For movie night - a grain-free version of a classic apple and pear crumble

For movie night - a grain-free version of a classic apple and pear crumble

• 4.14.2014

I'm so excited about this recipe I came up with the other weekend!

I love local, seasonal dishes--I know it's not apple and pear season, so if you want to complete the experience by shopping local or picking your own, uh... pin this for later, k? I normally get most excited about seasonal dishes (or clothes, decor, whatever) but the impetus for this recipe was my recent discovery of the cutest British cooking show, plus the Harry Potter movie re-watching we've been doing with my siblings-in-law over the past few months. (I'm a HP purist, so I only saw the movies once in the theater, hated them because they were so different from the book, and forgot them - and re-watching them has been a little hard, but I'm trying to enjoy them for the visuals only!)

But also, I just watched this Delicious Miss Dahl episode about what is apparently a classic British pudding -- pear and apple crumble. On one of the episodes about nostalgia (foods based on mood! I love it!). This show is so charming and I've been watching all of the videos on YouTube, and love Sophie's formal British voice but playful, carefree cooking style plus classic, quality ingredients. She's the cutest. So she made a simple pear and apple crumble (I think we'd call it a "crisp" here, as well) and I figured it'd be a perfect dessert for our upcoming Harry Potter movie night! (With some modifications to make a grain-free version!)

So anyway, inspired by this video and all the scenes of banquet tables full of hearty British food made by house-elves in Harry Potter books... I made this recipe!

Typically a crisp/crumble topping is made primarily with oatmeal, but if you're strictly gluten-free you may avoid oats because they are normally cross-contaminated with gluten-containing grains. And if you're like me and eat a Paleo diet, maybe you avoid all grains altogether. So instead, I recreated the crumble topping with a mix of nuts and seeds! Even more delicious, less soggy, and more nutrient-dense with lower carbohydrate load! Win-win-win.

Grain-Free Pear and Apple Crumble Recipe

Ingredients:

Fruit base:

• 2 apples
• 2 pears
• 2-4 tbsp. butter
• 1/4 c. coconut milk
• 1/4 c. coconut palm sugar or sweetener of choice

Crumble topping:

• 1/4 c. sunflower seeds
• 1/4 c. almonds (or try any nut - pecans? walnuts?)
• 1/4 c. unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/4 c. coconut palm sugar or sweetener of choice
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 4 tbsp. butter (cold)
• 2 tsp. vanilla (optional)

Optional: Coconut Whipped Cream:

• 1 c. coconut cream (the thick top of the can of coconut milk, Aroy-D Coconut Cream, or the canned stuff from Trader Joe's)
• 2-3 tsp. coconut palm sugar or sweetener of choice (honey would be great!)

Instructions:

For the fruit base:

1. Thinly slice the apples and pears. We left our slices long but very thin.
2. Heat the butter if it's cold; stir butter, coconut milk, and coconut palm sugar or sweetener of choice. Pour the mixture over the apples and pears; gently toss.
3. Put fruit base into glass baking dish.

For the crumble topping:

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a small food processor. Pulse until chunky.
2. Add butter in small chunks, pulse quickly. 
3. Add vanilla if using, pulse quickly.
4. Dump/distribute onto fruit in baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown and apples are soft. Once finished, cut into servings and put into pretty dishes. =) (Makes 5-6 servings.)

Before serving, you can make this super easy, fast whipped coconut cream recipe to top it with! Or use organic cream from a grassfed cow if you tolerate dairy.

For the coconut whipped cream:

1. Scoop off the thick top of the unshaken can of coconut milk, if using, into a mixing bowl. If using coconut cream, just put in bowl. Add sugar or sweetener of choice, like coconut palm sugar or maple syrup.
2. Whip with an immersion blender or hand mixer until fluffy peaks form. Dolop onto servings of crumble. (Mine was too warm so it didn't cooperate for these photos! Store your can in the fridge before using to make sure it separates.)

Add cinnamon on top if you like! Yum!

Modification: Since I made this the other weekend, we've started another 21 Day Sugar Detox and are not eating any added sweeteners or more than 1 piece of not-very-sweet fruit per day. But this recipe could be easily modified for a 21DSD; use green apples only, and omit sweetener for all three components. I know from experience that a few days into the sugar detox, even the not-sweetened version of this would taste pretty sweet!!

It was seriously SO good. And so simple!

Here is the original recipe, made with oatmeal and flour and cane sugar. And you can watch the video of darling Sophie making it! Seriously, you'll fall in love with her accent and happy attitude.