When we think of winter desserts, we often think of spiced flavours and butter-laden richness.
But while that butter may bring comfort at the end of a chilly winter day, it also adds tons of unnecessary fat and calories. Winter treats don’t need to put a chill on healthy eating.
A good place to start when looking for more healthful desserts is fruit, which not only packs plenty of its own no-added-sugar sweetness, it also tends to have gobs of fibre and nutrients.
For this dessert, we chose tangy citrus and sweet plums. Plums naturally caramelize beautifully, adding deep flavour to the dish. To complement the fruit and bring out its natural sweetness, we add just a touch of honey.
Everybody likes a good spiced crisp topping, but nutritionally it often doesn’t add up. Crisp topping usually makes a good start with healthy fibre-rich oats, but goes downhill with a pile of sugar and butter. To remake this topping, we stayed true to its oat roots, but added a handful of healthy-fat almonds, a generous dose of spices and a touch of honey.
For a creamy topping we opted for a spoonful of fat-free plain Greek-style yogurt. It adds the creamy dairy mouth feel that whipped cream offers, but with no added fat and a great serving of calcium. We sweetened it up just a touch with honey and a couple drops of almond extract.
Don’t be intimidated by the number of ingredients in this recipe. It comes together quickly and most of it is done right on the stove.
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Spiced Plum Crisp
Start to finish: 30 minutes
Crisp Topping
2 ml (1/2 tsp) cinnamon
1 ml (1/4 tsp) ground ginger
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1 ml (1/4 tsp) nutmeg
0.5 (1/8 tsp) ground cloves
0.5 (1/8 tsp) allspice
Pinch salt
15 ml (1 tbsp) canola oil
15 ml (1 tbsp) honey
175 ml (3/4 cup) rolled oats
50 ml (1/4 cup) sliced almonds
Yogurt Topping
1 container (150 g/5.3 oz) plain fat-free Greek yogurt
5 ml (1 tsp) honey
Several drops almond extract
Plums
6 plums, quartered and pitted
30 ml (2 tbsp) honey
30 ml (2 tbsp) water
Pinch salt
2 ml (1/2 tsp) lemon zest
2 ml (1/2 tsp) orange zest
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 orange
15 ml (1 tbsp) cornstarch
Heat oven to 200 C (400 F). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, whisk together cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, salt, oil and honey. Add oats and almonds, then toss to coat evenly. Spread mixture evenly over prepared baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown and crisp, stirring once or twice.
Meanwhile, make yogurt topping. In a small bowl, stir together yogurt, honey and almond extract. Set aside.
In a large skillet, combine plums, honey, water, salt, lemon zest and orange zest. Heat over medium, stirring occasionally, until plums are just softened, about 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, orange juice and cornstarch. Stir into plums and bring up to a simmer for 1 minute or until juices are thickened.
Spoon warm plums into individual bowls, topping each with some of the crisp topping and a spoonful of the yogurt topping. Serve immediately.
Makes 6 servings.
Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 260 calories; 50 calories from fat (17 per cent of total calories); 5 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 53 g carbohydrate; 4 g protein; 8 g fibre; 60 mg sodium.
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