oaty crumble

This was exactly the crumble topping I had been craving: crisp, loose and light in texture. Crumbly! Warm with brown sugar and cinnamon that filled the kitchen with a heady sweetness, but essentially not much more than toasty, crunchy rolled oats. Oats with little nuggets of macadamia and sweet ribbons of shredded coconut. And no flour; barely a skerrick of almond meal.

This crumble is probably a close cousin to toasted muesli or granola — and I’m half tempted to bake it on a cookie tray next time, without the fruit underneath. Because I find myself having a warmed bowl of dessert, with a dollop of thick cream, then going back to the fridge and stealing another spoonful of the oaty mix, cold. Perfect.

Oaty crumble
Adapted from an Anneka Manning recipe for the GI news website. Use your favourite seasonal fruit for this dessert — I’m leaving that up to you; this recipe is about the crumble!

• Preheat your oven to 180 and prepare enough fruit to almost fill a lightly buttered 6-cup capacity baking dish.
• Combine ½ cup rolled oats, ½ cup shredded coconut, 1/3 cup of chopped macadamia nuts, ¼ cup light brown sugar, 2 tbsp almond meal, 1 tspn cinnamon and ½ tspn mixed spice.
• In a separate bowl or jug, combine ¼ cup sunflower or very light olive oil with a generous ½ tspn of vanilla.
• Dribble the oil mix evenly over the dry ingredients and combine using a fork.
• Layer this over your fruit. Bake for 35–40 minutes until fruit is cooked and crumble topping nicely crisped. Serve with your favourite dairy product.