Blueberry Apple Oat-Almond Crumble (with gluten-free option)

This time of year, the seasonal pickings are relatively slim. What I wouldn’t give for summer fresh, farmer’s market berries, tomatoes, and peaches! This recipe for blueberry apple crumble is a great way to shrug off winter and take advantage of blueberries frozen at their peak flavor in the summer months. 

Blueberry Apple Oat-Almond Crumble

A Chef in Residency dessert recipe wouldn’t be complete without a recipe rehab. This recipe rehab took a traditional crumble, then amped up the healthy components and decreased the refined carbohydrates and unhealthy fats as much as possible without sacrificing taste.

The finished product was a total success! I made the crumble in the evening and took it to brunch the following day—it was devoured in minutes and several people asked for the recipe. No one could believe that it was a healthy dessert! (I don't recommend that you tell people...they'll never know.)

For the skeptics out there, I have listed both the healthy ingredients and the refined flours/sugars options so that you can make as many or as few of the alterations as you feel comfortable with. However, I urge you to try the recipe with all of the healthier ingredients since it is at least as delicious as the original.

This recipe is/has:

Tart

Sweet

Fruity

Fresh

Crunchy

Nutty

Notes of cinnamon

Blueberry Apple Oat-Almond Crumble (can be gluten-free)

Ingredients

Filling:

2 pounds fresh or frozen blueberries

1 large Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped into ¼ to ½-inch cubes

¼ cup all-purpose flour, white whole-wheat flour or oat flour (sub with 1 Tablespoon+1 teaspoon of arrowroot powder for gluten-free)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ cup finely chopped dates (or ¼ cup granulated sugar)

Juice of 1 lemon (or bitter orange)

Zest of 1 lemon, chopped (or bitter orange)

Crumble Topping:

1 cup almonds             

1 cup of old-fashioned oats (or 1 cup all-purpose flour)

½ cup dates, packed (or sub ¼ cup granulated sugar PLUS 1/3 cup packed brown sugar)

¼ tsp salt

3 Tbsp canola oil (originally, 1 stick or 8 Tablespoons of butter)

½ cup old-fashioned oats, left whole

             

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Mix together filling ingredients: stir together blueberries, apples, flour (or arrowroot), sugar (or dates), cinnamon, lemon juice and zest and set aside.

3. Process almonds and 1 cup oats (or all-purpose flour) in the food processor until they look like flour. Add sugars (or dates), salt and oil; process until well combined. Stir in ½ cup oats, leaving unprocessed.

4. Spray a 13x9-inch cake pan with non-stick spray (or grease with butter or oil), then pour in blueberry mixture making sure that it is relatively level. Sprinkle with crumble topping (use all of the topping). 

5. Bake for 50-70 minutes on the middle shelf in the oven until blueberry juice is bubbling up through in places and the crumble is just starting to brown. Note: if baking in 12 individual dishes (as pictured) cut baking time to 45 minutes.

6. Cool for 15 minutes before eating. Cool completely before covering with a lid or plastic.

Serve as is or with vanilla ice cream. This is delicious reheated.

Makes 12 servings

Bran Muffin Recipe Rehab

Did you know that most bakery muffins have almost as much sugar as a can of soda?!? Those healthy-looking bran muffins are no different than their blueberry cousins. Most bakery muffins are simply made from a cake recipe baked into the shape of a muffin.

If this doesn’t make you feel cheated, then I don’t know what does. We expect this from pastries, but not muffins—especially not bran muffins!

By the way, that chocolate croissant you passed up for an apple bran muffin the last time you were in Starbucks—it had less than 1/3 the sugar of the muffin!

Before you throw up your hands in defeat and start gobbling chocolate croissants for breakfast everyday, try this rehabilitated bran muffin recipe. Each muffin has 75% less sugar than average bakery muffins and no oil. Don’t worry, they’re still delicious…especially when topped with cinnamon sugar before putting them in the oven.

Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour (can substitute all-purpose flour instead)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 3/4 tsp baking powder*

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/4 c milk (dairy milk or unsweetened non-dairy milk)

1/2 c unsweetened applesauce

1 egg (or flax “egg”**)

¼ cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons molasses

2 cups bran cereal (like All Bran)

Cinnamon sugar, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.
3. If using flax “egg”, mix 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed together with 2 tablespoons of hot water and let sit for a couple minutes to thicken. Stir again before using.
4. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together milk, applesauce, egg (or flax “egg”) brown sugar, and molasses.
5. Add flour mixture and bran cereal to liquid mixture and fold together until just combined.
6. Place 12 muffin cups in a regular (1/2 cup) sized muffin tin; spray muffin cups with non-stick spray. Use a ½ cup scoop to portion batter into muffin cups. The batter should come up nearly to the top of the cups (which will make ~10 muffins) or slightly less than full (which will make 12 muffins). If desired, sprinkle tops of muffins with cinnamon sugar.
7. Place muffin tin into the oven and lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake for 20 minutes. Test with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin; it will come out clean or with crumbs (no liquid batter) when done.
8. Remove muffins from tin within a couple minutes of removing from the oven and cook them on a rack or serve.

Bran Muffin Recipe Rehab--Now Healthy, Still Delicious

Makes 10-12 muffins.

Serve alone or with butter and jam.

*If using all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour, use only 1-1/2 tsp of baking powder.

**To replace 1 egg in a recipe, mix 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed together with 2 tablespoons of hot water and let sit for a couple minutes to thicken. Stir again before using.

Time-saving tip: After muffins cool on the rack, transfer them to a gallon-sized ziplock bag or other airtight container and freeze. For a quick breakfast, heat in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to warm through.

Other flavor options:

• Add ½ cup golden raisins or currants, or 1 cup diced apples tossed in ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, to the flour mixture in step #2.
• For a bit of extra spice, you can add ¼ teaspoon of ground cardamom or ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice with the cinnamon in step 2.