Enjoy peak apple season with a vegan apple berry crisp that will keep you warm and satisfied.
The weather has changed and it’s definitely feeling more like fall where I live in Northern California. It’s at this time of year that my eating seems to shift, too. Not willingly I give up eating stone fruit because it’s not around to purchase. It’s now what I call Apple-Pear season and these fruits are in abundance.
I love the first apples of the season. It seems like a magical fruit with so many varieties available and they love to show you their differences.
Truth is that pears are not all the same either. If you can get your hands on a Warren or Comice, do it. (And remember that pears ripen from the inside out so that when you think that they are ripe, they are often overripe. Pears are a fruit that requires your attention. Apples do not.)
I wonder why we don’t pay more attention to the varieties of other produce and then I remember. In the supermarket, generally, a peach is a peach. It’s not an Elberta or an O’Henry. It’s a generic peach from California that ships well.
Apples defy this gentle handling. They are sturdy and generally firm unless they are one like the Gravenstein which grows in my area but doesn’t ship or store well. Apples will last a long time, even quite a while without refrigeration, which I am now proving on my countertop with freshly harvested apples.
My apple tree is a Granny Smith. It came with the house and it’s not my favorite apple so generally, I give them away. They aren’t usually ripe until November and then lucky recipients say that they make the best pie. Having never been given a slice, I cannot say. However, there are many other apple choices for pie, crisp and crumble.
Here I share my recipe for Apple Crisp or Not So Crisp from Vegan Under Pressure. You can choose your favorite apple to use. With my new Mealthy CrispLid, I know that I can get the top of the crisp crispy if I choose to do so.
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Instant Pot Apple Berry Crisp or Not-So-Crisp
Ingredients
Topping
- ¼ cup almonds
- 1 cup “baby” or quick oats
- ¼ cup coconut palm sugar Sucanat, or regular sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
Fruit
- 3 medium apples cored and thinly sliced (3 to 3½ cups)
- 1 cup frozen not thawed berries of any type
- ¼ cup coconut palm sugar Sucanat, or regular sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ cup water
- 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice to taste
- 1½ tablespoons arrowroot powder
Instructions
- To make the topping: Put the almonds in a blender or food processor and chop coarsely or do the same with a knife. Dry sauté the almonds and oats in a skillet over medium-high heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until toasted; transfer to a small bowl. Stir in the sugar and cardamom and set aside.
- To prepare the fruit: Combine the apples and berries in a large bowl and add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Toss with the apples to coat. Add the water and lemon juice, and then the arrowroot. Stir to combine. Transfer the fruit mixture to a 1½- to 2-quart casserole that fits into the pressure cooker.
- Sprinkle the oat topping over the apple mixture. (Or alternately, mix the topping into the apples and berries.) Cover the dish.
- Add 1½ cups water to the pressure cooker. Add a trivet or rack to elevate the dish above the water (see page 14). Create a set of helper handles (see page 15 or use silicone sling handles). Place the handles on top of the rack. Set the casserole dish onto the trivet in the cooker.
- Lock on the lid. Bring to high pressure; cook for 25 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally. Carefully open the cooker, tilting the lid away from you. Using the helper handle, carefully take the casserole dish out of the cooker. Remove the cover from the dish and let cool for a few minutes before serving.
Greetings to you! I have not tried this yet but I just have to share a recipe that I made up and it’s easy and it’s wonderful!
Slow Cooker Apple Sauce.
For a 3-1/2 quart Slow Cooker dice 5-6 large 7 or so small Apples. If you use “Ambrosa apples. No sugar needed. It’s sweet naturally. Keep on peel (I need all the fiber I can get).
1/2 cup water. Sprinkle some cinnamon on top. I do not stir it. Small to medium dice. Put on cover. Cook 4 hours.
It is so delicious! Thank you! Take care. P.S. I use this to make 2 loaves of apple bread that is actually a Banana bread recipe by A Couple Cooks.
I don’t use a slow cooker but have made many batches of apple sauce in the pressure cooker. Your recipe sounds good since most apples don’t need sweetener, just time. Cinnamon is almost a must for me.
Thank you for sharing.