Gluten-free Apple-Almond Crumble: My Husband’s Self-Quarantine Reward:
Since my husband has been voluntarily quarantining in the lower level of our house for the past four days (after being unmasked around four or five unmasked tree guys who came to remove old stumps from our yard), I thought he deserved a yummy treat. So I made him an apple-almond crumble (with a few cranberries I happened to have in the freezer). He says it’s actually pretty nice being downstairs. We text, of course. And during this little break, he’s been enjoying the fireplace, playing his guitar into the night, listening to music, reading, journaling, and cleaning out our storage room. Plus he gets his meals delivered to the stair landing on a tray. Not terrible at all! Plus, I doubt he’s going to get sick. Just to be on the safe side, though, he’ll be down there a few more days. Meanwhile, he just texted that the crumble is delicious!
Here’s how to make gluten-free Apple-Almond Crumble.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Adjust an oven rack to center position.
- You will need about 6 medium-large apples, peeled, cored and sliced. I added 1/2 C whole cranberries, which I happened to have in my freezer – but these are optional. Transfer sliced apples to a large mixing bowl.
- Squeeze juice from 1/2 lemon. Add 1/2 tsp. pure almond extract, and gently stir into the sliced apples.
- Sprinkle 2 TBS brown rice flour (or other) over apples and stir to coat.
- Combine 1/2 C brown sugar (or turbinado sugar), 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. powdered ginger, dash of nutmeg. Add to the sliced apples. Set aside.
To make the bottom crumb crust and topping:
Prepare an 8: x 8″ square Pyrex baking dish with a light coating of cooking spray.
In a separate mixing bowl, blend together:
- 1 C almond flour
- 1 C oat flour (make your own in the blender – it’s easy. Note: If you’re on a gluten free diet, make sure your oats are gluten free.)
- Add 1/2 C turbinado sugar.
- Stir in 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom (if desired)
- Cut in 8 TBS (1/2 C) any of the following, or a combination: solid coconut oil, butter, or Earth Balance).
- Set aside 1/2 of this mixture for the topping.
- Press the other half of the mixture into an 8″ x 8″ square Pyrex baking dish.
- Pour apple mixture into the crumb crust.
- Distribute remaining mixture (topping) evenly over apples. Sprinkle with sliced almonds if desired.
Place on medium oven rack. Set timer for 40 min. (If your oven does not bake evenly, turn the dish 180 degrees midway through baking.
Your apple-almond crumble should be bubbling hot when done, and nicely brown. Remove to a cooling rack. Serve with whipped cream, if desired, or a little vanilla ice cream. Mmmm! FFG
