I love fruit crisps and make one almost every weekend. (Don’t tell anyone, but we eat crisp as a side dish instead of as dessert.) I have a tried and true formula for a wonderful, EASY crisp which you can make with just about ANY fruit.
Today, I set out to make a whole wheat, sugar-free version for a diabetic family member. I refuse to bring artificial sweeteners into my kitchen (I’d rather eat sugar), but I do have lots of agave nectar. It was just the thing. The crisp turned out really tasty. The topping is nutty and nicely flavored. It doesn't have the same crunchiness of my usual fruit crisp, but it's a great sugar-free option.
For this crisp, I used two pears, two apples (one green and one red), and about a cup of frozen blueberries. But you can use lots of different combinations. Some of my favorites:
- pears, apples, and cranberries
- peaches, nectarines, and blueberries
- apples (granny smith or any other firm favorites)
- apples and pears
- strawberries, blueberries, and apples
- plums and apples
- peaches, apples, and cherries
Whole Grain Fruit Crisp
The agave nectar in the topping makes it less crumbly and more like a cookie batter. Crumble it as best you can over the fruit.
For the fruit:
about 6 cups of your favorite fruit, pitted, peeled and sliced as necessary
2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon agave nectar
For the topping:
1 stick margarine
1 cup agave nectar
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup pecans, broken into small pieces
Preheat the oven to 350*.
.)Combine the topping ingredients in a mixing bowl with your fingers till well mixed. It will be less crumbly than a traditional crisp topping. Scatter the topping in bits over the fruit.
Bake for about an hour, till the top is beginning to brown.
Serve warm or refrigerate for up to three days. If you are refrigerating it, bring it back to room temperature before serving.
Thanks for visiting my blog! this sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI love fruit crisps! I'd rather have them than a slice of fruit pie!! This looks and sounds really wonderful!
ReplyDeleteLooks yummy. I like the use of agave nectar.(By the way because we were discussing photography a while back... when I need to do a quick photo edit I use picasa3 which is free to download from google. The autocontrast feature quickly brightens up any picture... http://picasa.google.com/)
ReplyDeleteRochel, I actually use Picasa too and I really like it. Their editing tools are quite good, and it's also a good way to backup my photos. Thanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteThis looks so yummy. Hmmm . . . Now I'm thinking: Is there time to make this before Shabbos?
ReplyDeleteOh, and BTW, I have found that coconut oil is fabulous for making crumble topping. It is expensive, so maybe mixed with something else.
Laura, what a fantastic idea: coconut oil. That has the texture of margarine without the unhealthiness! Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteThis looks delish! I'm so happy to find this because I have some pears, apples and blueberries that I need to use up! Can I ask you - where do you find the agave nectar? What aisle in the grocery store? Or do you get it at a specialty store? I looked this weekend at a&p but couldn't find it!
ReplyDeleteRachel, I get the agave at a health food store, and my local Costco just started carrying it too. I think you might find it in the baking aisle or health food section in a regular supermarket. If you are ok using sugar, try my other crisp recipe, on my kosher cooking blog. There's a link to it right in the first paragraph of this post. (I like the sugar one better but the agave version is goof for diabetics or if you're really health conscious.)
ReplyDeleteMy Husband would love this! Putting it down on my must make list!
ReplyDelete