3-Ingredient Healthy Apricot Fruit Crisp
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This Healthy Apricot Crisp uses only 3 ingredients and none of them is a boxed mix! It's a super easy, delicious dessert that's incredibly healthy too!
As I've mentioned before, apricots are abundant in the area where I live. The smell of apricots is the smell of summer to my husband.
His mother cans jars and jars of them for the family to eat through the winter. They eat them as a side dish with meat, which I found strange at first but it is quite tasty.
My in-laws have seven trees, and each one is a little different: large or small, juicy or dry, bursting with flavour or more bland, early ripening or late. My father-in-law keeps the ground free of rotting fruit by diligently picking up all the fallen fruit to ferment.
He mashed it a bit, dumps it in a barrel and leaves to bubble away, and then takes it to someone to ‘burn' into strong schnapps.
This year I made unsweetened apricot puree, dried them, made a fermented spread, and a syrup to make juice. I've eaten piles and piles fresh.
But by far the best way I've eaten apricots is in this crisp recipe.
Baking with Coconut Butter and this Easy Fruit Crisp
The idea of baking coconut butter (or manna) on fruit came from my sister, Miwa. Baking coconut butter renders it like shortbread when it cools. The baking brings out the sweetness of the coconut and the fruit keeps it nice and moist. And I can't even describe the texture of the shortbread topping. Buttery smooth, naturally sweet, just…delicious. You have to try it to understand.
And it couldn't be easier to make. Three ingredients!! Or even two, if you don't want a sweetener with the fruit.
I'm a huge fan of easy to make recipes that are also healthy and delicious, treats like 3-Ingredient Amazeballs and Watermelon and Lemon Balm Sorbet.
Any fruit can be used, although as Smitten Kitchen observed, the tartness of apricots mellows after chilling so this crisp makes it a particularly great pairing. If you use a different fruit, you may want to adjust the amount of sweetener.
If you're looking for a low carb option, use blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries, or even cranberries (but you might need some added sweetener for the latter option).
After baking, you'll want to keep the crisp refrigerated – if it sits too long at room temperature (at least in hot weather), the crisp gets rather soggy.
Recipe Notes
- CHILL! IMPORTANT! You must chill the crisp after baking or it will not work. Please do not skip this step!
- Fruit Options: You can substitute other fruits for the apricots. Use blueberries, cranberries, rhubarb, or other berries for a low-glycemic treat. Peaches or plums would be great too. You may need to increase the amount of fruit depending on type – the bottom should be a solid layer.
- Sweetener Options: You may use any other sweetener of choice instead of honey. You may want to adjust the amount if using another sweetener. 1 scoop stevia would be a good AIP alternative. See this post on how to use stevia. If using cranberries, more sweetener will be needed. Some think that honey isn't vegan. I actually disagree, but if you want to avoid honey for this or some other reason, you can use another sweetener of course.
- Homemade Coconut Butter Option: Here's how to make your own Homemade Coconut Butter.
Healthy Apricot Crisp
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups apricots (420 grams) (pitted and quartered)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 6 tablespoons coconut butter (50 grams)
- additional fruit or nuts for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F.
- Fill bottom of pan with apricots or other fruit. If you are using a different size pan, you want a pretty solid layer along the bottom. Also, if you are using a different kind of fruit you may need more than the prescribed amount. Again, put in enough that the bottom is packed, to prevent the coconut butter from falling through.
- Toss with honey (or other sweetener) and flatten out.
- Soften coconut butter by placing it in a heat resistant jar, and warming it in a pan / bowl of hot water and letting it sit for 5-10 minutes. If needed, add a small amount of coconut oil to the butter, 1 teaspoon at a time, and stir. See recipe notes for details. You want the butter to be like cold molasses. If it's too runny, it won't stay on top of the fruit.
- Drizzle coconut butter over the fruit and spread it around with the back of the spoon.
- If desired, place extra fruit or nuts on top of the coconut butter.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until the top of the crisp is golden brown. At this point the topping will be mushy and dry-looking.
- While the crisp is still hot, cut into squares (it's hard to cut nicely when it's cold and hard).
- After it cools to room temperature, put in the fridge until chilled. DO NOT SKIP chilling it in the fridge as the oils need to cool in order to harden and provide that shortbread “butteryness”.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
- IMPORTANT: CHILL! You must chill the crisp after baking or it will not work. Please do not skip this step.
- Fruit Options: You can substitute other fruits for the apricots. Use blueberries, cranberries, rhubarb, or other berries for a low-glycemic treat. Peaches or plums would be great too. You may need to increase the amount of fruit depending on type – the bottom should be a solid layer.
- Sweetener Options: You may use any other sweetener of choice instead of honey. You may want to adjust the amount if using another sweetener. 1 scoop stevia would be a good AIP alternative. See this post on how to use stevia. If using cranberries, more sweetener will be needed. Some think that honey isn't vegan. I actually disagree, but if you want to avoid honey for this or some other reason, you can use another sweetener of course.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and preparation methods. Optional ingredients are not included. Net carbs are typically calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols (such as erythritol) from total carbohydrates. This information should not be relied upon for medical or nutritional purposes.
Would love to hear how you like this crisp after you make it!
Naomi is originally from Canada but is now a wife and mom in Slovakia. She tries to live each day as a follower of Christ in the chaos of caring for children. Using real food and creating an environmentally friendlysurrounding for her family is a priority. She dreams of a little farm while living in an apartment, enjoys handmade creations, and still doesn’t like brussels sprouts. Naomi shares her food creations and photos of Slovakia at Almost Bananas.
I tried it with cranberries and although I loved the taste, holy cow was is RICH!
I think cranberries would be amazing! Or a cranberry rhubarb combo….
Could you mix oats with the coconut butter, would that lend some crunch.
Yes, I think you could do that. Or some nuts if you are grain-free.
I like how you have a link to homemade coconut butter. I’m going to try that when I get my blender (now on delay).And I like this recipe because you don’t have to add sweetener. Maybe I could tolerate some fruits if eaten this way…maybe raspberries?
I think that sounds lovely!!! Cranberries have no sweetness so maybe those would work for you?
I don’t like cranberries…but I do like tart fruits like grapefruit…
after 20 min in the oven and 30 minutes cooling, we have blueberries in coconut oil mush in the bottom of the pan. you are obviously not using store bought coconut butter, but homemade manna to accomplish the crisp.
I’ll have Naomi come over and help out – sorry about that!
I’m sorry it didn’t work for you. Yes, I did use homemade coconut butter (I can’t even buy it where I live) so I didn’t realize it would make a difference (manna is coconut butter, just one company’s name for it, as far as I understand). Sorry! I do have some revisions to make it more clear. I’m curious – did the coconut oil separate from the coconut meat? Did you cool it in the fridge?
I made this with a combination of fresh raspberries, blueberries and strawberries and used honey as the sweetener. I also made the homemade coconut butter. I didn’t measure out the coconut butter that I put on top, I just put on enough that it looked about right. It turned out great and it is really good! I’ve been gluten free for 12 years and this is the first thing I’ve had in all that time that was even close to a fruit crisp. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
I’m so so glad to hear this! A happy eater is what makes putting the time and energy into sharing these recipes worth it!
This looks delicious! I’d love it if you’d be interested in sharing this with August’s edition of Naturally Sweet Recipe Roundup. Thanks for considering! 🙂 ~Aubree
This did not come out anything like your pic. No “shortbread” looking crust on top. It looks like a soggy mess ????
Did you chill it in the fridge? It has to be chilled in order for the oils to harden and provide the ‘crisp’.
Made this twice with blueberries but all the coconut butter went to the bottom both times. Still I have to say I enjoyed it very much with cream!! I will make again even if it look strange!! Thanks!!
There is a big consistency difference between coconut butter and coconut manna(much thicker). I just made this with coconut butter and wish i had bought the manna. Smells delish… can’t wait to try it. Flavors should be great, albeit the very thin topping:)
This was so so so good! I make homemade coconut butter- really just coconut blended up until it starts to become a liquid. I made this with peaches, a squeeze of lemon, and a little lemon zest. Coconut butter on top and baked about 25 min. Seriously good!!
So glad it worked out for you!
Oh dear, and here I thought they were the same thing. Guess I need to do some research on things made with coconut.
Maybe more blueberries? Glad it tasted good at least!
I am severly allergic to coconut. Can anything be substituted for it?
I am also allergic to coconut. I’m very curious in this answer.
I’m sorry about your allergy! I don’t think other butters (peanut or almond) would work the same, sorry about that! But you can always experiment and let us know!
I should have read the comments first. It’s definately not coconut butter, because it doesn’t work. To avoid a total flop, I sprinkled shredded coconut on top and broiled until brown.