Apple Crumble

Meet apple crumble, reimagined. Here we have all the elements of a traditional apple crumble, down to the raisin, cinnamon and apple pieces — except we’re serving the apples whole, as an elegantly tender shell for the nutty crumble. Plus, we’re only dishing up half the saturated fat of a commercial crumble, and almost half the carbs.

INGREDIENTS Makes 4

  • 4 green or red apples (or a combination)

  • 1 tablespoon raisins or currants

  • 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract 

  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice

  • 21⁄4 tablespoons maple syrup

  • 3⁄4 cup (100 g) mixed nuts, such as  slivered almonds, macadamias, skinless hazelnuts and pistachios 

  • 1 tablespoon shredded coconut

  • 4 tablespoons rolled oats

  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter coconut yoghurt, to serve

METHOD

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Using a sharp knife, cut 1.5 cm (5⁄8 inch) from the top of each apple; you can either snack on these the apple ‘lids’, or bake them. Make a slight incision around the centre of each apple, to stop them bursting and collapsing during baking. Remove and discard the cores, using an apple corer if you have one.

  2. Using a thin-edged teaspoon, carefully remove the inside of the apple, leaving 1–1.5 cm (3⁄4 inch) of the ‘shell’ intact to create a bowl. Cut the carved-out apple bits into 1 cm (1⁄2 inch) pieces.

  3. Place the apple pieces in a bowl, along with the raisins, cinnamon, vanilla extract, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of the maple syrup. Add a pinch of sea salt and mix until well combined. Fill the apples with the mixture, reserving the bowl.

  4. Coarsely chop the nuts and combine in the bowl with coconut, oats, oil, remaining 2 tablespoons maple syrup and a pinch of sea salt.

  5. Individually cover each apple with foil, then place along one side of the baking tray. Tip the nut crumble mixture onto the other side of the tray.

  6. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until the crumble mixture is golden. Remove the crumble mixture to a bowl.

  7. Remove the foil from the apples, then bake for a further 5 minutes, or until the apples are tender.

  8. Top the apples with the crumble mixture and serve warm or cooled, with coconut yoghurt.

top tip

If some family members like one apple colour more than another, you can cook a mixture of varieties at the same time, as long as they’re the same size. Just be aware that some apples cook at a different rate (e.g. pink ladies can take 25 minutes, but green apples only 20), so you may need to remove some earlier than the others, before they start to soften too much.

1 serve protein per serve

1 serve fruit per serve