Apple Crisp | A Note on "Healthy"

Sweet, Tart, and Crunchy.

This recipe by the Minimalist Baker makes for a delicious, caramelized apple crisp. It's a one-bowl recipe, so makes for an easy clean up, and serves about six people. It also freezes well (for up to 1 month), so it's a great make-ahead option!

A Note on "Healthy"

A lot of people have major misconceptions regarding what it means for a food to be considered healthy. Social media has given lots of highly unqualified people the forum to preach information on health related to diet and exercise that, in my opinion, allows for the global spread of misinformation with extremely dangerous potential physical and psychological consequences for unknowing readers. There is no true definition of health because it is different for everybody; everyone has a unique body and therefore unique health requirements. That is why I titled this blog subsection "Healthy-ish;" it is misleading to title anything as objectively healthy, especially if one is not a registered dietician or educated, professional equivalent.

Having a "healthy food" blog or account does not qualify one to spread information on health, and it is important to understand that everything is healthy in moderation. Cutting out a certain food or food group from one's diet is not healthy; demonizing things like sugar or carbs is not healthy. It is important to recognize disordered thinking and food ideologies and work towards achieving a healthy relationship with food, as many people today struggle with disordered eating, whether or not they realize how damaging their unhealthy relationship with food is.

This recipe is considered healthy-ish because it uses a lower-than-average amount of sugar compared to typical apple crisps and is technically naturally-sweetened, only utilizing coconut sugar and the apples' natural sugars for sweetness. If you're interested in learning more about coconut sugar in a baking and cooking context, Bon Appetit has a great article about it.

Substitutions and Variations

I used almonds in place of pecans and extra virgin olive oil in place of coconut oil, and this came out totally fine. I'm sure

you can use any similar nut or oil in this recipe if you don't have those on hand. Additionally, if you don't have coconut sugar, light brown sugar should do the trick! Coconut sugar has a deep, caramel-like flavor, like what molasses brings to brown sugar, so using light brown sugar is probably a better substitute than using granulated white sugar. However, both would still produce a great crisp!