Guilt Free Apple Crisp

Have you ever created a recipe in a whim? Even if a variation of the recipe already exists (as I found out later), it still gives pride to have achieved something this pleasant. When we craved for a warm dessert one evening, I put together this recipe with what I had on hand. Apple pie was the basic idea, but without the crust and hence the calories. Needless to say, it was an instant success. Since then, I have made this recipe several times now and it has been perfected every time, to suit our palette.

Guilt Free Apple Crisp

When Joanna announced Heart of The Matter – Baking, I knew this is the recipe I am going to submit. So far, I have used a tbsp of cold butter for the crust/crisp. To make it even healthier, I did what I always do to make anything fat free – Apple sauce. I had to increase the cooking time by 5 minutes, due to increased moisture. Replacing butter with apple sauce made the crust slightly chewy than crispy. But, hey, with a guilt-free dessert like this, I have no complaints.

This is great for entertaining your guests too. You can make this ahead and keep it in a 200F oven, until served. Apples cook down considerably, hence, try packing as much apples possible into the ramekins. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use a mixture of ground cloves, allspice or cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Oat bran is added for a bite which is a nice contrast to the soft apples. You can omit that or substitute with all-purpose flour.

Ingredients

Apple – 2, medium sized
Brown Sugar – ¼ cup + 2 tbsp
Cinnamon – ¼ tsp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Rolled oats – ¼ cup
Oat bran – 2 tbsp
Apple sauce – 2 tbsp
Pumpkin pie spice – 1 tsp
Salt – a pinch

Method

Preheat the oven to 375F. Peel, core and thinly slice the apples. Toss the apple slices with lemon juice, cinnamon and 2 tbsps of brown sugar. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix rolled oats, oat bran, apple sauce, ¼ cup of brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt, until well combined.

Apple Crisp Ready To Bake

Assembled and ready to be baked

Take 2 ramekins and divide the apple slices equally between the two. Tightly pack the slices as much you can. Top with the oats mixture prepared above. Pop in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, until apples are soft and the oats flakes are toasty. Let stand for 5 minutes and serve warm. You can also serve this with ice cream or freshly whipped cream. I didn't bother for ice cream; it was devoured within minutes.

Guilt Free Apple Crisp

38 comments:

Raaga said...

Looks like my apple crumble... healthier... will try :-)

amna said...

wow! looks really chewy and yummy.. i love apple desserts, they give out such a wonderful flavour when baked..

Roopa said...

that sure looks very tasty with apples and oats i have no way to say no for this dish :)

Padmaja said...

Absolutely delicious!!!
Suganya, fantastic pictures

Latha Narasimhan said...

Those oats were looking like nuts to me!:D Nice recipe for calarie concious!
I find it very funny when I read about the guilt feeling:))

Finla said...

They are just delicious looking. And very healthy topping.

Rajitha said...

suganya! seriously yo beat me to this girl...i have had visions of making this desert with some variation for a while.....now i will not bother with the experiment..but just make urs :)...btw. i was so inspired by ur ramekins..i went and bought a few colored ones of my own in diff colors ;)

sunita said...

I could have this anytime...and of course be guilt free about it :)

Anonymous said...

Sound totally delicious- and naturally vegan, too! I'll definitely file this one away for colder days, thanks for sharing your recipe!

Bong Mom said...

The oats in the crisp are a great idea indee. Love the cheery feeling about the pic

FH said...

Great dish. Apple crisp makes a great breakfast too if you reduce the sugar in it and let the natural sweet and tangy tastes come out. I do that sometimes. Enjoy Suganya, great entry too!:))

Swaruchy said...

wow Suganya....Nice one there dear...and the title is nice :-)

Padma said...

It looks incredible Suganya, I did similar to this but in a m/w with APFlour. Will try ur version, sounds interesting and healthy too! Did I ever tell u that I love those red ramekins!

Kribha said...

That's truly so good. I like apple pie filling, but the crust dosen't facinate me much. Your recipe is much healthy and yummy. Thanks for sharing.

sra said...

Even the smears on the inside of your dishes look photogenic, Suganya! When oh when will my photos look like that?

Priyanka said...

The apple crisp looks pretty tempting and easy to make. Loved your egg pics/clicks. But then all your pics are always out of the world amazing.

Rohini's kitchen said...

Apple crisp looks great!

Laavanya said...

Looks lovely Suganya. I think I have all the ingredients on hand so will give this a try real soon and let you know!

Latha said...

i'm gonna have to try this suganya. my daughter had apple crisp at school and ever since has been wanting me ot make it. i told her i dont know how to make it and she devised her own recipe -something about putting it in the microwave and putting some crunchy stuf fon it etc. :-)
she'll love the surprise if i make it. i dont have some of the stuff on u're list of ingredients, ahve to shop for those. will let u know when i try it :-) thanks for the recipe.

bee said...

oooohh. this will be wonderful with any fruit. replacing some of the applesauce with ground flax may make it crisper.

musical said...

I like the use of oats in this! Looks really good!

Suganya said...

Apple crumble/crisp.. Anything goes, Raaga.

Nags, with butter (or margarine) the crust was crispy. The aroma part is true. The whole house smelled of cinnamon y'day :)

Me too, Roopa.

Thank you Padmaja.

Latha Maami, Here, in the US, almost any dessert is loaded with butter or cream cheese. Delicious they may be, devouring them results in another layer around one's waist ;). And thus the guilt.

HC, You said it. Delicious and healthy.

Happy to help Rajitha. I have experimented with this enough that I don't even measure anymore. Handful of this and a pinch of that :)... I would love to see one of yr creations in those colourful ramekins. Don't keep me waiting.

Oh yes, Sunitha. I hope you like it, you 'Baking Queen'.

Hannah, Thanks for dropping by. I skimmed through yr blog. Wow, you have an amazing one. I will go through yr recipes leisurely :). And I try to veganize recipes as much as I can!

Thanks Sandeepa, but the truth is, it was taken at around 9 in the night ;).

Asha, I totally agree with the sugar part. I am not a big fan of sugar, but the recipe is tweaked so that it is likable to all. The sweeter the apple, less the sugar I add.

Thanks Sirisha :D

Microwaving apples is totally trouble-free, Padma. The crust/crisp doesn't get that toasty. But that is fine instead of heating the big ol' oven!

Hope you try this Kribha!

Oh Sra :D. I noticed the ramekins were dirty (?). Thats because the apples have cooked down and I didn't have the energy to correct it so late in the evening.

Priyanka, You are kind!

Thanks for dropping by, Rohini!

Sure Laavanya. Let me know whether you liked it.

A smart cookie, your daughter is, Latha :). They have a neat way of explaining things. I remembered Cheez It commercial reading that..Haha.. If you are making this for yr daughter, you can use butter instead of apple sauce. Tht makes them crispy and crusty. Pls let me know whether she liked it.

Bee, Ground flax may work. But I didn't think flax bcoz we had pancakes with looooootsa flax seeds y'day morning. But thats definitely a good suggestion :).

Swaroopa said...

looks yum1 im sure house might have smelled wondereful while baking with apples and spices. thnx 4 sharing will try it soon.

Richa said...

hey, that looks very well set :)
do u think running the oats for a sec in the mixer will help it make a bit crispy, just thinking aloud?

Sig said...

Looks yummy, and there those cute red ramekins again, reminding me that I must go shopping :) ... And how can you not have these with icecream, that is a must with warm crisps and crumbles :)

Kalva said...

Apple Crisp. VEry tempting!!!

Joanna said...

Wonderful - I've tried hard to make something healthier than buttery apple crumble, without success - but this looks as if the family will devour it.

Thanks for sharing, and for taking part in HotM

Joanna

Unknown said...

That looks Wow.... so delicious!!

Sivani said...

I'm going to have to show this to my husband - this is one of those things that capture his imagination, and then he jumps into the kitchen to try it out.

Not that I mind, I just need to train him to clean up after himself ;-)

Susan said...

A crisp is perfect - all the fruit flavor, a fraction of the calories. Doesn't hurt that your photos make it look deep-dish decadent. : )

Grihini said...

happens everytime. I end up drooling over your pictures and really forget what they are made of and the recipe ;)

DK said...

luks v healthy n crunchy

Christina Kim said...

Hehe...that was full of healthy ingredients and yet serves as a dessert! VERY VERY creative and HEALTHY!! Cheers:D

Mansi said...

wow, Suganya, where do you get all your colorful cutlery from?? I'm seriously jealous!!:)

this apple delight looks nice, and guilt-free...you better make something with peaches now and send it my way!! remember AFAM-Peach??!! and your promise??:)

Cynthia said...

This is a tasty twist for the holidays.

Anonymous said...

I recently made a version of this for the English bloke.It was sooo good :)

Unknown said...

Yummilicious!!! Superb pix.

Saju said...

delish - the pictures are excellent.

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