Berry Chia Crisp
A couple of days ago I helped my local Farmer’s Market celebrate their 2 year Anniversary by making a berry crisp using fruit from the farmer’s and baking the crisp in a Solar Oven…that is right a Solar Oven. I had never seen such a thing and since I’m not much a camper these days I’m not surprised it hadn’t come across my radar before now but it was actually pretty cool!
The oven uses the power of the sun to reflect heat into the cooking chamber and it works really well! It operates at a lower temperature just like a crock pot does and you can make all kinds of great food in it – including soups, stews and Berry Chia Crisp!!
Enough about the oven – let’s talk about the crisp! Spring and Summer are my favorite times of the year. The weather is beautiful, the fresh produce is bountiful and the berries in San Diego are filling! Since we had a bit of a hot spell early the fruit ripened quite and the sun kissed them with lots of sweetness and I can’t think of a better way to enjoy the berry bounty but with a baked crisp.
I tossed the berries with chia seeds, coconut sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice and let the berries melt into each other and create a lovely sauce for itself. The chia seeds not only boost the nutrition value of the crisp by adding a good dose of Omega 3s, fiber, and protein but they help create a jelly like texture with the juice from the berries which is FANTASTIC for the texture of the crisp. I also like to use coconut sugar when I back because it’s much gentler on your pancreas and releases much slower into your bloodstream than regular sugar.
For the topping I mixed together gluten free oats and gluten free all-purpose flour from Bob’s Red Mill, cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut sugar and salt and then cut in coconut oil until the mixture had a very crumbly texture. Next, I spooned the berries into 6 ramekins, covered it with the flour mixture and then topped it with coconut chips and baked that baby until it was bubbly and delicious!
I hope you enjoy this easy and family friendly recipe with a foodie twist!
BERRY CHIA CRISP
Serves 6 – 8. Prep time: 15 minutes, Cook time: 30 minutes
Download Berry Chia Crisp Here
Fillling
3 cups berries
Zest and Juice of 1 orange or lemon
1/4 cup chia seeds
2 tablespoons coconut sugar or honey
Topping
1 cup gluten free oats
1 cup all-purpose gluten free flour
2 tablespoons coconut sugar
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
coconut chips or flakes
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350º. Place the fruit in a bowl and mix with the zest and juice of the orange or lemon, chia seeds and coconut sugar or honey. Set aside
2. In another bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together and then cut in the coconut oil with a pastry cutter or a fork until the mix resembles pea size crumbs.
3. Grease a 9×12 pan or 6 ramekins with coconut oil. Spoon berry mixture into pan or ramekins and top with crisp topping and sprinkle with coconut. Bake for 30 minutes.
Enjoy!
Ummm why don’t more people add coconut flakes to crisps?? I for one am completely sold.
I 100% agree!!