Baked Apple With Pecan 'Crumble' -- Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, cane sugar free

I'm an incurable, calculating, and at times slightly fanatical apple lover.  In short, there have been days when I've loved apples not wisely but too well. Fortunately, my days of indiscriminate apple loving are over, and now I just love 'em in a good old fashioned amiable apple way. I don't even eat an apple a day anymore. How times have changed.

One of the nice things about apples is how well they keep. It's pretty much possible to always have apples on hand as a staple without them easily going bad.

Plus, who doesn't love apple pie, apple crisp, or apple crumble? Or apple slices dipped in a mixture of almond butter and coconut oil? Or just fresh apple ... :)

For the purposes of our brunch, I wanted to make some baked apple. The recipe is slightly different than last baked apple recipe. Also, it includes the addition of an optional topping, made with pecan meal, coconut sugar, and cinnamon. The problem that I have with apple crisp is how uncrisp the topping is the next day if you have leftovers.  This way, the topping can be sprinkled on at any time, and enjoyed for breakfast or for dessert. There you have it. Please feel free to scoff at my gluttonly ways.

Toasted Ground Pecans with Cinnamon and Coconut sugar -- as good as it sounds.

toasted pecan topping recipe:

ingredients:

1/2 cup pecan meal

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp sea salt

 2 tbsp coconut sugar

directions:

1. toast the pecan meal with the sea salt and cinnamon over low heat in a dry skillet (I used a ceramic one)

2. once the pecan meal has been thoroughly toasted, add the coconut sugar, and toast a little longer

3. be careful not to let the mixture stick or burn once the coconut sugar has been added

4. serve with baked apple (recipe below)

baked apple recipe:

ingredients:

6 large apples, washed and cored, but not peeled (I used 4 royal galas, 1 piñata, and 1 pink lady)

1/2 cup organic thompson raisins

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1 tsp ground vanilla bean

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 pinch sea salt

1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. choose a large casserole or dutch oven, put the coconut oil in, and put it in the oven for 5 minutes while you begin cutting the apples

2. toss the chopped apples in the casserole or dutch oven with the melted coconut oil and lemon juice

3. add the spices and pinch of salt, and toss well

4. cover and bake at 345 for 60 minutes in the upper half of the oven. If need be, remove the cover and bake for 20 or 30 minutes open. I found in my big cast iron Nemesis, the apples were not done enough, and there was too much liquid after 60 minutes covered, so 30 more minutes uncovered did the trick nicely.

5. serve the baked apple with a generous layer of the pecan topping on it, or by itself. It's delicious either way.