Variations You Can Make to Your Apple Crumble Recipe
Are you interested in knowing the variation and substitution options
to make a healthier apple crumble dessert? Read on!
No family get together would be complete without at least one apple
dessert. One of the most popular apple desserts is the Apple Crumble.
Nowadays, this delicious recipe gets eaten really quickly, and normally,
each get together merits at least two of these dishes. Most people are
also watching their weight and the things they eat these days as well.
So here are a few tips for making your Apple Crumble recipe a healthier,
and possibly even more delicious dessert option! First thing to take
into consideration: the pre-made version. There are many varieties of
the frozen, pre-baked, heat only version of an Apple Crumble, but let’s
be honest, this is most definitely not the healthiest option. Take a
look at the ingredients. You will most likely find artificial
ingredients, including food colorings and artificial sweeteners. By
making this dish from scratch, you know exactly what every thing is that
goes into it, and you can make healthy alterations to the recipe for the
more health conscious members of your family.
Let’s discuss this further: We’re going to take a basic, easy Apple
Crumble recipe, and break it down and show the different options we have
to make this a healthier, delicious, and still sweet apple recipe!
Apple Crumble Recipe
Ingredients:
- 4 cups of peeled, cored and sliced apples
- 1/4 cup of water
- 3/4 cup of flour
- 1 cup sugar (granulated)
- 1 teaspoon grounded cinnamon
- 1/2 a teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup of softened butter
Preparation:
Place apples in a lightly greased or buttered 10x6 or 9in square
pan. Add the water. Take a medium sized mixing bowl, mix the flour
with sugar, cinnamon and salt. Mix until well blended. Cut the
butter in, until the mixture starts resembling coarse crumbs.
Sprinkle over top of the apples and bake at 350° for about 40
minutes or till the apples are tender. This is now ready to serve.
Better to serve warm. Let’s start at the top of the list. When
choosing the type of apple you will use in your apple crumble
recipe, you want to choose an apple that
 will
keep their shape. Some of the best apples that do this are brae
burn, cameo, granny smith, Cortland, and the Jonathan varieties. For
the most part, all apples have about the same nutrition level. They
are considered to be an excellent snack. For a large apple of any
variety, it has approximately 130 calories, 34 grams of
carbohydrates, and 1 gram of protein. This nutritious food also has
2% of your daily intake of Vitamin A, Calcium, and Iron, and then 8%
of your daily intake of Vitamin C. Plus, this is a very filling
snack all on its own.
The second thing we should look at in this apple crumble recipe
is the sugar. This recipe calls for one cup of sugar. There are
several options of artificial sweeteners on the market today,
ranging from Splenda to Sweet’n’Low. These artificial sweeteners
contain aspartame. Aspartame is reputed to cause serious health
problems. The other option when it comes to sweeteners is the white
processed sugars. These sugars sometimes contain fillers. These
fillers are, for the most part, not healthy at all. They are
additives along with colorings to make the sugar white. The best
option here is an all natural cane sugar, in which case, only a half
of a cup is needed to still make the apple crumble sweet. There is
also the option of an all natural cane juice that is the juice from
the cane sugar. If this is used, only a half a cup would make this
treat sweet enough as well.
We come to the next ingredient in this apple crumble recipe of
salt. True that iodine is necessary in a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Iodine helps to regulate your thyroid. There are many other options
in acquiring your daily amount such as asparagus, kelp, garlic, lima
beans, mushrooms, summer squash, sesame seeds, spinach, and turnip
greens. It is also present in its natural state in sea salt. Sea
salt is the healthier option because sea salt contains many vitamins
and minerals that your body needs to function better. Many go one
step above sea salt and opt for Celtic Sea Salt, because it is a
more raw form of sea salt. This is a stickier salt that doesn’t do
well in a salt shaker, but works wonders, medicinally speaking, and
as a spice for any dish. So using a sea salt version in the apple
crumble recipe will boost its nutritional value significantly.
The last ingredient is the butter. Using a vegetable oil
substitute in your apple crumble recipe is not healthy at all. Sure,
the substitutes may contain less calories, but your body needs the
nutrients provided in real butter. Vegetable oil substitutes lack
the calcium content that butter from cow’s milk gives. Vegetable oil
substitutes also contain high fructose corn syrup, along with other
artificial sweeteners, food colorings, and additives.
So in order to make this apple crumble recipe a healthier, more
nutritious dessert that your body will attain things it needs to
function properly, the recommendation is to use any of the suggested
apple varieties, half of the volume of the recipe with an all
natural sugar or crystallized cane juice, sea salt, and real butter.
This will provide necessary nutrients for your body that can come
from a dessert and make you look not only like a pro in the kitchen,
but a nutritionally aware baker who knows exactly what your body
needs and how to get it. |
