Soft and sweet cinnamon apples combined with a crispy oat topping make this Oaty Apple Crumble a comforting and warming dessert that the whole family will love and it's lighter than most desserts too! Forget traditional crumble topping - this oaty toppings has a lovely crunch to it and makes it a Healthy Apple Crumble.
Deliciously sweet apples mixed with some cinnamon and topped with a crispy oat topping. This is our twist on a traditional apple crumble and we actually prefer it this way now.
The perfect comforting dessert on a cool day. Whilst we used apples, you could swap them for pears, or use a mixture of both.
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Why should you try it?
- Healthy comfort food
- Low in fat
- Just 177 calories a portion
- Easy to freeze the leftovers
- Can be done with pear instead of apples or a mixture
What you will need
- Apples - the star of the dish. We like to use Granny Smith or Honeycrisp, but you really could use any apple.
- Cinnamon - apple and cinnamon is such a classic combination. You could swap the cinnamon for nutmeg or ginger, or even a mixture of all three.
- Brown sugar - you might not expect to see sugar in a "healthy" recipe, but it really does add so much flavour and we have only used 1 and a half table spoons.
- Oats - although crumble topping isn't usually made with oats, we find it gives it such a nice texture and gives it a fibre boost too.
- Maple syrup - we used this instead of sugar for the topping as it has lots of flavour, so you can use less of it.
- Coconut oil - this is used instead of butter in the topping. Don't worry, it doesn't give it a coconut flavour.
Step by step
One: Mix together the oats, maple syrup and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil.
Two: Add one tbsp of coconut oil to a pan and melt. Add the apples and gently cook for 5 minutes until softened. Put the sugar and cinnamon in the pan, stir and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Three: Put the cooked apples in a baking dish.
Four: Top with the oat mix.
Five: Put in a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F.
Six: After 20 minutes, remove from the oven.
What makes this healthy?
This is a hearty and comforting dessert, that doesn't over-do it on calories and fat either. We are all about the desserts at the moment, and finding ways to make them lighter so they can be more of an every day thing, rather than a once in a while thing.
We have used a little bit of brown sugar and maple syrup to give it some extra sweetness, but not as much as you would usually find in an apple crumble. Apples are so good this time of year, that we wanted to let the natural sweetness shine through.
Just 6 ingredients go in to making this healthy apple crumble, so you can be sure exactly what has gone in to it, compared to buying it in store. And it's only 177 calories per portion too.
Using oats in a crumble
Traditionally a crumble topping is made with butter, sugar and flour. But we have changed things up and used some coconut oil, maple syrup and oats. You could add some crushed almonds or pecans too.
I really like using oats instead of flour, as it gives the crumble much more texture and I think it is nicer to look at too. Plus, an oat and apple combination is basically breakfast, and who doesn't want crumble for breakfast!
FAQs
When it comes to the best apple for your an apple crumble, we like to use a crisp, tart variety that keeps fairly solid when baking. Something like a Granny Smith or Honeycrisp work well. You could use a mixture of the two, or Golden Delicious is another good choice.
Yes, with this recipe you do have to soften them in a pan first, this means that they don't have to be in the oven as long.
You can top this oaty crumble with some custard, ice cream or Greek yogurt, or just leave it as it is. I personally think that this could be considered a breakfast item, as it's oats and fruit. That is what we are telling ourselves anyway.
We topped ours with some vanilla frozen yogurt as a bit more of an indulgent dessert.
Yes, you can make the apples and topping in advance, layer it in your baking dish and then just put it in the oven to crisp up before you are ready to serve it.
We hardly ever have any leftovers of this, as we can happily eat double portions. But if so, it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. You could freeze it in containers, but the oats would go a little soggy once defrosted. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
You can put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes to reheat, or put it in the oven for 10-15 minutes. If it has been in the freezer, then allow it to fully defrost in the fridge before reheating.
Extra tips
- Serve with either custard, yogurt, ice cream or frozen yogurt.
- You can also make this in the microwave - head over to our Instagram Page to see how.
- You could swap the apples for pears, or use a mixture of them both to make this crumble.
- Add some ginger and nutmeg for some extra seasonal flavours.
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Recipe card
Oaty Apple Crumble
Ingredients
- 400 g apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1.5 tbsp brown sugar
- 100 g oats
- 1 tbsp Maple syrup
- 3 tbsp Coconut oil, melted
Instructions
- Mix together the oats, maple syrup and 2 tbsp of coconut oil.
- Add one tbsp of coconut oil to a pan and melt. Add the apples and gently cook for 5 minutes until softened. Put the sugar and cinnamon in the pan, stir and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Put the cooked apples in a baking dish.
- Top with the oat mix.
- Put in a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F for 20 minutes.
Notes
- Serve with either custard, yogurt, ice cream or frozen yogurt.
- You can also make this in the microwave - head over to our Instagram Page to see how.
- You could swap the apples for pears, or use a mixture of them both to make this crumble.
Emma
This was beautiful and actually much nicer than a traditional crumble topping. I added some fresh ginger and doubled the cinnamon. Gorgeous.
Nart at Cooking with Nart
This looks fantastic! I have lots of oats and apples so going to try this recipe tomorrow!