A Real Food Recipe: Blueberry Hazelnut Crumble

I can't remember having desserts very often as a kid. The folks were (and still are) hard workers (obsessive really) who would get home late every night with dinner usually around the 8pm mark (others having dinner at 6:30pm just boggled my mind). So it was probably too late to have a dessert. They'd just give us a cup of Milo and a biscuit if we were lucky and off to bed we would go.

So, now I'm grain free and all aboard the health train, it seems I have stumbled across the sneaky dessert carriage. Ironic eh? I just want dessert. Every single night. What the heck. And it's not like I'm craving sugar (I'm thankfully past that stage - that's another post for another day). But I just want something more to eat late at night, just before I pass out in bed. But you know what, now that I think about it, maybe my body really has been conditioned to want dessert. Those delicious cups of Milo were full of sugar and additives. Not to mention those cream biscuits. Gosh I miss them.

Well, no point moping about it. Time to make some grain-free, sugar-free desserts then hey?

Blueberry Hazelnut Crumble

(grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free)

Recipe modified from momgonepaleo.com - check it, great site!

Organic Ingredients: 

• 2 cups Hazelnut Meal
• 3 Eggs
• Some Raw Honey
• A big pinch of Bicarb
• A bit of Pink Himalayan salt
• 1 T Vanilla Extract
• As many Blueberries (fresh or frozen) as you want! 

Turn the oven to approx 180 degrees Celsius and prepare muffin trays as you would normally. Chuck all ingredients into one bowl (except blueberries) and whisk well. If it's not sticking together well, add another egg or even a little water (or almond milk if you have it). Fold in blueberries and spoon mixture into the muffin trays. Pop into the oven for 30-40 minutes until browned. Leave to cool or eat straight away!

Now, these won't be soft and moist like a classic white flour muffin. Instead, they'll be a cup of crumbled goodness! So be careful taking them out of the muffin trays, especially if you haven't used paper liners, as they might break apart. So these would be more suitable for dessert or those wanting a sneaky treat before bed (or in bed, why not?!) instead of an 'on-the-go' kinda snack if you get my drift.

I found these were AMAZING with a serve of natural yogurt. I imagine they'd be pretty good with coconut ice cream, full fat cream or coconut/milk kefir yogurt too.

Variations? Of course..

• Use any berry in place of the blueberry. Hell, use them all at once. 
• Using almond meal would make these more of a muffin than a crumble. Just add an extra 1/2 cup to the mix.
• Add some raw cacao powder and/or nibs for added zing. Might need to add an extra egg, water or almond milk to moisten it a bit more.