Quick And Easy Healthy Dessert Recipes: How To Make A Great Apple Crisp

Now before you start saying 'How is apple crisp a healthy recipe?' let's examine the facts. In actuality, apple crisp can be a healthy recipe. That is, if you cut the fat and the sugar, which is what I did with this traditional old favorite.

I'm trying to revamp many recipes that I've made for years.  Even though they were on the 'lighter' side already, there is still room for improvement in cutting out unnecessary fat and sugar if at all possible and hopefully still retaining the flavor.

What I want in my apple crisp is something that is mostly good for us and still tastes great. I think I accomplished this with my recipe. Try it and let me know if you think I succeeded!

I actually started out making apple crisp but since I had pears, in creating this recipe, I decided to go half and half.  It really could be an apple and pear crisp but for simplicity sake, we will just call it apple crisp. 

By the way, the apple and pear crisp combo was fabulous!

Makes 1 small flat casserole dish - about 4-6 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 4-6 medium sized apples of good flavor (I used 3 fuji apples and 3 pears) - peeled and sliced or chunked
• Couple tablespoons of water mixed with teaspoon of lemon juice if desired (up to 1/4 cup if you want lots of liquid)
  
• Nutmeg to taste
• Cinnamon to taste
• 3-4 tablespoons of butter or margarine slightly thawed
• 1-1/2 tablespoons unbleached flour
• 1/2-3/4 cup of Bob's 5-grain cereal (or substitute oatmeal)
• 1/4 cup or less of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup or so of chopped walnuts
  
• Dash of salt if desired
• Vegetable spray

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray flat casserole dish or large pie plate with cooking spray. Set aside.
3. Peel and slice apples or pears and arrange in chunked or heaped slice fashion in casserole.
   
4. Sprinkle with salt if desired, a bit of nutmeg and cinnamon to your tastes.
   
5. Using a measuring cup, pour water and lemon juice into bottom of casserole over apples or along sides. (This will act as a steaming agent during cooking). Set aside.
6. Combine butter or margarine with flour, oat cereal and brown sugar with a pastry blender. Keep working until you have it mixed into a crumbly topping density.
   
7. Stir in walnuts.
8. Carefully arrange topping over the top of apples.
9. If desired, spray the topping with a bit of cooking spray to encourage browning.
10. Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown and apples are bubbling. If topping is browning too quickly and apples need more time to bake, cover loosely with foil and bake until apples are desired softness.
    
11. Let cool for 10 minutes if you can before digging in.
    

NOTE: A small dollop of real whipped cream or nonfat yogurt ice cream goes well with this dish.

You can double this recipe and have leftover crisp for several days.

I love to make crisps for other people and find that it's a welcome dessert when you need something of a comfort food nature to give to someone.

I've brought crisps to people who just had surgery or just got home with a new baby and they've always been well received. They're also a welcome treat to give just because!

I make a lot of crisps for desserts because they keep well and are easy to make ahead or on the spot. 

I tend to use the fruits or berries that are in season or if I have frozen blueberries for instance, they're always available.

I prefer crisps to many desserts because most of the sugar in the dessert comes from the fruit itself.

I will even have a bit of crisp for breakfast if I'm rushed for time - add a tiny bit of milk poured over it and delicious!

No matter how you prepare it, you can't go wrong with a crisp.

Experiment with different cereals and see what you come up with. I decided to try the Bob's 5-grain cereal because I had such a little bit left and it looked very similar to oatmeal.  However, it had all kinds of good things in it as well such as flaxseed. As it turns out, it turned out even better than my 'traditional' crisp and I used much less butter and brown sugar.

Hope you enjoy this healthy recipe for apple crisp!