I’ve always loved a good fruit crumble, however, the traditional recipe calls for butter, wheat flour and oats – all of which are not compatible ingredients for a dairy and gluten free diet.
But when I saw some beautiful pink rhubarb in our local store recently, I was inspired to try and create a traditional style crumble that I could enjoy too!
During my time as a pastry chef in NZ, I developed a rhubarb crumble recipe that became so popular it wasn’t allowed to come off the menu until we came up with another best seller. This became quite the headache for the head chef, who strongly believed a humble fruit crumble did not belong on the menu of a fine dining restaurant.
I’m not sure we ever found anything quite as popular to replace it with, but it did eventually come off and the head chef could once again breathe easy. New Zealanders really love their fruit crumble!
The key to the success of that crumble recipe was the following qualities: it was crunchy on top yet soft underneath; some chunky clusters of crumble mixed in with finer crumbs; threaded coconut; and just enough spice to have you wondering what that familiar flavour is.
With those qualities in mind, I set about creating a new crumble recipe that was dairy, gluten and refined sugar free…. and I ended up creating two recipes! One with oats and one without, as some people can tolerate oats even if they generally eat a gluten free diet.
The unrefined sweetener also has a big effect on how your crumble turns out. If you like a more chunky traditional crumble then pure maple syrup is the best choice, but if you like a finer crumble then use coconut sugar. One thing to note about coconut sugar, is it has a lower melting point so in a crumble it can burn a little around the edges at regular oven temperatures. The best way to avoid this is to cook the crumble at a slightly lower temperature e.g. 160ºC and keep an eye on it.
Feel free to get creative with the fruit combinations for either of these crumble recipes. I’ve used rhubarb and apple, and blueberry and apple here, but you could equally use any berries, stone fruit or otherwise to your liking.
One of the things I love most about these crumbles is they’re essentially like healthy granola on top of cooked fruit, which means eating dessert for breakfast just became a reality! 😉
If you have any leftovers they taste just as good cold, or can be easily reheated and are perfect with a dollop of your favourite coconut yoghurt or nice cream.
I hope you enjoy these crumble recipes, and if you post any of your creations to Instagram I would love to see them – tag me @swoon.food and #swoonfood so I can find them. Enjoy!
Apple & Rhubarb Oat Crumble (dairy free)
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes
3 apples
4-6 stalks of rhubarb
1 Tbsp coconut sugar
1/4 cup coconut sugar OR pure maple syrup (see above for the difference)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup oats
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup coconut thread
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp vanilla essence or powder
pinch Himalayan pink salt
Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Wash the apples and rhubarb well, and peel the apples if you are not using organic. Cut the apples and rhubarb into small cubes about 1cm square, and place in a baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp coconut sugar.
To make the crumble place the coconut oil and pure maple syrup (if using – otherwise add the coconut sugar to the dry ingredients) in a small pan and gently heat until melted. Remove from heat. Combine the oats, almonds, coconut thread, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. Pour the melted coconut oil over the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Pile the crumble on top of the fruit and place the dish in the centre of the preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes. The crumble is cooked when the fruit has softened (and will be piping hot!) and the crumble has turned a golden brown. Note: coconut sugar will create a much darker looking crumble than maple syrup.
Serve large spoonfuls of the crumble topped with your favourite coconut yoghurt or nice cream. The cooked crumble will keep covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Tip: If you don’t have ground almonds you can make your own by placing whole almonds in a food processor and blending until they resemble fine bread crumbs.
Apple & Blueberry Almond Crumble (dairy & gluten free)
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes
3 apples
1 cup blueberries
1/4 cup pure maple syrup OR coconut sugar (see above for the difference)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup coconut thread
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp vanilla essence or powder
pinch of Himalayan pink salt
Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Wash the apples and blueberries well, and peel the apples if you are not using organic. Cut the apples into small cubes about 1cm square, and place in a baking dish with the blueberries.
To make the crumble place the coconut oil and pure maple syrup (if using – otherwise add the coconut sugar to the dry ingredients) in a small pan and gently heat until melted. Remove from heat. Combine the coconut sugar (if using), almonds, coconut thread, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. Pour the melted coconut oil over the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Pile the crumble on top of the fruit and place the dish in the centre of the preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes. The crumble is cooked when the fruit has softened (and will be piping hot!) and the crumble has turned a golden brown. Note: coconut sugar will create a much darker looking crumble than maple syrup.
Serve large spoonfuls of crumble topped with your favourite coconut yoghurt or nice cream. The cooked crumble will keep covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Tip: If you don’t have ground almonds you can make your own by placing whole almonds in a food processor and blending until they resemble fine bread crumbs.
