Apple Crumble is something most people associate with dinner and dessert. I made some last night as a matter of fact. As I was making it I thought these are the perfect ingredients for a delicious and nutritious sugar free breakfast for a winter morning. So I made some extra portions to eat either cold or reheated in the microwave for the morning. This particular apple crumble is gluten free, dairy free and very low in fat. I use cold pressed rapeseed oil. Cold pressed rapeseed oil has the same characteristics as cold pressed olive oil. It has a different flavour though and I prefer to use it instead of olive oil for sweet dishes like this crumble. If you prefer you can use cold pressed olive oil instead.

This crumble is a great breakfast as the oat flakes will give you plenty of complex carbohydrates. The only sugars are the ones that occur naturally in the apples and raisins. As an additional sweeter I added 2 teaspoons of apple juice concentrate. I didn’t use any refined sugars at all. Yet it is a lovely sweet breakfast and goes really well with some natural soya yoghurt.

Ingredients for sugar free breakfast apple crumble to serve 6:

• 4 – 6 eating apples peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 tbs raisins
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 oz/75 g gluten free oat flakes
• 1 tbs pumpkin seeds
• 1 tbs sesame seeds
• 1 tbs sunflower seeds
• 2 tsp cold pressed rapeseed oil
• 4 tsp apple juice concentrate

Preparation time: 20 minutes, baking time 45 minutes:

1. Preheat the oven to 340˚F/170˚C.
2. Prepare the apples and place in an oven prove 9 inch pie dish.
3. Add the raisins and lemon juice to the apples and cover with tin foil.
4. Pre-bake the apples in the oven for 10 minutes while you prepare the crumble.
5. Mix the oat flakes with the seeds in a bowl.
6. Add the oil and 2 tsp of apple juice concentrate to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until everything is well mixed and has a crumble, slightly sticky texture.
7. Remove the pie dish with the apples from the oven and uncover.
8. Add two tsp of apple juice concentrate to the apples and todd well.
9. Cover the apples evenly with the oat flake mix.
10. Return to the oven to bake.
11. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Make sure the crumble doesn’t start to brown too quickly. You might need to cover it with some tin foil for the first 30 minutes.

If you prefer you can prepare this crumble by baking it in individual portions by filling equal parts into little oven proof ramekin dishes. Instead of pre-baking the apple mix in the oven, cook the apples with the raisins in a sauce pan at a low to medium heat for 5-10 minutes. They should go soft but not fall apart, so make sure you don’t overcook them. Add the concentrated apple juice according to taste after cooking. Spoon the apple mix into the bottom of each dish and spread the crumble mix on top.

You can add your favourite nut mix to the crumble instead of the seeds. Flaked almonds work really well. You can also simply pulse blend some almonds, cashews, hazelnuts etc in a blended until they are about the same size as the oat flakes. Then just add them to the oat flake mix instead of the seeds or even just mix them in with the seeds.