Treat your family to a perfectly tart and sweet fruit crisp, made with rhubarb, apples and a crumble topping that is low in sugar, but not in taste.
Whenever I cook with rhubarb, I can’t help but conjure up the vision of my husband’s grandmother standing on her back porch, BB gun in hand, ready to scare off any vermin who dared to enter her vegetable garden. Rumor has it that she was a wicked shot. I never had the opportunity to meet Steve’s grandmother, as she passed away well before Steve and I met, but both her and her husband’s spirits are alive and well in the stories told by his family.
Their farm and orchard was filled with vegetables and apple trees, but the most revered offering (at least by my husband) was the rhubarb. At every meal, a bowl of stewed rhubarb, appeared on the table. Sweetened with sugar and cooked until the chopped fruit practically fell apart, the fruit was the perfect accompaniment for chicken or pork, and even better when tucked inside of a flaky pie crust.
To this day, my husband would opt for a rhubarb pie over chocolate cake for his birthday. It’s too bad his wife is such a lousy pie maker!
To redeem myself, I turn to simple crisps and cobblers. Almost as good as a pie, right? The crisp-making gene comes directly from my mum, who can make a mean crisp at a moment’s notice. While I have made many a crisp that boast sweet fillings and crumbles packed with brown sugar, this one rivals all of those, with a fraction of the sugar.
So, what’s the trick? I replaced the granulated and brown sugars with agave nectar and maple syrup, and threw in a naturally sweet fruit (apple) to offset the tart rhubarb. If I was dealing with a sweeter fruit than rhubarb, such as berries, it would have been easy to reduce the sugar even more. Rhubarb is not quite as forgiving. The maple syrup acted both as a sweetener, as well as a vehicle to moisten the oats and whole wheat pastry flour (along with the melted coconut oil), rather than the 1/2 cup (or more) of butter that I would typically use.
Of course, I can’t claim that the ice cream on top is low in sugar, but hey…sometimes you just have to splurge a little.
The result? A tart and sweet dessert, with the perfect crumbly topping. More importantly, my husband and kids went back for second helpings.
Rhubarb & Apple Crisp Recipe {Low Sugar}
Ingredients
The Filling:
- 4 cups chopped rhubarb 3-4 large stalks
- 1 large Gala apple peeled, cored & chopped
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 3 tablespoons agave nectar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
The Topping:
- 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 3/4 cup oats
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat an 8- by 8-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
The Filling:
- In a large bowl, combine the rhubarb, apple, lemon juice, agave nectar and cornstarch. Toss to coat the fruit.
- Spread the fruit mixture in the baking dish.
The Topping:
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, oats, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Pour in the coconut oil and maple syrup, and toss to coat, using a fork or your hands.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit mixture.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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Frances
Liked the idea of trying an apple, Always have done strawberries with rhubarb, and this was very good. I had a granny smith at hand so tried that and it was fine.. I added a few strawberries I had on hand too. Swerve brown sugar blend and no nuts helped me save a few more calories as I could eat the whole thing and need to cut where I can! Thanks for the great idea.
Anita
I really love the combination of all the ingredients and flavors – rhubarb, apple, maple. Great that it’s low sugar too!