Grain Free Apple Crumble with Cookie Crust and Vegan Caramel Sauce
(Serves 8 to 10)
ingredients
For Bottom Cookie Crust:
- 8 – 9 Real Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 8 X 8-baking dish
For Apple Filling:
- 5 -6 medium granny smith apples (peeled, sliced into 1/4-inch slices)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (about juice of half a lemon)
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoons ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- Pinch ground cloves
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
For Crumble Topping:
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/3 cup coconut oil or palm shortening
- 3/4 cup roughly chopped pecans
- Pinch of sea salt
Vegan Caramel Sauce:
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)
- 1 tablespoon water
- Pinch of Salt
instructions
Preheat oven to 400˚F degrees.
For Crust: Place cookies flat on bottom of the baking dish. It’s ok to overlap a little to cover the bottom. Set aside.
For Apple Filling: In a large bowl toss together apples, lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla extract, arrowroot, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt and gently mix with a rubber spatula until all apples are evenly coated.
Place apples over the cookies in baking dish. There may be extra liquid in bowl. Discard the extra liquid.
For Crumble Topping: Place coconut sugar, almond flour, cinnamon, coconut oil or palm shortening, pecans and sea salt in a bowl. Mix with your hands to incorporate until the crumbles are created.
Cover the apples evenly with the crumble and place in the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes total. After 20 minutes, cover loosely with foil to prevent top crumbs from burning.
While apple crisp is in the oven, prepare the vegan caramel sauce: Place the maple syrup, almond butter, coconut oil and salt in Vitamix or high-speed blender at medium speed until all blended. Add the water to emulsify and blend again until smooth. Place into a container and reserve on the side at room temperature until serving. You can make this sauce up to 5 days ahead of time and store covered in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before using.
When the apple crisp is golden brown, after about 40 minutes, remove from oven and serve warm with Vegan caramel sauce and a dollop of coconut whipped cream.
