One year some friends invited us to take advantage of the over-abundance from their backyard apple and pear trees. Not one to often turn down free food, I carted a big soup pot into the weeds behind their house and spent several blissful afternoons climbing through the branches, relishing golden warmth streaming through the leaves, delighting in the wild rural solitude, and… oh yeah, picking apples.
Climbing the trees made me feel like I was 9 years old again, scampering up any trunk I could get my grimy little fingers around. That feeling was solidified when I ran into the angry snake that was hiding in the weeds, and I bolted back to the house – soup pot of apples in tow (priorities, ya know).
Serpents aside, that year and the next I began experimenting with the sugar levels in our apple crisp. Because inevitably, whenever a big pan of apple crisp is whisked out of the oven in mine or my in-law’s houses, crisp becomes the food of choice for just about every meal.
And I whole heartedly embrace this practice, especially after discovering that apple crisp hardly needs any processed sugar to satisfy that fruity crisp craving.
If your table is housed with passionate apple crisp connoisseurs, they might require a little more sugar and a few less of the optional add-ins. But my husband and his family are consistently pleased with this healthier version, especially with the addition of ice cream or whipped cream.
Here are some thoughts to consider when “healthifying” your version of apple crisp:
1. Use whole wheat flour and/or oats
In my experience, apple crisp is fairly forgiving of that whole wheat texture that bothers some people who are used to solely white flour.
2. Sweeten the apples with honey
Instead of using a cup and a half of white sugar to sweeten the apples, try sweetening them with a generous drizzle of honey (1/2 – 3/4 C. maybe?). Remember that apples are already sweet on their own, and after baking in the honey, they cook down to a sticky sweetness that I find even more appealing than the texture sugar gives them.
3. Don’t peel the apples
I’m sure this breaks one of the ancient laws of apple crisp, but I almost never peel my apples. Baking them turns the apple skins nice and soft (maybe thanks to the honey), and it saves me a lot of time in preparation.
4. Try other add-ins
Throw in a tablespoon or two of any of the following: wheat or oat bran, ground nuts, sesame seeds, ground flax seeds, etc. I add various amounts nearly every time I make apple crisp.
In my experience, apple crisp is so versatile I hardly need to follow a recipe. I recommend you experiment with various ones using the tips above and see what you come up with!
Or maybe that recommendation is just my excuse for not having a concrete recipe to give you.
The last two times I made apple crisp, I concentrated on my measurements (solely for you) and came up with this recipe/guideline to start you out.
Apple Crisp (Healthified)
Makes 1 9”x13′” pan
Or serves Chris and Steph for one evening’s dessert (Kidding… kind of.)
INGREDIENTS
- 6-8 Apples (enough to fill the pan – remember they will cook down)
- 1/2 C. Honey
- 1/4 C. Sugar (I didn’t have enough to use only honey; feel free to experiment with different amounts or leave out the sugar entirely)
- 2 t. Lemon juice
- 1/2 t. Cinnamon (or more if you really like cinnamon)
- Optional: cranberries, chopped walnuts or pecans, dash of nutmeg and/or allspice
Filling:
- 1 C. Rolled oats (both quick and old fashioned work)
- 1 C. Freshly ground whole wheat flour (same amount if using non-freshly ground)
- 3 T. – 1/3 C. Sugar (Or just do what I accidentally did meticulously planned out this last time: omit sugar entirely, then 20 minutes into baking, drizzle 3 T. – 1/4 C. honey over the topping. Worked splendidly)
- 1/2 t. Cinnamon
- Optional: dash of nutmeg and allspice, a few tablespoons of any of the following – wheat bran, wheat germ, ground flax seeds, ground nuts
- 1 C. Cold butter
DIRECTIONS
- Wash and chop apples, leaving skins on and placing them in a 9”x13” pan
- Drizzle honey and lemon juice over apples
- Add sugar (or not), cinnamon, and any optional add-ins, then mix them all together
- In a small bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar (or not), cinnamon, and optional add-ins
- Cut in butter using two knives or a pastry cutter until crumbs are the size of peas
- Evenly pour the mixture over apples in pan
- Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 40-50 minutes, until brown and bubbly
- Serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or just plain for breakfast (or lunch or dinner…)
Other apple crisp recipes to consider:
Apple Crisp from Tammy’s Recipes
Moosewood Apple Crisp from Breastfeeding Moms Unite
Cranberry Apple Crisp from Splash of Gourmet
Other fun and frugal things to do with apples:
5 Ways to Preserve Your Apples from Kitchen Stewardship
No-Peel Apple Options from Frugal Granola
Cinnamon Apple Omelet from Mr. Breakfast
QUESTION DU JOUR:
I’m sure you have your own ways of healthifying desserts that are a bit too popular at your house. What are the first steps you take when making an unhealthy dessert a little better (and still tasty)?
This post is participating in What’s On Your Plate, a conversation amongst good eaters. Go here to start talking!
Cheers,
5 comments
2 pings
The Lass
10/29/2010 at 4:00 AM (UTC -6)
Yuuummmmyy! I will certainly try that this week. When it comes to sweet dishes, I have not yet come up with much healthier alternatives to the usual recipes, I have to admit.
I used to experiment a lot with low fat dairy and occasionally omitted sugar, but none of that really worked too well. Nowadays I use whole milk, as I consider it more of a whole food and I do use the amounts of sugar or butter specified in the recipes.I always try to use whole grain flour and Agave nectar or raw cane sugar as sweeteners, but that’s about as healthy as sweet stuff gets around here. We all love our smoothies, though, so we have that often, using oats and sweetening it with bananas and and a drizzle of honey.
Steph
10/29/2010 at 10:12 AM (UTC -6)
The Lass – oats in your smoothies?!?! Tell me more – I may have tried it in the past, but I don’t think I’ve heard of other people doing it. I’d love some inspiration to make my smoothies more filling.
SusieBee
10/29/2010 at 11:25 AM (UTC -6)
Beautiful picture of the apples sprinkled with cinnamon!
I sub part or all of flour with whole wheat/oats; use applesauce, yogurt or canola oil for butter (I’ve heard flax seed works but haven’t tried yet). Usually cut the sugar down by at least a 1/3 and use agave or honey as a sub.
Rebecca Burgener
10/31/2010 at 12:54 PM (UTC -6)
Oh, this looks wonderful.
I’ve been making homemade eggnog the last several years a couple times each holiday season and each time I use a little less sugar. It turns out better each year. The store bought stuff makes me sick. It always has, and I drank it anyway because it tasted so good.
After having the real stuff, I can’t go back to store bought.
This year I want to use unpasteurized milk and organic eggs. I’m already anxious to get started.
Steph
11/01/2010 at 8:39 AM (UTC -6)
Rebecca – Way to go serving up something healthier and healthier – and tastier and tastier! Yeah, the amount of sugar in regular apple crisp gives me a headache now.
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