In my books, crumble doubles as dessert...and breakfast! And why not when it’s full of fruit, nuts, seeds and oats? This crumble is light, crisp and crumbly – thanks to pre-baking the crumble topping separately before sprinkling it over the fruit so there’s no chance of any soggy crumble. You can use any fruit – fresh, canned, frozen (e.g. apple, quince, plums, apricots, pears, feijoas, berries) – you like. It makes a great breakfast cold the next day!

SERVES: 6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients

CRUMBLE TOPPING

¾ cup rolled oats

½ cup desiccated coconut

½ cup ground almonds (or ½ cup plain, wholemeal or gluten-free flour)

¼ cup brown sugar (or white sugar)

Pinch of salt

75-100g butter (at room temp) or coconut oil

¼ cup finely chopped nuts e.g. macadamias, walnuts, pecans, almonds (optional)

FRUIT FILLING

5-6 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1 x 400g can apricots or peaches (fruit and juice from the can)

2-3 tablespoons sugar (or golden syrup or honey), to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170degC. Place rolled oats, coconut, ground almonds/flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix together, making sure there are no lumps of sugar.

2. Rub in butter/coconut oil with your fingertips until it reassembles the texture of breadcrumbs. Stir in chopped nuts (if using) and mix well to combine.

3. Spread crumble over an oven tray and bake for 8-15 minutes or until golden and crunchy. Toss on the tray halfway through cooking and just watch that it isn’t burning.

4. Place fruit in a pot with about ¼ cup water. Cover partially with a lid and cook on medium heat, stirring now and again, until fruit is starting to soften and collapse (note that some apples will hold their shape, whilst others collapse and stew). Sweeten to taste with sugar/golden syrup/honey.

5. Spoon hot fruit into a large baking dish or individual ramekins. Sprinkle crumble on top and return to the oven for a couple of minutes if it needs to warm through a bit more. Serve warm or cold with ice cream, yoghurt or cream (my favourite, is a mix of yoghurt and whipped cream, sweetened with a little maple syrup and a pinch of cinnamon) for dessert...or breakfast

Tips & Substitutions

o   The fruit filling can be whatever you want it to be. You can use any fruit or mix of fruit – fresh, canned, frozen (e.g. apple, quince, plums, apricots, pears, feijoas, berries) – you like. You’ll need about 3-4 cups of cooked or stewed fruit filling

o   Some of my favourite fruit crumble combinations are apple & blackberry, pear & feijoa, apple & feijoa, quince & apple, apple & apricot, plum & apricot etc

o   Depending on the variety you use (particularly with apples), the fruit may hold its shape or collapse completely and stew – either way is fine!

o   Keep an eye on the crumble to make sure it is not burning – the cooking time will depend on how hot your oven is, and whether you’ve used ground almonds (which toast much faster) or flour

o   Turn the crumble topping halfway through cooking

o   Add some nuts and seeds to the crumble topping if you like

o   To make maple cinnamon yoghurt cream (which I like to eat my crumble with), fold ½ cup whipped cream with ½ cup yoghurt, a good pinch of ground cinnamon and a drizzle of maple syrup