Apple Cranberry Crumble

Apple Cranberry Crumble

This Apple Cranberry Crumble is just bursting with holiday flavors.  Those tart cranberries are a nice contrast against the warm sweet flavors of cinnamon and apples.  The fresh orange zest adds a brightness that expertly ties them both together. When it comes to saving calories fruit crumbles or crisps are a great choice over pies.  Not only is there no bottom crust but the crumbly top contains walnuts and oatmeal which have been noted for their health benefits.  And when you have a crunchy delicious top like this you’d be hard pressed to actually miss that soggy bottom that often occurs with a fruit pie.  Whole cranberries are a good source of dietary fiber, and contain flavonoids which are powerful antioxidants. As far as desserts go this is one of the best choices you can make.

Ingredients for the Filling: 

·         12 oz bag cranberries, rinsed and drained

·         3 apples, peeled and diced

·         1orange,  juice and zest

·         ½ cup white sugar or sugar substitute

·         2 tbsp cornstarch

·         cinnamon to taste

Ingredients for the Topping:

·         ½ cup gluten free Bisquick

·         ¾ oats, certified gluten free

·         ½ cup walnuts

·         ¾ cup brown sugar

·         5 tbsp cold butter diced

·         cinnamon to taste

Video Tutorial:

Instructions:

1.      Preheat the oven to 350°F  or 175 °C

2.      Grease a 10 inch deep dish pie plate or similarly sized casserole dish.  Place the baking dish onto a foil lined baking sheet just encase anything spills over during the baking process.

3.      Put the cornstarch into a small bowl.  In the same bowl add the juice and zest of the orange then stir it together to form a lump free slurry and set it aside.

4.      Sprinkle the apples with cinnamon and add them to a large bowl with the cranberries.  Add the sugar and stir then add the cornstarch orange slurry and stir again before transferring the fruit mixture to the pie plate or casserole dish.

5.      For the topping add the Bisquick, oats, walnuts, brown sugar, butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon to a medium bowl.  Crumble the mixture together by pinching the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers until you have a coarse crumbly mixture.

6.      Spoon the crumb topping evenly over the fruit and bake it for 1 hour or until the top looks brown and crispy.  Allow the crumble to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. 

Cranberry Apple Crisp or Crumble

Notes:  If you find the cranberries in this recipe are too tart for your tastes, you could adjust the recipe by either adding more sugar to the filling or decreasing the amount of cranberries in the recipe.  For each 4 ounces of cranberries not used substitute one extra apple, pear or other similar fruit.  To make this old fashioned dessert look more upscale you could bake this in individual ramekins.