Gluten and Dairy Free Fruit Crisp

It's been a while since I posted a recipe of my own, and it's nice to be back at it again. As a base for this recipe, I went off of Mark Bittman's Fruit Crisp, with Apple or Nearly Anything Else recipe from his book Food Matters. 

The first time I made this, I used a bag of frozen cranberries, some leftover strawberries, and an apple.

The result was fairly tart but delicious, but the cranberries created a lot of liquid. Around Christmastime I'll make one very similar to it again, but with maybe only 1 or 1 1/2 cups of cranberries (a bag is 3) and more apples, but with each slice cut into fourths. 

I did surprise myself a bit, however. I ate the crisp with Ciao Bella Coconut Sorbet, and the result was delicious. Their sorbet tastes like fresh coconut, not fake, which makes a massive difference. Plus the tartness of the cranberries with the sweetness of the coconut sorbet is an surprisingly good blend where the flavors really complement each other well. So I suggest this as a dessert you can serve to friends or at a dinner, because it will satisfy all, gluten and dairy free and not, and with the sorbet no one will be left out of a delicious dessert!

The best thing about this recipe is that you can use whatever your favorite or most readily available fruit is. Mark Bittman suggests using apples and pears in the fall, pineapple in winter, rhubarb in the summer (but then add more sugar), and berries and stone fruits in the summer. I just love that this is an easy, fairly healthy dessert (or at least not terribly bad for you) that can be easily tailored to anyone's taste buds. I hope that you enjoy it as much I did.


Gluten and Dairy Free Fruit Crisp
Fruit Mix:
6 cups Fruit, sliced and chopped into equal size pieces
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Allspice
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
A Few Dashes of Cloves
Dash Mace

Crust:
Heaping 1/3 cup Almond Flour
1/4 tsp. Xanthan Gum
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Gluten Free Oats
1/4 cup Shredded Coconut
1/4 cup Chopped Walnuts or Pecans
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Allspice
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
A Few Dashes of Cloves
Dash Mace
5 tbsp. Earth Balance Buttery Spread, cold and cut into pieces
Pinch Salt

Preheat the oven to 400.

Prepare your fruit as you like it, but make sure that the pieces are all a similar size so that they cook properly. If you want to make an apple tart with whole slices, be sure to peel the apple first. You can also toss in some dried fruits if you want (you can see below I added dried blueberries), but keep in mind that they will make the dish a bit sweeter. Once your fruit is ready, combine it gently with the spices in a medium-size bowl. Then place in a square 8-inch or round 9-inch baking pan that is lightly greased.

In a medium-size bowl, combine the almond flour and xanthan gum. Stir together until fully combined (this makes sure that the two adhere to one another and bake well together), then add the rest of the ingredients. For the nuts--keep in mind that walnuts hold up much better in baking than pecans, but pecans will work on their own. With your hands, work the margarine into the ingredients, making sure that everything is equally combined. Once you have all of the ingredients mixed together, crumble the topping on top of the fruit.

This is almost like putting together a puzzle, since the topping will come down in small pieces and you will need to evenly distribute it over the top. Sprinkle it on so that it covers the majority of the dish, then go in and fill in the cracks, and it will cover the fruit completely. 

Bake for about 30 minutes (I take it out a minute or two under), until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbling. Can be served right away, an hour later, or at room temperature. Enjoy!