Apple Cranberry Crumble

As an ode to Winter (for the 20th time), and just because you need sweets once in a while, I made this crumble.  I've tried crisps and cobblers but never a crumble, at least not intentionally or by following a recipe.  This was adapted from Global Gourmet, but changed drastically.

When I say drastically I mean I didn't have anything that resembled the ingredients in the recipe.   Let the substitutions begin!  I used whole fresh cranberries that I had in my freezer.  As part of a cleansing program I boiled these down to capture the juice and wondered what to do with the actual tart fruit.  Cranberries worked nicely in this, however, they aren't in the store this time of year, so you can substitute more apples or maybe some berries.

Ingredients:

Filling:

3 cups of precooked  apples (with 1 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp cinnamon and sliced, peeled apples cooked for 20 minutes)

1 cup cranberries (you can try canned whole ones)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/8 cup oat bran or flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

1/2 cup oat bran or flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

Note:  I used oat bran because that's what I had  in my pantry.  It was one of those unlabeled bulk finds.  It had a number on it for grocery checkout, but the number meant nothing and I bravely decided to use it anyway instead of oat flour.  One of those true experiments!   You can use flour if you wish.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the filling,  place the apples and cranberries in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl place the brown sugar, oat bran and cinnamon, mixing well.  Pour this into the fruit bowl and combine.  Place the filling into a buttered 8 x 8 inch baking pan.

For the topping, Put the oat bran or flour and sugar in a bowl.  Cut the butter into cubes using a fork or food processor, blend until mixed.  There will be chunks still.  Add the oats, almonds, cinnamon and salt and mix.  Cover the pan of fruit with this topping, pop in the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes.  Serve warm or cold.  Serves 8.

Enjoy!