Gluten-Free Holiday Cranberry Chutney Crumble Dessert

I am excited to share another dessert with you today–a gluten-free Holiday Cranberry Chutney Crumble! This delicious dessert is perfect for Thanksgiving or a December holiday dinner, but I could enjoy this all fall long (dessert for breakfast, anyone?).

I really get excited when baking now. I have been experimenting with cooking for years, but have strayed away from baking because it seemed scary. My mother is an AMAZING baker and cook, and her mother was too, so I decided to start trying to learn to bake around the time I decided to start this blog.

The second I had my first dessert turn out well (a coconut cake I was testing to make for my dad’s birthday), I realized something. It must be in my veins.

Of course I still mess up from time to time (a lot more often than cooking, and more often than I’d like to admit), but I truly love baking now so I think it must have been a dormant passion.

A Note About This Recipe

This recipe is actually SO EASY, and you really don’t have to be a baker to make it. I must admit something first though. The filling for this crumble is my mother’s recipe!I’ve altered it slightly to make it refined-sugar free and adjusted the amounts slightly, but it is essentially her recipe. When I asked her for it, she was surprised since I would never even try it as a kid.

Maybe it’s because I was (and still am) weird about sweet food. Sometimes I like it but most times I don’t because it’s either too rich for me, or I’d really just rather have a salty snack.

But when I started to make the recipe she sent me, I originally intended for it to be a Thanksgiving sauce, as is standard. Chutney isn’t necessarily the standard form of the cranberry portion of the Thanksgiving plate, but my mother explained that she and my father were really into Indian food at the time, so she decided to try this. And I must say that it is truly delectable–and way better than the stuff in the can.

Fun fact: there are vegetables in here! But I promise you cannot taste them; it’s like crouching cranberry, hidden vegetable in here. *crickets*

Sorry, I meant, you’ll fool all your family–even the kids!

OK, So What’s in This Thing?

So obviously there are cranberries in the filling, and of course some sweetener, since cranberries are pretty sour. Golden raisins and green apple also add sweetness and brightness to the flavor.

We also have some spices that really add an extra oomph to the flavor: cinnamon and ginger. The ginger, at the amount listed below, is not spicy, but feel free to add more if you would like a zesty zing.

Now, about those vegetables! We have onions and celery in here that bulk it up and add some health, but are undetectable to the tongue. Just don't tell anyone and they won't even notice.

So obviously there are cranberries in the filling, and of course some sweetener, since cranberries are pretty sour. Golden raisins and green apple also add sweetness and brightness to the flavor.

We also have some spices that really add an extra oomph to the flavor: cinnamon and ginger. The ginger, at the amount listed below, is not spicy, but feel free to add more if you would like a zesty zing.

Now, about those vegetables! We have onions and celery in here that bulk it up, add some health, but are undetectable to the tongue. Just don’t tell anyone and they won’t even notice.

With the topping, you can customize this to your liking. A crumble is essentially a bunch of dry ingredients mixed with a thicker moist ingredient. Typically people use butter, but to keep from using dairy or oil, I’ve used almond butter (it gives such a warm and fall-y flavor to this dessert). If anyone is allergic to nuts, try sunflower seed butter, tahini, or coconut cream instead.

The dry ingredients in the crumble are ground almonds (you can use almond meal here but I like my ground to be a little chunkier to where you can still tell they’re almonds), oats, gluten-free flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and a little coconut sugar. Again, if you’re serving someone with a nut allergy, you could grind sunflower or pumpkin seeds, or use shredded coconut, or just add a little more of everything else.

How to Make It

This crumble is one of the easiest desserts to make. After you’ve chopped up and assembled your ingredients, you’re going to start by cooking the cranberries, raisins, water, spices, and maple syrup on the stove top. You’ll boil it and then simmer it for a little while.

After that, you’ll add your apple, onion, and celery and simmer for a while longer. While that’s simmering, you’ll mix together the ingredients for your crumble.

And when you’re done with those things, you’ll add your filling into a baking dish (I used an 8×8 inch square glass baking dish) and top it with the crumble. Then just bake it!

The result is a gooey, delicious pie-like slice of fall that’s perfect for any of the great fall or early winter holidays, or just any occasion, given how easy it is to make!

As always, let me know if you make this recipe and please tag #Zardyplants and mention me @Zardyplants so I can see your beautiful recreations! If you tag me on IG, I will share your post in my stories :)

<3 Liz

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