This new Mini Cranberry Apple Crisps recipe has all of the winter vibes ~ fresh apples, cranberries, raisins, and a crisp oat topping with pecans and cozy baking spices.
If your only association with fresh cranberries is cranberry sauce on the holiday table, this crisp will be a welcome addition to your repertoire. It’s super easy to make, is essentially a one-bowl recipe, and makes a great breakfast crisp or healthy tasty treat. Think brunch or a light dessert after dinner.
Most of the ingredients in this crisp recipe you may already have on hand (minus the fresh cranberries). And, like most of my recipes, I offer ingredient substitutions and variations below so you can make it several different ways.
Use fresh or frozen cranberries in the crisp
What’s the difference between a crisp, a crumble and a cobbler?
Well, they are all baked fruit desserts with a delicious topping. But, put simply, the topping ingredients determine which is which.
- crisps usually contain oats and often nuts, and the topping on crisps “crisp” up as the dessert bakes (hence the name)
- crumbles are similar to crisps but don’t usually contain oats, and crumbles often have flour and are less “crisp” in texture than crisps
- cobblers usually have a biscuit like topping (hello, peach cobbler!)
So now that you know the differences, let’s get baking!
As I said, this is essentially a one-bowl recipe. To that bowl you add the chopped apples, fresh or frozen cranberries, raisins etc. Then fill the ramekins for the “mini” version of this recipe, or a larger baking dish for serving a crowd.
Then in the same bowl as the fruit (no need to clean!), add the oats, cinnamon and nuts etc. The oat topping crisps up after baking and tastes like a delicious homemade granola.
It’s an easy one-bowl recipe!
The melted oil, maple and vanilla mixture can be melted in a glass measuring cup. Then tossed with the oat topping.
You can use any type of apples you like, but some are better for baking than others because they hold their shape and don’t get too mushy.
The best types of apples for baking purposes are:
- pink lady
- granny smith
- honeycrisp
- braeburn
- jonagold
Feel free to use your favorite type of apple though. You can also sub pear for apples in this recipe if you’d like. Or sub fresh blueberries if you can’t find cranberries.
Top with yogurt for breakfast
As for the spices, I go with cinnamon and cloves. But feel free to use any combo of traditional baking spices.
Spices that work well in this dessert:
- ceylon cinnamon
- ground cloves
- ground ginger
- ground nutmeg
- ground allspice
- pumpkin pie spice
Serve in mini ramekins or a large bake dish
To serve these Mini Cranberry Apple Crisps I recommend topping with your favorite ice cream or yogurt, depending on when you serve it. Some of my faves are Nada Moo vanilla, maple-pecan or salted caramel for ice cream. I also like Kite Hill Greek vanilla almond milk yogurt or Coyo coconut vanilla yogurt.
Or if you are feeling especially adventurous you can whip up some full-fat canned coconut milk for fresh coconut whipped cream for a decadent after dinner treat!
However you make this recipe, and whether you make it for breakfast or a healthy dessert I hope you like it. Please comment below or tag me on Instagram so I can see your handiwork!
Like this recipe? Check these out…
Mixed Berry Crisp (vegan, GF)
Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Granola (vegan, GF)
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 45 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
|
- 2 medium apples cored and chopped (I like unpeeled)
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 tsp ceylon cinnamon plus more for topping
- 1 generous pinch ground cloves
- 1 generous pinch fine pink salt
- 3 tbsp unrefined coconut oil
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup or sub honey if preferred
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 generous pinch fine pink salt
- 1 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/4 tsp ceylon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup chopped raw pecans
Ingredients
Filling ingredients
Topping ingredients
|
|
- heat oven to 350° and place six 4-oz ramekins on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper (for easy cleanup); alternatively, you can use a medium-sized glass baking dish
- make filling: in a large bowl combine all filling ingredients and mix well, divide among ramekins
- make crisp topping: melt coconut oil, maple, vanilla and salt
- in the same bowl you used for filling (no need to clean -- again, easy cleanup!), combine melted oil and maple mixture with oats, cinnamon and pecans, mix well
- divide crisp topping among ramekins, pressing down lightly to pack in
- bake crisps at 350° until apples are tender, about 45 minutes
- serve warm with your fave plant-based ice cream, or whipped coconut cream, or coconut milk yogurt
Original recipe created by Jerran Boyer
www.healthnutchefs.com