Blueberry Crisp for Grandma

I love making treats for my Grandma.  She's usually not a sweet dessert kind of person, but she enjoys treats and today was the perfect day to make something in her honour.  Every year on mother's day, my Mom is usually away on vacation, so we celebrate mother's day and father's day together when she gets back.  But on mother's day, we also take the time to chill out with our Grandma -- a very special person indeed.  She raised us when we were little and our Dad was working the night shift and our Mom had to go back to work. She picked us up from school, made us breakfast and lunch, and played silly games with us during our summer vacation.

My Grandma has been feeling sick lately, so she didn't feel like going to a restaurant for mother's day brunch.  We brought brunch to her this year, and this fresh blueberry crisp was the perfect way to end it. Truth be told, I really wanted to bake something with rhubarb, but our local markets didn't have any, so I settled for nice pints of sweet, floral blueberries.  I wanted to maintain the freshness of the fruit -- I've tried too many crisps and crumbles where the fruit is jammy and super sweet, not something my Grandma would appreciate.  So I kept everything simple -- no cornstarch or thickeners, just fresh fruit, lemon juice and zest and a sprinkling of sweetness.  The crisp topping baked up in nice lovely crumble chunks with an added nuttiness from the use of spelt flour.  It was a lemony, fresh, just sweet enough crisp, perfect to end mother's day brunch.  It we had a bit of fresh thyme, I'd throw some in for sure, and it were Ontario peach season, I'd definitely consider a peach and blueberry crisp.  But it's perfect as it is, and Grandma loved it, which was the most important part.

Happy Mother's Day!

Lemony Blueberry Crisp
serves 4-6

1 pint of fresh blueberries, washed
juice and zest of 1 lemon, divided
1 tablespoon of natural cane sugar
1/2 cup of spelt flour
3/4 cup of rolled oats
3 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons of canola oil

1.  In a baking dish, combine the blueberries, sugar and half the lemon juice and zest.  Toss lightly.  Set aside.

2.  In a bowl, stir together the flour, oats and the other half of the lemon zest.  Add the lemon juice, oil and honey and mix well.

3.  Crumble the oat mixture over the fruit and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the fruit just starts to bubble and the topping gets nice and golden.

4.  The dessert begs for ice cream or whipped cream, but if you eat it on it's own, you could definitely call it breakfast!

Peanut Butter + Fruit Part 1

Did we ever discuss my love for peanut butter? It's not just a love. It more like a dependency. Kind of like with coffee. Yup, I have peanut butter days. Yup, it's that bad. Weekends are usually when I get to eat peanut butter, and while I love it stirred into bowls of oatmeal, baked into a cookie, worked into granola or in a classic or super special PBJ, my favourite way to eat peanut butter has always been and always will be, on a spoon. That being said, I'm forever looking for ways to add peanut butter to different things. I've been known to substitute peanut butter for butter, mostly because I like the taste, partly because it's a healthier alternative.

That's exactly what happened here: a peanut butter apple crumble/crisp. Don't get me wrong; I love the classic no-fail apple crumble, and it will probably remain my partner's favourite, but let me tell you, this peanut butter version is going to steal your heart. In the past year, I've realized that natural peanut butter is so much better than the commercial version, so that's what I used in this recipe. It makes the apples get sticky and gooey and creamy -- a perfect match to the toasty crumble/crisp topping that gets sprinkled over top. And since realizing that honey and peanut butter so hand-in-hand, there's a generous spoon of it added to the filling and the topping. Peanut butter + fruit = happiness. Can you guess what the next combination will be?? And can anyone tell me what's the difference between a crumble and a crisp?


Peanut Butter Apple Crumble/Crisp

Filling

2-3 apples, peeled cored and diced (I used Empires)
a pinch of cinnamon
a splash of water
2 teaspoons of honey
1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter

Topping

1/2 cup of oats
1/3 cup of whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of honey
3 tablespoons of natural peanut butter

1. Put all the ingredients for the filling in a small saucepan. Heat on medium, stirring for the first few minutes, until the peanut butter melds with the rest of the ingredients. Turn it down to low and cook until the apples get tender -- about 7-10 minutes.

2. In the meantime, make the crumble by first mixing together the oats, flour and brown sugar until well combined. All the honey and peanut butter and work it into the dry mixture slowly, until a crumble forms.

3. Pour the apple mixture into a baking dish and sprinkle over the crumble topping. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until the top gets nice and golden brown. Get ready for a bit of peanut butter heaven .. and you don't even have to feel guilty!