*I’d better start this with a disclaimer- I am not a food blogger, my talents lie in the eating, not the styling or photographing (as I’m sure this blog post will make abundantly clear).*

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Hello again! Anybody else wondering where April has gone, or is it just me? Although, can you really call it April when the weather is more akin to August!? Anyway, we must be due some rainy, spring-like days at some point, so here is a recipe I thought deserved sharing, for when the crumble weather returns.

You know when you’ve got some random ingredients which need using, you don’t know what to do with them, so you throw them all together and accidentally end up with a taste sensation… then hope that you can remember how to recreate it? That’s exactly what happened here…

Enter, this unique crumble, topped with my own crunchy oat topping. The very definition of ‘comfort food’. Perfect served warm and drizzled with natural yogurt; vanilla ice cream or custard would also work (or both, I’m not judging!).

Pineapple, Coconut & Banana Crumble Recipe:

I make this in a 10″ pie dish, but you could halve, or even quarter, the recipe, and use a smaller dish.

Ingredients:

Fruit Layer:

• 4 medium bananas, chopped into bitesize chunks (the riper they are, the sweeter the crumble will be)
• 400g pineapple chunks, either fresh or out of a tin (drained weight)
• 50g desiccated coconut
• 1 tbsp liquid sweetener of choice (I use coconut nectar, but honey or maple syrup will work just as well)

Topping:

• 140g rolled oats
• 100g desiccated coconut
• 110g plain flour (use gluten free plain flour if necessary)
• 50g ground almonds (you can substitute for plain flour if you can’t eat nuts, or don’t have ground almonds)
• 110g butter or margarine
• 4 tbsp liquid sweetener (as above, any sticky, sweet liquid will do)
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas mark 6, and lightly grease a 10″ round pie/crumble dish with butter.
2. Pour the chopped banana and pineapple chunks into a bowl, with the 50g desiccated coconut, and 1 tbsp liquid sweetener.
3. Mix well, then pour the fruit mixture into your prepared dish, and bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in the bowl you mixed the filling in, stir together the oats, 100g desiccated coconut, plain flour, and ground almonds; then set aside.
5. Place the butter, 4 tbsp liquid sweetener, and vanilla extract into a microwave safe bowl, and microwave on half power for about a minute, or until the butter is melted. Or you can use a saucepan and cook over a low heat on the hob, to achieve the same result.
6. Stir the melted butter mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients, and mix thoroughly; the mixture should be wet enough to clump together but still slightly crumbly.
7. When the 10 minutes is up, remove the fruit layer from the oven, and carefully pour the topping mixture on top. Lightly, press the topping down, to stop bits falling off onto the floor (and into the mouths of waiting dogs), then return the crumble to the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden.
8. Allow to cool slightly, then enjoy. Leftovers can be reheated in a microwave, or be popped back into the oven to warm through.

Feel free to change up the fruit combinations, you can’t really go wrong with crumbles. I think swapping the pineapple for fresh raspberries would be equally delicious; I might have to try that this summer, once raspberries come into season!

Hope you enjoy this as much as my family do!

Holly x