A Tasty Fall Dessert

Fall is hands down my favorite time of year. There are so many things about this beautiful season that I absolutely adore like…

Oregon football, cold, crisp autumn air, snuggling under blankets, colorful leaves, cozy socks and sweaters, hot tea with honey, boots, Grogg (a family recipe of apple cider, orange juice, and cinnamon sticks warmed over the stove), and warm, gooey apple crisp with vanilla ice cream on top.

I went to the local farmers’ market with an apple crisp in mind, but decided to mix things up a bit and use a few ingredients I’m not as used to. It’s my new goal to purchase one thing at the farmers’ market that I have never tasted or cooked with before. This time around I discovered a sweet little fruit called jujube. They are known as the Chinese date and taste like a cross between an apple and a pear. These turned out to be a great substitution for apples!

Ingredients (serves 8-12 people, vegan, gluten free)

Crisp topping:

2 cups of millet flour (gluten free, slight nutty taste)
1 cup of chopped walnuts
1 cup of rolled oats (gluten free)
1 cup of quinoa (rinsed well)
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
3/4 cup of maple syrup

Fig and jujube filling:

16-18 fresh figs (about 16-18 individual), sliced
25-30 jujube’s rinsed and chopped
1 tablespoon of millet flour
3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons of honey (sub agave if vegan)
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Directions

>> Preheat over to 350 degrees.

>> Begin by making the topping. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of your dry ingredients (flour, walnuts, oats, quinoa) and mix to combine. Then stir in the vanilla and maple syrup. The mixture should be slightly sticky and crumbly. Set aside.

>> Next, prepare the filling. In a 9×13″ baking pan, line the figs along the bottom. In a separate mixing bowl, toss the chopped jujubes with the flour, lemon juice, honey and salt. Spread the mixture over the figs and give it a gentle toss to combine with the figs.

>> Spread the topping out evenly over the jujube and fig filling.

>> Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the crisp starts to turn golden brown. If you find that your crisp is browning quickly, then cover with foil and place it back in the oven. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm with your favorite ice cream. We used vanilla flavored coconut ice cream (vegan and delish)!

~

Editor: Brianna Bemel

Like elephant Food on Facebook.