Natural Cravings Kitchen

APPLES 🍎🍏

I hope many of you got out to enjoy some of the great treats Fall has to offer. One favourite of living in Ontario is the many variety of apples we have accessible to us. This makes for incredible pastries, pies, sauces, ciders, or just eaten out of hand! But with so many to choose from, it can be hard to keep track of the names & what to use them for. Apple picking season is over unfortunately but you can still find delicious Ontario grown apples at your local grocery stores or farmer’s markets. 🧑‍🌾

A greener skin tends to be tart while reds are sweeter. This is a general rule and it does have some exceptions [like Mutsu/Crispin], but will help when deciding what flavour you are looking for. A nice blend of sweet/tart is my personal preference for baking. 🥧

🍎Sweet Apples = Mutsu [Crispin], Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Fuji

🍏Tart Apples = Cortland, Granny Smith’s
** Cortland’s are great for cooking/baking since the flesh doesn’t break down easily

🍎Sweet/Tart Apples = Honeycrisp, McIntosh, Liberty

🧑‍🍳Here are some easy ideas to mix up the way you use apples:

➡️Make a crumble! The lazy man’s pie. Just bake your apples [after coating in sugar or maple syrup & cinnamon] with this delicious crumble by mixing these ingredients together to put on top!

🍃1 cup almond flour or any flour
🍃1/2 cup rolled oats
🍃4 Tbsp melted coconut oil or butter
🍃2 Tbsp maple syrup [can sub 2 tbsp of honey]
🍃1/4 tsp cinnamon
🍃pinch of salt
🍃Bake at 350 for ~25 mins on top sliced apples

➡️Make a sauce! If you don’t eat pork a nice applesauce still pairs well with Turkey, Chicken, or in a vegetable stir-fry! I prefer a more tart apple for sauce to add more acidity and not sweetness to my savoury dishes.

➡️Add to Salads! Just remember to coat the flesh with a squeeze of lemon juice after cutting so it the apples don’t brown.