Individual Apple Crisps

Mission: to have my cake and eat it too.

Seriously.

Desserts and I? We go way back. We’ve always been BFF’s. But there comes a time in every girl’s life when boundaries need to be placed on the relationship with sweets. It usually coincides with the time when eating an entire box of macaroni and cheese with a cookie dough chaser no longer seems nutritionally feasible at 1 AM.

AKA: college graduation.

Since that time, I’ve become much more focused on eating a balanced diet, a pursuit which I have loved. I really enjoy eating whole, real foods that are naturally nourishing.

But I also really enjoy eating dessert.

Which is why I love this recipe.

It’s portion-controlled, filled with real food, and just plain good.

Win/Win/Win.

For the filling:

Combine chopped apple, 1/2 Tablespoon brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Toss to coat the apples. Fill four individual serving size ramekins with equal portions of the apple mixture.

For the topping:

Mix rolled oats, 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour, nutmeg, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in canola oil and maple syrup. Top each ramekin with equal portions of the crisp topping.

Bake ramekins on a baking sheet at 375F for 25-30 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the apples have softened.

(And don’t forget to finish it off with a dollop of frozen whipped cream! It changes everything!)