If I could, I would eat crumble (or crisp as others call it), breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Although, if I did, my blood sugar would probably be a tad off, and I would most certainly be a wee bit malnourished. But there’s just something so delectable about the combination of warm fruit, a crispy topping, and of course some sort of creamy accompaniment (I’m a sucker for coconut ice cream or coconut whipped cream with my crumbles).

All that being said, it’s not that crumbles needs to be inherently bad for you. Take away the refined sugar, and the unnecessarily high-carb, often overly-processed topping (ie. refined flour and refined oats), and you’ve got yourself a pretty stellar treat! It’s a great way to use up whatever seasonal fruits you have lying around, and if you’re adding in healthful fats like nuts, seeds, coconut oil, and even that coconut-y cream-y dollop on top, the blood sugar spiking risk of the sweeter ingredients will be significantly diminished. Best of all, it’s one of those few desserts that in my opinion gets better with time - obviously not TOO much time, but you know what I mean. You can leave it in the fridge, and reheat it in the oven for a solid few days as the flavours seep and soak together…mmmm.

OK that’s it! I’m going to go make some RIGHT NOW! Hopefully you’re off to make a batch too…it’s THAT good!

Ingredients

Base…

2 cups chopped stone fruit (pear, apple, peach etc.)
2 cups fresh or thawed berries (I like blackberry or blueberry best)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp pure maple syrup (or raw honey) **this is optional…you can also add more juice if you’d prefer, or nothing at all

Topping…

1 cup ground almonds
½ cup quinoa flakes
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, almonds)
½ cup pumpkin and/or sunflower seeds
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger root powder
1 tsp nutmeg
½ tsp sea salt
½ cup pure maple syrup (can also use raw honey)
¼ cup coconut oil

*Note: Don’t do quinoa? Try subbing it out for more chopped nuts and/or unsweetened shredded coconut!

*Tip: Play around with the spices! Try clove, cardamom, and even a pinch of cayenne pepper for some exciting flavour combinations.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 250°F.
In an 8 cup (2 L) casserole dish, mix together all the topping ingredients.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the ground almonds, quinoa flakes, nuts, seeds, spices, and salt. Then add the maple syrup and oil and stir until just mixed.
Spread topping over the fruit.
Bake for 1 hour to 1.5 hours, until the topping begins to brown. Serve warm with coconut ice cream or whipped coconut cream!

*Tip: If you notice that the top is cooking a tad too fast and over-browning, take it out, cover your casserole dish with tinfoil and pop it back into the oven.

*Makes about 8 serving