by Amy Panetta, MA NC
There is just nothing like a warm apple crumble on a crisp autumn day! This recipe provides for a wonderful opportunity to consume local produce since apples, as well as blackberries and cranberries, are now in season in the Northern Hemisphere. While it is possible that blackberries were in season earlier in your area, this recipe could incorporate any frozen local blackberries that you might have harvested (or of course, store-bought can be used as well). As an allergen note, by using gluten-free oats, this recipe can easily be gluten free.
In a 125 gram serving, this recipe provides a great balance of satiating fiber (5 g), fats (10 g), and protein (4 g). As far as micronutrients are concerned, this crumble recipe packs in 23% of the daily nutrient value in Manganese, 13% of Magnesium, 10% of Phosphorus, 9% of Iron and Potassium, as well as a trace amounts of Calcium, Copper, Selenium, and Zinc. While nutrient loss often occurs to the phytonutrient content, in their raw state, apples, blackberries, and cranberries, all contain anthocyanidins, flavan-3-ols, flavanones, flavones, and flavonols.
In Ayurveda, it is said that during the chillier months our metabolism needs to work harder, so warming spices, such as cinnamon and allspice can help with providing some support for our digestive fire. These spices are also beneficial to other aspects of our health. Cinnamon can help to support normal blood sugar levels. Allspice has been shown to be helpful in prostate and breast cancers.
Please enjoy this satisfying, aromatic dessert, free of gluten, dairy, soy, and added sugars!
Filling
1 1/2 cup fresh dates
Juice from one lemon
Juice from one orange
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
⅛-¼ cup water
1 tsp orange zest
6 oz. package of fresh blackberries
½ cup fresh cranberries
5 apples (choose one or two varieties of sweet local apples)
Topping
¼ cup date mixture from filling recipe
1 cup old-fashioned oats (use gluten-free if there is an allergy)
1 cup almond flour
Pinch of salt
Sprinkle of pecan pieces
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. With a blender, mix dates, lemon juice, orange juice, spices, water, and arrowroot powder together. Set ¼ cup of mixture aside and pour the rest of the mixture into a large mixing bowl and add orange zest.
Wash and cut each cranberry in half. Add cut cranberries and blackberries to the bowl with the wet mixture. Peel, core, and thinly slice apples vertically. Add all apples to the bowl. Stir wet mixture and all fruit gently so that it is mixed evenly. Add the contents of the bowl to a standard apple pie dish.
To make the topping, add the oats, almond flour, date mixture, and salt to a mixing bowl, incorporating all ingredients evenly. Spread oat mixture on top of apples in the pie dish. Top with a sprinkle of pecan pieces. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool, and enjoy!
Khalsa, K. P. S., & Tierra, M. (2008). The way of ayurvedic herbs: the most complete guide to natural healing and health with traditional ayurvedic herbalism. Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus.
Singletary, K. (2008). Cinnamon. Nutrition Today, 43(6), 263–266. doi: 10.1097/01.nt.0000342702.19798.fe
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United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. USDA Food Composition Databases, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, USA, 2018, https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/Flav/Flav_R03-1.pdf.
Zhang, L., & Lokeshwar, B. L. (2012). Medicinal Properties of the Jamaican Pepper Plant Pimenta dioica and Allspice. Current Drug Targets, 13(14), 1900–1906. doi: 10.2174/138945012804545641
Amy Panetta, MA NC, empowers women to transform overwhelm, stress, and fatigue, into vibrant energy while feeling lighter in the process. In her thesis, Amy focused on the connection between chronic stress, allostatic overload, and obesity in women. She currently works with clients individually or in groups to create their own transitional approach towards a diet filled with lots of whole foods, helpful supplementation, and lifestyle changes. She offers nutrition consulting online, as well as outside of Montreal, Quebec and in the Burlington, Vermont area. For more information, you can find her in the following ways:
Website: http://www.amypanetta.com
Instagram: amy.panetta.ma.nc
