultanas if your kids like them. Some of mine are a bit fussy about raisons and so I've left them out when i've made this, but feel free to add some into yours. They'll absorb the liquid as they cook in the crumble, so I's recommend adding an extra 2 tablespoon of water to the filling mix to allow for this.
Additions
Sometimes I add a level table spoon of Cinnamon to this recipe, sometimes not. Apple crumble and cinnamon go hand in hand for me, so personally, I love this addition. You could also add Nutmeg, which is also has a lovely flavor, but less popular with my kids.
You could also try cardamom with this if you like the flavor. It gives this apple crumble a slightly exotic feel so if you're looking to make something a bit different, this would be a good one to try. I have cardamon whole here so I'd recommend either putting a couple of whole seeds into the apple filling and then making sure you don't accidentally serve one to the kids or finding ground cardamom and using half a tsp. The taste can be unusual for smaller kids, so add with caution!
Ginger goes well with apples. I've tried using both ground ginger and fresh ginger and we all prefer the ground ginger version. Add one teaspoon to the filling mixture, this is enough to give a subtle ginger flavor that's enough for small kids to still enjoy.
While I don't like to add a lot of extra sodium to recipes, adding a teaspoon of sea salt to the apple filling is great if you're a salt lover. This works especially well if you're serving this with the coconut caramel.
I often add berries to an apple dessert to make my Apple Berry Crumble, and of course the main, most requested and frankly utterly delicious addition, Clean eating custard, which takes just a few minutes to prepare and you can whip up while the apple crumble's in the oven.
Alternatively you could add some ice cream and serve this crumble with yummy ice cream melting into the hot apple crumble. Yum :)
Add These To Taste
So, you can add some raisins or sultanas, cinnamon, or you could leave this plain as I have and serve it with some coconut milk caramel or dairy free custard.
You could also turn this into more of a mixed fruit crumble by going half and half on apples and pears, or apples and any other fruit you love. Cheery's work well in this (use fresh and not frozen as there's too high a water content in frozen).
Storing and Reheating
If you want to prepare this pudding ahead of time, make up the whole recipe, but don't put it in the oven until right when you need it, so the crumble's crisp when you tuck in. You can make this up to 48 hours ahead of time and it'll keep well in the fridge, covered, until it's ready for the oven.
If you want to reheat leftovers, pop them back in the oven for 7-8 minutes un til warmed through again. I have microwaved this before to reheat it and while it work okay, it's better reheated in the oven so you get the crisp crumble again, which the microwave doesn't do.
More Clean Eating Desserts
How To Make A Clean Eating Apple Crumble
Crumble:
- ¾ cup Plain flour
- 1 cup Desiccated coconut
- ¼ cup Softened butter
- ½ cup Coconut sugar OR You can replace with ½ cup of raw sugar OR ¼ cup of honey OR Maple syrup
Filling:
- 2 Cans of apple 2 x 400g
- ¼ cup Raw brown sugar OR you can replace with ¼ cup of honey or Maple syrup
- 1 Lemon Juiced
Instructions
- Filling: Dissolve sugar in the lemon juice and mix well through apple. Place in an oven proof pie dish.
- Topping: Mix all ingredients together until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Place evenly on top of apple filling.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until crumble is golden brown.
- Serve with fresh cream.
Clean Eating Apple Crumble Recipe
Clean Eating Apple Crumble
Ingredients
Crumble:
- ¾ cup Plain flour
- 1 cup Desiccated coconut
- ¼ cup Softened butter
- ½ cup Coconut sugar OR You can replace with ½ cup of raw sugar OR ¼ cup of honey
Filling:
- 2 Cans of apple 2 x 400g
- ¼ cup Raw brown sugar OR you can replace with ¼ cup of honey
- 1 Lemon Juiced
Instructions
- Filling: Dissolve sugar in the lemon juice and mix well through apple. Place in an oven proof pie dish.
- Topping: Mix all ingredients together until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Place evenly on top of apple filling.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until crumble is golden brown.
- Serve with fresh cream.
