An Apple A Day...

When I think of autumn I think of steaming bowls of thick soup, hearty casseroles and rib-sticking roasts. I associate these chillier months with saucy fruit crumbles laden with custard and one-pot wonders sat blipping away in the oven for hours on end. 

The smell of bonfires in the evening never gets old and donning the old beanie hat for those crisp, early morning dog walks is a requisite. This week we’ll be buying pumpkins and carrying on our new household tradition (if ‘new tradition’ is even a thing) of carving and unveiling to each other our attempts at spooky by candlelight.

Autumn makes be reminisce about Grandad’s jammy sponge pudding when us four grandchildren would fight in jest over who gets to lick the spoon, or of time spent scavenging for chestnuts and impatiently burning our fingers to get at the sweet, nutty flesh.

But above all of these things, around this time of year I crave apple pie! With it’s warming, nostalgic stodge and heady spices, sweet apples and crisp topping, there’s nothing better. It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that firstly, I would try to make a healthy version of this classic and secondly, that I would attempt to work it into breakfast. My favourite meal of the day.

So what if I told you that you could relish the comforts of a naughty apple pie in a healthy, nutritious baked form? That you’d be packing in fibre, blood-sugar reducing complex carbs, magnesium, protein and healthy fats? Well I’m telling you, you can.

Best of all, this breakfast dish can be made in advance and enjoyed throughout the working week when time is short – because you’ve milked every cosy, precious second under that duvet before hauling yourself into the cold and starting the day!

Apple Pie Baked Oats

Serves 4

2-3 eating apples

10g butter

150g oats

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp baking powder

50g sultanas (optional)

350ml milk (use cow’s or any plant-based)

30ml maple syrup

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

80g flaked almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C
2. Core and roughly chop the apples into bite-sized pieces and add to a baking dish
3. Chop the butter into small cubes and sprinkle over the apples
4. Spread the oats out onto a tray and bake both the oats* and the apples for 10-15 minutes until the oats are slightly golden and the apples soft
5. Meanwhile, whisk together the milk, maple syrup, egg and vanilla
6. Once the oats are golden, combine in a bowl with the spices, baking powder and sultanas (if using) then sprinkle the mix over the apples; pour the wet mix over the oats, using a spoon to push them down into the liquid
7. Sprinkle the flaked almonds on top of the dish and pop in the oven for 30-35 minutes, rotating halfway through
8. Serve up warm with an extra splash of cold milk

* You can skip oven-toasting the oats if you'd prefer but to get a more traditional flavour to this dish it's most definitely worth the effort!