Stovetop Peach Blueberry Crisp (Paleo & Vegan)

“...the girls put their wits to work, 

and necessity being the mother of invention, 

made whatever they needed.” 

-Louisa May Alcott, Little Women. 

Since we don’t have a working oven at my family’s lake cabin in Minnesota, I had to be a little creative when it came to planning meals & treats. We made use of the stove top, outside grill, microwave & slow cooker for the main dishes & vegetables, but dessert was a little more challenging, especially considering my Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) dietary parameters.

There’s something about being around water all day that makes a person extra hungry. And, of course, the “I’m-on-vacation-and-am-allowed-to-splurge-a-little” thinking. In past years, splurging would have meant driving to the nearby gas station for half a gallon of ice cream & a can of Hershey’s syrup, or making s’mores around a beach fire, or eating packages of cookies. But thankfully, my family has been oh so understanding about what I can and cannot eat & they were on board with some AIP & Paleo splurges instead of our normal treats. We brought along some Coconut Milk Ice Cream , and I also made coconut milk panna cotta (with nectarines instead of berries).

Then one day, when the weather was grey, windy & rainy, I wanted to create a dessert that leaned more towards warmth and comfort than to cold & refreshing. We had some peaches that were nearly over-ripe & a bag of frozen blueberries that were originally slated for making smoothies. Almost immediately, the thought of a crisp/crumble came to mind….

But how do you make a crisp without the oven? Easy. First, toast the topping in a skillet, then, once the topping is done & moved to a bowl, cook the fruit on the stovetop. Spoon the cooked fruit into bowls & top with the previously made crumble. Voila, fruit crisp, sans oven :)

I’ve previously made gluten free crisps & crumbles (like this one and this one), but grain free baking is still a new territory to me. I’m still cautious about working with different ingredients, like liquid sweeteners (i.e honey & maple syrup), arrowroot starch, coconut flour, and even coconut oil, but I am attempting to be more brave in my experimentation. It looks like I’ll probably be following some version of Paleo for the rest of my life, so I might as well get use to it :) Fortunately, crisps and crumbles are a bit more forgiving & don’t require quite as much scientific precision as say a cake or cookie needs. 

Since I am in the reintroduction phase of the Autoimmune Protocol & almonds seem to be ok (just in not giant quantities), I used a mixture of coconut flour & almond flour in the topping, but if you’re not yet to reintroducing almonds, using more coconut flour would also work. As I toasted the topping on the stove, several family members could smell its fragrance & came over to see what I was concocting--that’s always a good sign.

When we were ready to eat dessert, I spooned the thickened fruit into bowls & let each person top their own dish with as much crumble as he or she wanted. I’m usually a fan of ice cream on my crisp (or whipped cream), but this time, I splashed a little coconut milk to mimic the creaminess. We were all satisfied by how delicious it was & no one felt deprived by this “healthier” dessert. I’ll be remembering this stovetop method in the future for times when it simply is too hot to turn on the oven :)

Stovetop Peach Blueberry Crisp

serves 4 

42g / 5 Tbl Coconut Flour

56 g / 1/2 c Almond Flour (AIP Modification: omit almond flour & increase coconut flour instead)

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

42 g / 3 Tbl Coconut oil, melted

1.5 oz / 2 Tbl Honey

300 g / 1.5 c Frozen Blueberries (may substitute fresh, but add a little water too)

2 medium-large peaches (around 400g), cut into thin slices, peeling is optional

2.75 oz / 4 Tbl Pure Maple Syrup 

1 Tbl Lemon Juice

1 Tbl Arrowroot Starch 

Coconut Milk, for serving 

1. To make the crumble topping: combine the coconut flour, almond flour, sea salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Drizzle in the coconut oil & honey.  Mix with a fork until crumbly. 
2. Toast the crumble in a large skillet over medium high heat, stirring constantly, for a couple of minutes, or until the crumble begins to brown slightly & smell toasty. Remove from the skillet & set aside. Give the skillet a quick rinse. 
3. To make the filling: add the blueberries and peaches to the skillet. Drizzle with maple syrup and lemon juice  Cook over medium heat until the juices begin to boil. Cover the skillet, reduce the heat to a simmer & cook until the peaches are tender--approximately 10 minutes. Stir occasionally, as needed. Taste & add additional maple syrup if the filling isn’t sweet enough. 
4. Remove 1/2 c of liquid from the pan & place into a small bowl. Into the liquid, stir in the arrowroot, making sure there are no lumps. Add the mixture back to the skillet and cook for an additional minute to allow the fruit to thicken & to cook out any starch flavor from the arrowroot. Remove from the heat. 
5. Just before serving, spoon the fruit into bowls & sprinkle with the crumble topping (note: there may be leftover crumble topping). Top with a splash of coconut milk or a scoop of coconut milk ice cream. 
6. Store any leftover fruit filling in the refrigerator. Keep any leftover crumble topping tightly covered at room temperature. 

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Mom's Apple Crisp (Gluten Free)

October 1st will always be "Apple Crisp Day" to me. But not just any apple crisp, my mom’s now famous apple crisp.

My dad, along with his  business partner Steve, took a leap of faith and started their own engineering company on October 1, 1991. Those first years were not easy ones as they worked to get their business established. Lots of time and effort goes in to the creation of a company! I remember my dad working extremely long hours in those early days & also doing extensive traveling....

Amidst all the hard work, they did take time to celebrate. The company’s first anniversary was celebrated with cake, but, every anniversary since then has been celebrated with delicious apple crisp, made by my mom.

Fast forward 20+ years, and that same company, which started with two people in a tiny basement office of a downtown building, has since grown exponentially.  There are now more than 200 employees in over a dozen branches in different cities throughout the upper midwest!

It never ceases to amaze me when I remember where they started back in the early 90s and see how much things have changed today. What an incredible thing. I’m so proud of them :)

The apple crisp tradition continues still today. I have very fond memories of visiting Dad’s office every October 1st (or on a date near there) to help hand out pieces of crisp to every employee present. The employees who have been there for years & years have come to expect & anticipate the coming of apple crisp!

As many years as it is possible, the different offices will have an apple crisp celebration party all together via video link. And Mom has graciously shared her recipe with people in each office so that they might all share in the same signature dessert.  The main office has become so large that several employees volunteered to each make a couple pans of apple crisp, so that Mom isn’t making apple crisp for quite so many people...

A few years before Dad’s company was founded, my parents planted an apple tree in our back yard, and that apple tree has provided the fruit for many years’ crisps. Most years, the crazy tree produces SO MANY apples that my parents have to pick a bunch of the non-mature green apples early in the season so that their weight doesn’t break the limbs of the tree.

This year was different.  The tree decided not to produce a single apple, which meant my mom had to find a new source for apples this year.  But I have high hopes that next year their tree will be back to its overproducing ways :)

I haven’t lived in my hometown nor attended the annual anniversary celebration in several years. I also haven’t made mom’s recipe in quite some time because my body just hasn’t seemed to like oats (this recipe just isn’t the same without them). But I’ve been experimenting with trying Gluten Free Rolled Oats & so far I don’t seem to have the same unpleasant symptoms I’ve had in the past. Hurray! 

So this year, I made Mom’s recipe.  I scaled it down slightly, because I knew it wasn’t a good idea to have a 9x13 pan of apple crisp for just the two of us--I doubt I’d have any self control when it comes to a pan of apple crisp.  I used a little cornstarch (instead of flour) to help thicken the apple juices & substituted gluten free flour & gluten free oats in the topping.

The intoxicating smell of the cooking apples & the spices as the crisp baked permeated the whole apartment.  It was torture to wait the nearly two hours it took for the crisp to properly bake.  Even with the slight changes, the apple crisp was perfect. Though I wasn’t back with my parents to celebrate in person, we celebrated in spirit with our bowls of warm crisp topped with melting vanilla ice cream.  I tried not to lick the bowl :)

Happy Anniversary, AE2S!


Mom’s Apple Crisp
yields approximately 6 servings

3.5 oz / 0.5 c Granulated Sugar (may adjust depending on sweetness of apples)
2 tsp cornstarch 
2 tsp Cinnamon 
4 medium large apples (I used a mix of 3 Granny Smith & 1 Fuji, which came to about 21 oz once peeled, cored & sliced)

2.15 oz (0.5 c) Flour (I used Gluten Free)
1.75 oz (0.5 c) Rolled Oats (I used Gluten Free)
3.75 oz (0.5 c) Brown Sugar
1/8 tsp Baking Soda
1/8 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Cinnamon
pinch Sea Salt
2 oz (0.25 c) Unsalted Butter, cold

Ice Cream, for serving (optional, though not optional in my book!)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8 square pan or a medium gratin dish with nonstick spray or a little softened butter.  
2. In a large bowl, mix together the granulated sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Peel, core and slice the apples.  Mix in with the sugar mixture.  Pour into the greased pan & compress slightly . 
3. In a separate smaller bowl, combine the flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt.  Cut the butter into small pieces & use a pastry cutter or two forks (or very quickly work with your not hot fingers) to cut the butter into the dry ingredients.  Keep the mixture slightly lumpy & crumbly.  Immediately distribute the crumb topping over the apples. 
4. Place the finished pan on top of a rimmed pan (to collect any juices) and slide into the oven. Bake for between 60 and 90 minutes, or until the top is browned and the juices are bubbly--mine took close to 90.  
5. Cool slightly and serve with vanilla ice cream. 
6. Store any leftovers, covered, in the refrigerator.  Leftovers are great cold (even for breakfast, shhhh!) or warmed.  Consume within a couple of days.  

Notes: To any readers who are gluten free but can't eat oats (even if they are gluten free), make the same apple base & try topping it with my gluten free almond topping recipe.