Peach Mango & Blueberry Crumbles Made A Bit Healthier--Barefoot Bloggers

Our second Barefoot Bloggers recipe is Ina's Peach and Blueberry Crumbles, selected by Aggie of Aggie's Kitchen, and of course I wouldn't be me if I didn't do something to "healthify" it. Now I really don't have anything against butter, I swear I don't, and if someone made me a piece of homemade fruit crumble or crisp, I would happily eat it without any complaints. Still, I have tried to get myself into the habit of lightening up the dishes I cook at home and making them healthier choices whenever possible. That means cutting back on the fat, sugars and salts and looking for ingredients to replace them that still give me a great tasting dessert. In this case, I removed all the butter and some of the sugar from the crumbles. In fact I removed the peaches too and replaced them with mango. Not because of the health aspects, it's just that really good peaches are not easy to find here and with mango season being upon us, great mangoes are in abundance. My changes (amounts are for a half batch) are in red below. 

You can find this recipe in the Barefoot Contessa at Home (pages 197-198)

Peach Mango and Bluberry Crumbles

Barefoot Contessa at Home, Ina Garten

(Serves 5-6) (Made 1/2 batch which made 5 small crumbles)

For the fruit
2 lbs firm, ripe peaches (6-8 peaches) (Used 1 large mango for 1/2 batch)
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar (used 1/8 cup for 1/2 batch)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup fresh blueberries (1/2 pint)

For the Crumble
1 cup all-purpose flour (used 1/2 cup white-wheat flour for 1/2 batch)

1/4 cup ground blanched almonds
1/2 cup granulated sugar (omitted)
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed (used 1/3 cup brown sugar for 1/2 batch)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 lb (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced (subbed 1/2 cup naturally sweetened applesauce)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until their skins peel off easily. Place them immediately in cold water. Peel the peaches, mango, slice into thick wedges, and place in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the blueberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into ramekins or custard cups.

For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it’s in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Combine the flour, ground almonds, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Work the applesauce in by rubbing it into the flour mixture with your fingers until it is in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. 

Place the ramekins on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 40 to 45 30-35 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature. If you want to make these early, store the unbaked crumbles int he refrigerator and bake before dinner. Serves 5 to 6.

Notes/Results: Delicious! The fruit is warm and bubbling, the topping crumbly and nutty and they are perfect with a scoop of vanilla fro-yo. Because both my mango and blueberries were quite sweet, I was able to cut a good amount of the sugar down in the filling and using the applesauce in the crust allows the sugar to be cut there too. I added the ground almonds for the texture and nutty flavor, but you could leave them out if you want a lighter textured crumble. A great recipe to use up fresh, ripe fruit, I'll make it again. 

Thanks to Aggie for a great, summery pick! You can see what the other Barefoot Bloggers thought of their crumbles by going to the BB site here.