Christmas time is over. Most of us enjoyed loads of scrumptious, indulgent foods. Delicious, for sure, but maybe a little bit heavy (and perhaps eaten in huge amounts). In case you’re looking for something a bit lighter and healthier – yet still sweet and tasty – I’m coming with a recipe for a delicious fruit crumble.

Healthy desserts seem to be in great demand after occasions like Christmas – long periods of time filled with feasting – all day long. We feel heavy, we feel like we’ve overeaten, and we desperately search for fresh, healthy recipes to turn things around and get back on track. What’s the first thing that comes to our mind when looking for a dessert that’s healthy, light and fresh? Fruits, of course!

Fruit crumble is a perfect choice for this time of year. Warm – but fresh, sweet – but not unhealthy. The recipe I’d like to share with you uses fresh fruits widely available at this time of year as well as frozen ones, so making it in the middle of winter shouldn’t be a problem.

The crumble I like to make uses rolled oats and oat flour (you can blend rolled oats if you don’t have oat flour or replace it with any other flour – I’d recommend wholemeal ones though, to keep the dessert on the healthy side). This crumble topping recipe with oats is one I use for other desserts too – it tastes great and light, and replacing plain flour with oats lets us sneak better nutrients into desserts without having to give up on the taste.

Anyway, let’s get into the recipe, shall we?

For 3 servings you’ll need:

• 1 apple
• 1 banana
• 1 tangerine
• a handful of frozen cherries
• a handful of frozen strawberries
• 3 dried dates
• 1 teaspoon of honey (optional)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• cinnamon

Peel the apple and chop it into small cubes. Place the apple chunks on the bottom of a casserole dish or a ceramic baking tin.

Chop up the banana, tangerine and dates and add them to the apples.

Sprinkle the fruits with cinnamon, drizzle them with vanilla extract and stir everything up, so that the fruits are all equally coated with vanilla extract and cinnamon.

Defrost cherries and strawberries (take them out of the freezer in advance or heat them up in the microwave).

Chop up cherries and strawberries and spread them evenly on the fruits already in the dish. Don’t stir this time – the red juice from cherries and strawberries will nicely stain the fruits below them. If you have any juice left after defrosting frozen fruits, drizzle the mixture in your casserole dish/baking tin with it. If your cherries or strawberries are sour – or if you like things a bit sweeter – drizzle everything with a teaspoon of honey.

Oat crumble:

• ¼ cup rolled oats
• ¼ cup oat flour
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 2 heaping teaspoons of butter, soft
• vanilla extract
• cinnamon

Also:

• almond flakes
• chocolate sauce (optional)

Place all ingredients for the crumble in a bowl and knead them with your fingers until they’re nicely combined. Place the crumble on top of the fruits in chunks.

Preheat the oven to 190°C.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Serve warm, sprinkled with almond flakes and drizzled with chocolate sauce (skip this last point if you want the dessert to be healthier).

Enjoy! 🙂

And if you’re looking for other healthy snacks or desserts, here are some I’ve already posted:

Pure grain loaf with seeds and nuts – a recipe for a super healthy loaf, full of seeds and nuts – and, as a result, full of nutrients and vitamins! Cut it into smaller pieces and enjoy your home-made fit bars.

Healthy date balls – these sweet, delicious balls only require 3 ingredients (plus water). Extremely simple to make, they’re a great healthy snack option!

• Sweet