Fruit Crumble Redux - TYPO CORRECTED!!

 OK, I tried making the apple-pear-berry crumble again the other night; this time I used my oven thermometer to keep track of the temperature.  Unfortunately it fluctuated quite a bit, but it seemed to AVERAGE around 325 degrees Fahrenheit for most of the 40 minutes it was in the oven.

While I was reviewing the recipe I posted the other day, I discovered a TYPO in the ingredients!!  :(

I've now fixed the old post, and am posting the recipe again, just to be sure that everyone has the corrected version.  I made a couple of other minor changes as well.  I'm SO sorry about that and I hope that you didn't have a bad experience with this recipe already!!

Please give it one more try!

Triple-Coconut Berry-Apple-Pear Crumble
("triple" because I use coconut flour, coconut nectar, and coconut oil!)

Ingredients

Topping:

1 C almond flour
1/2 C coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
pinch or two of nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 C of coconut nectar (or 1/4 C agave nectar)
1/3 C melted coconut oil (or melted butter)

Filling:

 4 large pears, peeled and sliced (or 2 pears and 2 medium apples, very THINLY sliced)
1 1/2  - 2 C fresh or frozen berries
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
2 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot
2-3 T coconut nectar (or honey or agave)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and lightly oil the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch pie plate.

Mix together the dry ingredients for the topping, then add the coconut oil and coconut nectar.  Blend well; it should be stiff and somewhat crumbly, of course.

Toss the fruit together with the other ingredients for the filling.  Sprinkle a small amount of the crumble topping on the the bottom of the pie plate, then spread the filling in the pan.  Use your fingers to crumble the remaining topping over the fruit filling.

Bake at 325 F for 30 - 40 minutes.  After approximately 30 minutes test with a sharp knife, skewer or toothpick; if the apple/pear slices are very tender, and the topping is a deep golden brown, remove from oven.  Serve warm as is, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Grain-Free Coconut-Almond-Flax Bread

Now that I have my trusty oven thermometer, I decided to bake something that I've been wanting to try for a little while now.  I developed this bread dough based on my grain-free biscuits, and baked it in a small glass loaf pan per Elana's recommendations for her almond flour and flax meal loaves.  Elana has learned by trial-and-error how to bake with almond flour plus flax meal, and I suspected that even though my recipe contains coconut flour too,  this dough would behave in a somewhat similar fashion.

Yes, it did, and wow....the bread turned out to be delicious!

If I do say so myself! ;)

Grain-Free Coconut-Almond-Flax Bread

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1/4 C coconut oil, melted
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C coconut flour
1/4 C almond flour**
1 1/2 T flax meal
1 tsp baking powder
2 T coconut or agave nectar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly oil, or spray with non-stick spray, a small loaf pan (NOTE: I used a 6.5" x 4" glass loaf pan, which is an odd size....a bit smaller than most, so adjust your cooking time accordingly if you use a slightly larger one).

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut or agave nectar, and coconut oil thoroughly. Combine the salt, coconut and almond flours, flax meal and baking powder in a separate bowl, then stir into the egg-oil mixture, blending well.

Spoon the batter into the small loaf pan, and smooth the top with the back of the spoon.  Bake for approximately 30 - 40 minutes, until a knife inserted into the loaf comes out clean and the top is a dark golden brown.

**NOTE: I am following Elana Amsterdam's suggestion and using ONLY finely ground blanched almond flour. Some almond flours on the market simply are not fine enough to give a good texture to baked goods. For example, Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour just doesn't work. The flour that I'm currently using is Honeyville's Blanched Almond Flour.

My oven temperature stabilized close to 325 degrees, maybe a tad less.  I ended up baking the loaf for approximately 40 minutes.  I tested it for done-ness as one tests a pumpkin pie...by inserting a regular butter knife into the loaf to see if it came out fairly clean.

This loaf of bread stored well (covered) for 3 days on my kitchen counter; it stayed moist and flavorful and pliable.  I ate it plain, and with lemon curd.  I haven't tried toasting it yet, but since the slices are so small, I will probably use the broiler rather than the toaster.

This is a great alternative to the high-carb gluten free breads available in the stores; this bread is very nutrient-dense, high in fiber and relatively low in carbohydrates.  It is made with low-glycemic-index ingredients, so is shouldn't spike your blood sugar like most baked goods will.

Enjoy!

Oven temperature inaccuracies!!

I've recently discovered that the oven in our new house is NOT at all accurate.  Which causes big problems for me (and potentially for you, if you are trying any of my recipes!).  The oven seems to be running about 50 or more degrees cooler than I set it too.  

I have now purchased an oven thermometer and plan to make the fruit crumble again soon, so that I can determine exactly how long to cook it and at what temperature.  Since it took about 35 minutes in my oven, which was probably NOT at 350 but rather around 300 degrees, it may cook MUCH faster in yours if you set it to 350.  Please keep an eye on it and test the fruit for doneness after 20 minutes or so.

Fortunately we have only lived here since July, so any of the recipes older than July 2010 should be fine.

Comfort food for fall - Mixed Fruit Crumble - CORRECTED!!

Dear readers, I don't know about you, but I LOVE fall!  I love that it's cool, even chilly, but that the raw, sharp winds of winter have not yet arrived.  Here in California the weather is fickle and there can still be a few warm days even in October. 

Naturally fall brings to mind some of my family's favorite comfort foods, and very high on that list are fruit pies, crumbles and crisps.  Fortunately the physical problems I was complaining about in the last post (nausea and food aversion) have subsided for the most part, and I've been able to eat a bit....which means that I've been able to cook a bit, too!

The other night I was looking at the fruit we had in the house....pears and apples in the bowl on the counter, blueberries and raspberries in the fridge. I wanted to create something warm and comforting.  It helped that I had been reading a number of gluten free food blogs recently (including Karina's and Elana's)....I was inspired to bake a mixed fruit crumble, using all of those fruits that we had plus a new all natural sweetener I'm trying out: coconut nectar.

Coconut nectar is advertised as being more nutritious than agave nectar, and is simply the raw sap of the coconut tree.  It's very sweet, similar to, although not quite as sweet as agave nectar, and has a very low glycemic index.  It is also MUCH lower in fructose than agave nectar.

NOTE: you may use all apples or all pears and/or any berries you prefer...I just used what I had, and it turned out to be SCRUMPTIOUS!

Triple-Coconut Berry-Apple-Pear Crumble (CORRECTED)
("triple" because I use coconut flour, coconut nectar, and coconut oil!)

Ingredients

Topping:

1 C almond flour

1/2 C coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
pinch or two of nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 C of coconut nectar (or 1/4 C agave nectar)

1/3 C melted coconut oil (or melted butter)

Filling:

4 large pears, peeled and sliced (OR 2 pears and 2 medium apples, THINLY sliced)

1 1/2 - 2 C fresh or frozen berries (I used fresh blueberries and raspberries)

1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
2 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot
2-3 T coconut nectar (or honey or agave)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and lightly oil the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch pie plate.

Mix together the dry ingredients for the topping, then add the coconut oil and coconut nectar.  Blend well; it should be stiff and somewhat crumbly, of course.

Toss the fruit together with the other ingredients for the filling.  Sprinkle a small amount of the crumble topping on the the bottom of the pie plate, then spread the filling in the pan.  Use your fingers to crumble the remaining topping over the fruit filling.

Bake at 325 F for 30 - 40 minutes.  After approximately 30 minutes test with a sharp knife, skewer or toothpick; if the apple/pear slices are very tender, and the topping is a deep golden brown, remove from oven.  Serve warm as is, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

By the way, I think it's great that several other gluten free food bloggers have discovered that mixing coconut and almond flours really works!  The first time I mixed them (for my grain free garlic cheese and grain free classic drop biscuits), I had never seen any other recipes that combined those two flours. But now there are others posting recipes on their blogs using mixtures of those two flours!  How cool is that!