Healthy Apple Pie Nut Crumble

Healthy Apple Pie Nut Crumble

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves 4
Grams of nuts per serve: 30 grams

Ingredients
4 apples, washed and diced
1 ¼ cups plain rolled oats
60g Brazil nuts
60g Cashews
1/4 cup desiccated coconut flakes
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon

Method
Preheat oven to 180C.
In a large saucepan, gently heat ¼ cup of water and stir in 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of cinnamon. Once combined, add in diced apples and 1/2 of the Brazil nuts, 1/2 of the cashews and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes or until apples have softened, adding more water as needed. Place into a baking dish and set aside.
Take remaining Brazil nuts and cashews and crush in a blender. Place in a mixing bowl. Place oats into the blender and quickly blitz so some oats form a powder and some are still whole. Place in the mixing bowl with nuts and add coconut, olive oil and remaining cinnamon and vanilla.
Evenly spoon crumble mixture on top of cooked apples mixture bake for 20-30minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven, serve with yoghurt and drizzle with maple syrup. Enjoy.

Recipe by Rebecca Gawthorne for Nuts for Life

Five Reasons To Go Nuts This Winter

Snacking on a handful of nuts a day could help you avoid the unwanted kilo creep this winter.

Nuts for Life Dietitian Belinda Neville says snacking on nutrient-rich nuts is a great and easy way to combat unhealthy eating habits that often arise as the weather turns cold.

"During the cold weather, your metabolism revs up to warm your body, making you hungrier," said Ms Neville. "This can leave you craving foods like creamy pastas, pies and other heavy meals, but comfort eating doesn't need to weigh you down.

"Choosing healthier foods that have a combination of good fats, protein and fibre, like nuts, can curb cravings and help keep you feeling fuller for longer – so you are less likely to over eat at your next meal.

"As well as helping to manage your weight, a handful of nuts a day provides important nutrients for immunity, heart health and can even lower the GI of carb rich meals."

Here are Nuts for Life dietitian Belinda Neville's top five reasons to go nuts this winter:

Boost Satiety
Nuts are a rich source of healthy unsaturated fats - the 'good' type of fat that helps to switch on satiety hormones in your gut, helping to reduce hunger pangs1-3. Nuts have also been shown to help manage body weight with their combination of protein, fibre and fat, keeping you feeling fuller for longer and thereby helping to control our overall daily food intake.

Burn More Calories
Yes, nuts are high in healthy fats, but that doesn't mean that they will make you fat! Studies show that regularly eating a 30g handful of nuts can actually help to boost your metabolic rate by 5-10 per cent, increasing the amount of calories burned. Also, because we don't actually absorb all of the fat found in nuts, there's no reason to pass them up!

Lower the GI of High Carb Meals
Nuts have a glycemic index-lowering effect. When they are mixed with carbohydrate foods in a meal – like adding pine nuts to your pasta - they help to slow the digestion and release of glucose into your bloodstream, which helps to satisfy your appetite for longer.

Support Immunity

Most tree nuts contain a host of important vitamins and minerals. Cashews are particularly high in zinc, a powerful nutrient required for strong immune function, while Brazil Nuts are high in selenium, an important trace mineral that also helps support immunity. In fact, just two Brazil nuts provide your recommended daily intake of selenium.

Protect Your Heart
Studies show that eating a 30g handful of nuts a day can help to lower your risk of heart diseases. The combination of antioxidants, healthy polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, and fibre can contribute to better heart health. Macadamias are the top nut source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and a tasty way to give your heart some love.

Nuts for Life is Australia's leading nutrition authority on tree nuts and health. The nutrition education initiative educates about the health benefits of regular nut consumption in the Australian diet. It is funded by the Australian Tree Nut Industry and Hort Innovation.
www.nutsforlife.com.au