I am not sure why I was nicknamed the “crumble queen” by some of my friends eons ago, whether it was because I loved baking crumbles or eating them, I will never know but I am guessing both. I think I also used to be intimidated by making pie crusts. I still am a little. Crumbles are super easy to throw together. Cut up some fruit, mix together your flour, sweetener and fat and plop it on top of the fruit and bam, into the oven. I spent a full day developing and playing around with my own grain-free and plant-based crumble topping blends and found the perfect texture when I used the vegan butter AND olive oil. The topping came out nice and crunchy. Be sure to let the crumble cool down before for a few minutes before serving. Pears are at the end of the season but widely available. You can used Bosc or D’Anjou but I found green Bartlett’s and let them soften a tiny bit. Be sure not to let them get too soft or they will just fall apart on you when you are sautéing them. This crumble is deliciously warming from the ginger, cinnamon and cardamom and tastes great served a la mode with vegan vanilla ice cream like Coconut Bliss or vegan whipped cream, Truwhip being a favorite in our house. Pears are known in Chinese medicine as being lung fortifying and blueberries are filled with antioxidants. This crumble is low in sugar (feel free to omit the brown sugar in the crumble topping if you want even less sugar. and the flour made from almonds which lower cholesterol and are high in protein, manganese and magnesium.

Serves 6-8 / Prep time 15 minutes / Bake time 45 minutes / Total time 1 hour

Gather

2 tablespoons / 28.3 g vegan butter

3 1/2 pounds (about 5-6) ripe Bartlett pears, peeled and thinly sliced

1 teaspoon / 4.92 ml monk fruit sweetener 

2 teaspoons/ 11.8 g coconut sugar

1 teaspoon / 4.92 ml vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon / 2.84 g cinnamon powder

1 teaspoon / 5.69 g ginger powder

1/2 teaspoon / 2.84 g cardamon powder

1 teaspoon / 5.69 g arrowroot powder

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon / 4.92 ml lemon zest

1 and 1/2 cups/ 194 grams blue berries (fresh or frozen)

For the Crumble Topping

2 cups/ 256 grams Paleo flour (I use King Arthur)

1/2 cup/ 64 grams coconut flakes, finely crumbled

2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)

3/4 cup / 150 g coconut sugar

1 teaspoon / 5.69 g cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon / 2.84 g ground nutmeg

Pinch of salt

4 ounces cold vegan butter (I use Melt), cubed

1/4 cup/ 59 ml olive oil

Make

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C
In a large sauté pan, turn on a medium/low flame, add and melt the vegan butter. Add the pear slices, and gently stir for 1-2 minutes. Add the monk fruit sweetener, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger and cardamon. Stir for 5 minutes. Add the arrowroot powder and stir until well incorporated, about 1 minute. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Turn off the flame. Then add the blueberries and mix until well combined.

Transfer to a 9” baking dish. 

For the Crumble Topping

In a separate bowl mix together the paleo flour, coconut flakes, brown sugar, coconut sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until well combined. Using your fingers add the pieces of vegan butter, massage the butter into the flour with your hands until it resembles course pea size pieces. Then add in the olive oil. Continuing to mix it using your your hands and until you have a crumbly wet mixture. Even spread the crumble topping over the pears and blueberries. Do not pat down. Please the baking dish in the oven for 35-40 minutes until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Remove from oven.

Allow the crumble to cool down on a rack for 15 minutes.
Garnish with edible flowers and lemon zest and your choice of cold whipped topping.
Enjoy!

Recipe developed by Anna Getty of Amalgam Kitchen.

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