The Sugar Challenge is on! My main meals tend to be fairly healthy and sugar-free. It’s the snacks, desserts, and occasional cinnamon toast for breakfast that get me. So like always, I am starting out by addressing the snack and “treat” issue.

I put supper in the crock pot today, so I finally had a little free time (and the energy!) to start experimenting with my favorite fall recipes, making them healthier. I can hardly believe it, but I hadn’t even made a single apple crisp yet this year. I did some googling for low sugar, and allergy free recipes. But I finally decided to take what I’ve learned and try my own.

It was a phenomenal success!

Here is what I did:

APPLE CRISP- Low Sugar and Gluten Free

1 cup of dates (if they are not super soft, soak them in hot water for 20+ minutes, then drain)

2 cups of gluten free oats

3/4 cups of almond meal (I just ground up the almonds in my food processor)

1 stick of butter, softened (You could use something else to make this dairy free)

8 large apples

Cinnamon (to taste)

Stevia Powder (optional, for topping)

1/2 cup water

Grease an 8X8 pan with light olive oil or butter.

Preheat oven to 350.

To make the topping:

Mix softened butter, oats and almond meal.

Take a handful (yes, I’m super exact in my measurements) of the mix and the drained dates, and blend them in the food processor until it forms a ball.

Mix the date/mixture back in with the rest of the topping mix. I use my kitchen aid. Then I added in a teaspoon or so of cinnamon. Possibly more (I really like cinnamon).

To prepare the apples:

Peel/core/slice the apples. I have a peerler/corer that makes it super fast. As I put them into the pan, I lightly dust them with cinnamon. (I find this helps prevent the browning).

Then I just pressed the topping onto the apples. poured 1/2 cup water down the side, and baked at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Voila!

A couple notes:

* Really this is technically enough topping for a 9X13 pan. I just really happen to like topping. 🙂

* This was such a hit with my family! I really didn’t miss all the usual sugar one tiny bit. My husband, who has a less-adjusted palate than I do to “less sugar eating” gave it a 9. Although he said he’d rather not need that commercially-sweet taste, so maybe he should have given it a 10.

* My son, who has never liked apple crisp, actually really liked it, and helped us finish it off. (He doesn’t care for cooked apples- it’s a texture thing)

The entire pan is gone, and I can’t ask for a better review than that!

This was day one of sugar-free for me. So far, so good!