Easy Apple Crumble

Forget complicated dessert recipes! This easy crumble delivers great flavor, with a handful of ingredients. It’s light on fat, big on texture. Yes, it uses sugar, but you can adjust the sweetness down if you’re using sweet apples. 

Don’t have all the ingredients? Don’t sweat it! Variations, cooks notes and substitution suggestions are below the recipe.

Serving suggestions: I’d recommend some vanilla ice-cream or frozen yogurt. If you have cheat meals, this would be it! 

If you try this recipe, I’d love to know! 

Ingredients: 

1 cup muesli or rolled oats

1/2 cup brown rice flour, or flour of choice

2 tbsp sugar 

Salt

3 tbsp flavorless oil (you can use melted butter, if you like)

3.5 cups apple, chopped (I needed 2 large apples)

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup sugar (you can adjust down to 1/4 cup, or 2 tbsp if desired)

1/3 cup walnuts

Vanilla extract

Method:

- Preheat oven to 375 degree F. 

- Mix together the muesli (or oats), flour, sugar and salt. Drizzle over the oil and mix until all the flour is moistened. Mixture will look crumbly.

- Combine the apples and cinnamon. Add the sugar, walnuts and vanilla and mix well.

- Top with the muesli mixture.

- Bake on the middle rack for 40-50 minutes or until topping is brown. You might see some delightful ‘bubblage’ from the filling here and there. 

- This smells amazing out of the oven, but the sugar and apple juice will have formed a sticky, super-hot, caramel-y sauce, so cool for 15-20 minutes before serving. Believe me, it’ll still be plenty hot. :-) 

Cooks notes, variations and substitutions: 

Muesli: I really like muesli in this recipe and I like a lot of it. It already includes raisins and some kind of nuts, so less prep work for me. 

If you don’t have muesli, use rolled oats. Even 5-minute oats will do. You can add raisins, walnuts and sliced almonds to that, if you like.

You’ll notice the topping layer is pretty thick. That gives this dessert a beautiful contrast in textures. You can certainly half the ingredients quantities for the topping, if you want a smattering of crunch. 

Brown rice flour: I really like the grainy texture and crunch brown rice flour gives to the topping. But you can use whatever kind of flour you like. Just sub 1/2 cup brown rice flour with 1/2 cup of your flour of choice. 

Flavorless oil: I try to use butter as little as possible in recipes that require fats. Nothing against butter — I like it on toast. But the cholesterol is a bit of a turn off. So I try to use flavorless oils like canola or grapeseed oil when possible. You can certainly use melted butter for this recipe. Butter has a higher moisture content than oil, and the crumble  topping does need fat to succeed. So I’d suggest 4 tablespoons of butter to substitute for 3 tablespoons of oil. 

That’s it for me! Happy baking! 

Amina

Super chocolaty, soft-baked cookies - No butter!

 



Ok guys. We're officially on a chocolate roll here. I've been furiously busy developing and refining chocolate recipes, because 'I hate testing chocolate recipes' said no one, ever.

These delectable cookies have a somewhat cake-like, super chocolaty interior, and an invitingly shiny top. But they are much lower in fat and sugar than traditional soft-baked cookies. Best of all, this is a very quick, very easy recipe, requiring just a few ingredients. As always, substitutions and notes are below the recipe.

They aren't overly-sweet, which is how I like them. But you can always add another 1/4 cup of sugar to the recipe amount noted below. For a party, or yourself (you deserve the treat too) you can top these with icing.

They taste great warm from the oven, or left to cool overnight. I love these warmed up in the toaster oven the next day. This recipe makes 24-28 cookies. If you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container or freezer bag in the fridge for up to 3 days. I love these warmed in the toaster oven the next day.

Here's my recipe for these amazing treats.

Prep time: 7-8 minutes
Cooking time: 12-15 minutes
Yield: 30-32 cookies (I used a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop)

Ingredients:

2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate (see notes for substitution)
1/3 cup good quality cocoa powder, I use Guittard cocoa rouge (Dutch process)
2/3 cup almond flour (see notes)
2/3 cup sprouted wheat flour (see notes)
3/4 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar, or use 1 cup for sweeter cookies (see notes)
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup full fat greek yogurt (see notes)
3 large eggs
1/3 cup cooked sweet potato, applesauce or ripe banana
1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (optional)

Method:

- Preheat oven to 375 degree F.
- Melt the unsweetened baking chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler, if using the stove top.
- Mix together the cocoa powder, almond flour, sprouted wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add chocolate chips, if using.
- Separately, combine the vanilla and yogurt with the eggs.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry mixture until everything just comes together. Add the melted chocolate. Don't over-mix.
- Use a tablespoon to drop the batter onto a pan lined with baking paper, spacing them about an inch apart (or grease your cookie sheet, if not lined).
-Bake for 14-16 minutes until they spring back to the touch. Check them for done-ness at 12-14 minutes. And do not over-bake, or dry cookies will be your fate.

Ingredients notes, variations and substitutions:

Baking chocolate: Try to use the best quality baking chocolate you can find. This is the flavor base of the recipe, so its worth splurging here. However, this recipe will taste great with whatever kind of baking chocolate you can find in your market. If you can't find baking chocolate, you can substitute with 2 tablespoons of red cocoa and 1.5 tablespoons of flavorless oil. Try cocoa butter, if you can find it, but any flavorless oil (canola, grapeseed etc.) will be fine.

Almond flour: You can use other kinds of nut flours too. Or skip nut flours altogether. Substitute with an equal amount of flour of your choice. I'd recommend brown rice flour, if you can find it, for a more textured cookie. The texture of the batter will be different, depending on the flour you use.

Sprouted wheat flour: I generally prefer this over regular whole wheat flour for baked goods, just because I find it yields a more tender crumb, and its flavor blends into that of other ingredients. That said, chocolate is a strong flavor, so feel free to use whatever flour you have on hand. Prefer pastry flour or all purpose? Use that! You'll get a fluffier, lighter texture. You like whole wheat flour? Go for it! You want to try it with oat flour? It'll work. Here's the thing with gluten free flours, though: They don't give you the same airy texture. They do give you a deliciously textured bite! I have gluten-free chocolate cookie recipes here on my blog. Give ‘em a go!

Coconut sugar: This is my sugar of choice in general for recipes where you would otherwise see brown sugar. You can substitute with brown sugar, if you like.

Greek yogurt: This isn't available everywhere. It's creamier and denser than regular yogurt. Regular yogurt will add too much moisture to the batter and your cookies might spread more while baking. You can substitute with regular yogurt if you strain it first: drain a container of yogurt into a bowl through a cheesecloth-lined sieve for a couple of hours. Use 1/3 cup of the strained yogurt in this recipe. You don't have to discard the whey (the liquid in the bowl). It's just not for this recipe. I use full fat yogurt here, and you could in theory use low fat or fat-free. Just remember, we don’t have much added fat in this recipe, and fat-free substitutes for the yogurt (such as applesauce) will change the crumb of the cookie.

Variations: Try adding some cinnamon to the recipe. About 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon will make for a spicier aroma, without making the cookies too cinnamony. You can also add nuts, if you like - almonds, pecans or walnuts will all be great here. Or try topping with flaked coconut.

That's all, folks. If you have any other suggestions, or any questions, feel free to comment below (I'll get an email and write back to you).

Happy baking!

Great Northern Bean Soup

This humble bean hides flavorful greatness in its starchy innards.

Use whatever's in your pantry to make this easy, light and delicious soup! This can be a hearty starter, or a light main course. I've accompanied this with a compound salad or small sandwich for a filling meal, but I also enjoy it as a starter at dinner. Prep time: approximately 5 - 7 minutes to chop and prepare ingredients. You will also need pre-cooked chicken or protein of choice. Variations and substitutions below. Cook time: 15- 20 minutes. Ingredients:
1 tbsp flavorless oil 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 small shallot, diced 2 tbsp ginger, chopped Salt and pepper to taste 1 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp red chili flakes 1/2 cup (4 oz) cherry tomatoes, halved) quartered 15.5 oz can great northern beans. rinse before using 1/4 tsp smoked paprika (or use regular paprika) 1 cup cooked chicken, chopped (or try canned sausage or meats for easy pantry version) 1 cup kale or baby spinach 3.5 cups chicken stock (or use vegetable broth, or water)
Method:
- Over medium heat, sautee garlic, shallot and ginger in the oil. Season to taste. - Add the cumin and chili flakes, along with the cherry tomatoes. Cook for 20-30 seconds, stirring constantly. - Rinse the beans under cold, running water, and add to the pot. cook for about half a minute. - Add the chicken/protein and kale or baby spinach. Then top with the chicken stock or vegetable broth. - Bring to the boil on high heat, then simmer on low for 10-15 minutes, or until kale is tender. - Serve!
Variations and subs: I've designed this recipe to provide a savory, satisfying flavor. But here are some subs. Shallots: You can use red onions. Great northern beans: You can use any beans you have on-hand. If you're working with dried beans, soak and pre-cook those before using. Cherry tomatoes: You can use frozen vegetables. Chicken: Try this with canned sausages. Tofu would be great in this recipe, but be gentle with it. Add it after adding the stock. Ditto for fish and shellfish. If cooking with raw meats, slice the meat thinly and cook it in the oil for about a minute before adding the garlic and other aromatics. Chicken stock: You can use vegetable stock or just plain water. I'd recommend some kind of broth, TBH. Water just doesn't have the same punch :-) Enjoy! Amina