‘The Healthonist’ Recipes by Pamela Ryan – APPLE & BLACKBERRY HAZELNUT CRUMBLE |

It’s week 9 of nutritional therapist Pamela’s mouth-watering healthy recipes and she is making it harder & harder for us to pick a favourite! This weeks recipe is Apple & Blackberry Hazelnut Crumble. It’s Gluten Free, Grain Free, Dairy Free & contains No Refined Sugar.

“Late August, given heavy rain and sun for a full week, the Blackberries would ripen”

– From ‘Blackberry Picking’ by Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney’s poem is by far one of my favourites….so evocative of summer’s end and the arrival of autumn. This healthy dessert showcases the best of local autumnal fruits. Blackberries are high in antioxidants which are responsible for their deep purple colour and I used new season apples from last weekends farmer’s market haul. Apples are high in pectin fibre, and slow releasing sugars so they control blood sugar levels and promote healthy digestion. The crumble topping is grain free and deliciously nutty. Hazelnuts are an indigenous nut and are rich in antioxidant vitamins E and K which protect the heart. They are also bursting with folate, which is particularly beneficial if you’re planning a pregnancy; and biotin, which supports skin and hair health. I like to serve this with whipped coconut or almond cream but you can use dairy cream if you wish.

INGREDIENTS

5 Apples (peeled, cored & chopped)
1 cup blackberries
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 star anise
50g coconut palm sugar
5 tablespoons water
100g raw hazelnuts
100g mixed seeds
100g almond flour (ground almonds)
125g coconut oil
1 cup dates soaked in 1/2 cup hot water

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 180C.
Place the apples, cinnamon, star anise, coconut sugar and water into a saucepan and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes until the apples begin to soften.
Remove from the heat and stir in the blackberries.
Pour the mixture into a deep oven proof dish and dust with a little almond flour.
To prepare the crumble blitz the hazelnuts and seeds in a food processor until coarse. Transfer to a bowl and add the almond flour.
Use a hand blender to blend the dates & hot water to make a paste, add the coconut oil and mix.
Combine the nut and seed mixture with the date paste and coconut oil and combine.
Pour the mixture over the apple and blackberries. Cover with a sheet of tinfoil to prevent the nuts from burning, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes (remove the foil after 30 minutes to allow the crumble to brown).
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving warm with coconut or almond cream.