Apple Cranberry Crumble

A crumble is a dish that originates from Britain which can be prepared as a sweet or savory version. The sweet variety is made with any fruit and topped with a crumble mixture that contains butter, flour and sugar. This dish is baked in an oven and the topping gets crispy which is the highlight of the dish. It is best served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. The combination of warm apple crumble with ice cream is delish!! 

The very first time I tried apple crumble was in my teens and I have made it several times, especially when I have plenty of apples that need to be used up soon. Normally, I make the apple crumble by adding lemon juice to the apple slices to retain the color. I wanted to switch things up a bit and add some cranberries to the apple crumble. What better ingredient to compliment cranberries than oranges?? The result was warm and refreshing apple cranberry crumble.

Ingredients:

For the filling:

3 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 1/2 tbsp organic cane sugar (or granulated sugar)
2 tbsp whole wheat flour (or all purpose flour)
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
2 tbsp orange juice
1/4 tsp grated orange zest
3-4 tbsp dried cranberries (use as-is or soak in orange juice for 5-10 mins before using)
1/8 tsp of salt

For crumble topping:

1/3 cup whole wheat flour (or all purpose flour)
1/3 cup quick cooking or rolled oats 
3/4 tsp cinnamon powder
4 tbsp light brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
3 tbsp cold vegan butter (like earth balance)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a baking dish with butter (or cooking spray) and set aside.

Peel, core and cut apples into 1/4 inch slices. In a large mixing bowl, add apples, sugar, orange juice, orange zest, flour, salt, cinnamon and dried cranberries and toss well.  Pour the filling into the baking dish and spread out evenly.

In another bowl, add the flour, oats, cinnamon powder, brown sugar, salt, chopped pecans and mix well. Using your fingers (or you can use an electric mixer if you don't want to get your hands messy), add the cold butter and gently mix until the mixture is crumbly and pea-sized lumps are formed.

Spread the crumble mixture evenly over the apple filling and bake for 40-45 mins until the apples are bubbly and the topping is brown. 

Serve warm as-is or with whipped coconut cream or vanilla ice cream (optional). For a variation, you can combine apples and pears or any berries.

Makes 5-6 servings.