Pear Blueberry Quinoa Crumbles
This quinoa, hazelnut and coconut crumble topping makes such a delicious switch from oats. Try to source lovely ripe pears for the filling – if they’re still firm, they may need to cook for a bit longer (see Tips).
Ingredients
4 ripe pears, peeled, cored, diced
250g blueberries (see Tips)
50g (2 1/2 tbsp) brown sugar or coconut sugar
50g (1/2 cup) hazelnut meal (ground hazelnuts) (see Tips)
75g (3/4 cup) quinoa flakes (see Tips)
2 tbsp wholemeal plain flour (or spelt flour)
2 tbsp desiccated coconut
1/2 tsp ground cardamom (or cinnamon), plus extra to serve
70g butter, cubed
Natural yoghurt, to serve
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
2. Place pears and blueberries in a bowl and toss through 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Divide fruit mixture between 6 ovenproof bowls or ramekins (250ml capacity). Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, stir together hazelnut meal, quinoa flakes, flour, coconut, cardamom and remaining sugar. Using your fingers, rub butter into the dry mixture until well combined. Sprinkle crumble mixture over fruit mixture.
4. Place ovenproof bowls or ramekins on a baking tray. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until crumble is golden and fruit is tender. Serve warm with yoghurt and an extra sprinkle of cardamom, if desired.
Tips
- You can use whichever berries are in season, or frozen berries if you prefer.
- If you prefer, you can use the same quantity of almond meal (ground almonds) instead of the hazelnut meal (ground hazelnuts).
- You can substitute the quinoa flakes with rolled oats or use a mixture of oats and quinoa flakes (not suitable for gluten-free variation).
- If your pears are firm you will need to bake the crumbles for a bit longer. You may also need to cover your crumbles with aluminium foil to prevent the topping getting too brown while the pear bakes.
Variation
Gluten-free crumbles: Replace the wholemeal plain flour with a gluten-free plain flour and disregard tip on substituting quinoa flakes with oats (as oats are not gluten-free).
