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The Best Cranberry Apple Crumble | THM-E

This delicious Cranberry Apple Crumble recipe is the perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving meal or even as a holiday dessert!

Until I was 9 years old, Thanksgiving dinner meant Cranberry, Orange, Apple Relish. 

But then my mom found a new recipe for a Cranberry Apple Crumble.

Our whole family was skeptical at first.

Why change tradition?

Until we tasted the new cranberry side dish and a new Thanksgiving tradition began.

Two small bowls of cranberry apple crumble on a piece of distressed burlap with a casserole dish behind.

Yes.

It’s that good.

Seriously.

This may actually be my favorite Thanksgiving food!

Next to Sausage Dressing.

And Sweet Potato Casserole.

Oh, and I guess turkey is okay too.

Mom’s Cranberry Apple Crumble is one of the first recipes I adapted as a Trim Healthy Mama.

When I make it for Thanksgiving this year, I will have enjoyed this delicious side dish for over 40 years!

Good grief.

Now I’m feeling old…

How a Recipe Becomes a Tradition

Like any good tradition, this recipe comes with stories and memories.

There’s the first year Mom trusted me to use a sharp knife to cut the apples: I felt so grown up!

And I remember slipping away as a teen with my cousin to take some to feed to her horse, Ice Man. What? It was the 80s!

There was the one year I had Thanksgiving with an old boyfriend and missed having our family’s crumble. That was the year Thanksgiving didn’t feel like Thanksgiving.

Two small bowls of cranberry apple crumble on a piece of distressed burlap

The year I made this dish to bring to my future husband’s family Thanksgiving dinner.

And the very first Thanksgiving dinner I prepared completely on my own as a newlywed.

oval casserole dish with baked cranberry apple casserole on a wood board with an apple and sticks of cinnamon

But even though this is my most beloved Thanksgiving side dish, it doesn’t need to be reserved just for turkey day!

This healthy cranberry apple crumble is delicious as a dessert too! It’s perfect any time fresh cranberries are available.

My children all love this recipe.

In fact, now my daughter, Katy, is often the one who prepares it!

I’ve shared this recipe with so many friends and family, and now I get to share it with you.

Because that’s what friends do.

Ingredients to Make this THM Cranberry Apple Crumble

Ingredients needed to make cranberry apple crumble lined up on a counter
  • Sweet, firm apples such as gala or honey crisp, chopped, with skins on
  • Whole, fresh cranberries
  • Sprouted whole wheat flour
  • Old fashioned oats
  • Pyure sweetener (for substitutions: low carb sweetener conversions)
  • Blackstrap molasses
  • Maple extract
  • Cinnamon
  • Mineral salt
  • Glucomannan or Xanthan Gum
  • Chopped pecans or walnuts
  • Unsalted butter
  • Egg whites

Tips for Making this THM Cranberry Side Dish

Be sure to spray your casserole dish with cooking spray! It’s the key to easy clean up, which is huge for me since I don’t like doing the dishes!

overhead view of oval casseroAn apple diced with a knife on a wood board with an apple and sticks of cinnamon

When you chop the apples, make the cubes small, about 1/4-1/2-inches.

Depending on the size of your apples you’ll need anywhere from 2-4 apples to get 3 cups.

overhead view of a clear glass mixing bowl with diced apples and whole fresh cranberries on a wood board with an apple and sticks of cinnamon
overhead view of a clear glass mixing bowl with diced apples and whole fresh cranberries topped with sweetener and low carb flour on a wood board with an apple and sticks of cinnamon

The dry ingredients are going to combine with the juices from the apples and cranberries to make a wonderful sauce!

overhead view of a clear glass mixing bowl with diced apples and whole fresh cranberries mixed with sweetener on a wood board with an apple and sticks of cinnamon

Mix it all together until the apples and cranberries are nicely coated with the dry ingredients.

I love the way it looks when it sticks to the cranberries!

Am I weird that just looking at this picture makes me happy?

overhead view of an oval casserole filled with diced apples and whole fresh cranberries mixed with sweetener on a wood board with an apple and sticks of cinnamon

Transfer the apple mixture to your prepared casserole and spread it out evenly.

How to Make Low Carb Brown “Sugar”

overhead view of small glass mixing bowl with low carb sweetener and a drop of molasses

Next, combine 1/4 cup of Pyure with the blackstrap molasses and the maple extract. Basically, you’re making brown “sugar” here.

overhead view of small mixing bowl with low carb sweetener and molasses being mixed by hand with a spoon

Mix it together until it looks like brown sugar.

It takes a little bit of time to work the molasses completely through the sweetener.

overhead view of small glass mixing bowl with low carb brown sweetener on a board garnished with an apple and sticks of cinnamon

I like to sort of mash the clumps of molasses with the back of my spoon and then smooth it outwards.

overhead view of medium glass mixing bowl filled with oats, almond flour, chopped walnuts, and cinnamon

Then turn that sugar-free brown “sugar” into a delicious crumble to go on top.

The crumble is made from oats, cinnamon, mineral salt, and either chopped walnuts or pecans. Plus the brown “not sugar.”

overhead view of medium glass mixing bowl filled with oats, almond flour, chopped walnuts, and cinnamon with melted butter being poured over from a smaller bowl

The crumble is held together with a little melted butter and some egg whites.

The original recipe called for a stick of butter and no egg whites.

You could absolutely use the butter if you wanna get crazy, just know that you’d be creating a crossover since you’re combining a lot of fat with a fair amount of carbs.

I actually like the egg whites better! They crisp up the crumb without adding extra fat.

overhead view of oval casserole dish with unbaked cranberry apple casserole on a wood board with an apple and sticks of cinnamon

Be sure to spread the oat crumble over the top of the apple mixture all the way to the edges.

Then pop it into the oven and bake it, uncovered, until the edges are nice and bubbly and the top turns golden brown.

It takes about 45 – 50 minutes.

overhead view of oval casserole dish with baked cranberry apple casserole on a wood board with an apple and sticks of cinnamon

The cranberries will pop and the apples will release liquid that combines with the sprouted flour to make a nice thick sauce.

And the oats become a crisp, crumbly topping. My mouth is watering just writing about it!

oval casserole dish with baked cranberry apple casserole on a wood board with an apple and sticks of cinnamon

Seriously, this is so ridiculously good!

Can You Make Cranberry Apple Crumble Ahead?

One of my favorite parts of this recipe is you can assemble it a day or two ahead and refrigerate it to cut down your work (and dirty dishes…) on Thanksgiving day.

I like to get as much done in advance as possible, how about you?

The less prep work to do that day, the more time for watching the parade and football, snacking, and visiting with friends and family!

When I prepare it in advance, I just assemble the casserole, then cover it and refrigerate it before it’s baked.

Remove it from the refrigerator about an hour before you’re ready to bake it to let it get closer to room temperature.

Then bake it as directed.

If you forget to remove it to sit out before baking you may need to add an extra 5-10 minutes to the cooking time.

oval casserole dish with baked cranberry apple casserole on a wood board with an apple and sticks of cinnamon

Cranberry Apple Crumble | THM-E

Yield: 8
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Tart cranberries and sweet apples topped with an oatmeal cinnamon crumble are the perfect accompaniment for your Thanksgiving meal or a delicious dessert.

Ingredients

Base

Topping

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Spray an 8-cup casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine apples, cranberries, 1/2 cup Pyure, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp glucomannan or xanthan gum, and 1/4 cup sprouted flour. Toss until the dry ingredients coat the apples and cranberries. Then transfer to the greased casserole dish.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup Pyure with the molasses and maple extract. Mix well until it resembles brown sugar. Add the oats and walnuts and toss until combined.
  4. Add melted butter and egg whites to the oat mixture and stir until the wet ingredients are mixed into the oats. Then spread the oat mixture over top of the apple mixture.
  5. Bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes, until the edges are bubbly and the top is nicely browned.

Notes

If you don't have Pyure sweetener, refer to this low carb sweetener conversion chart to find the correct amount for your preferred sweetener.

Please note that we are not medical or nutritional professionals. We include nutrition information for our recipes as a courtesy to our readers. It is calculated using WP Ultimate Recipe and we remove erythritol and xylitol from the final carb count because that is how THM calculates carbs. Please refer here for our complete Nutritional Disclosure.

Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1 grams
Amount Per Serving Calories 142Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 2gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 5mgSodium 17mgCarbohydrates 23gFiber 5gSugar 6gProtein 4g

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