Pineapple, Plum, Hazelnut and Coconut Crisp

Fruit crisp desserts are not the prettiest desserts around, but what they lack in beauty, they have in flavor, texture and ease of preparation.

The following crisp is a somewhat nontraditional one, as I’ve added hazelnut meal and coconut to the crumbs mix, on top of the more familiar oats and flour. Instead of regular sugar, I used coconut sugar, that some claim is healthier than regular sugar. I’m pretty skeptical about that, but as I already had it, and I planned to add coconut to the crisp mixture, it made sense to use it. However, soft brown sugar can be used just as well.

I liked the combination of pineapple and plums, both in flavor and color. If no fresh ripe pineapple is available, use frozen or canned in natural juice.

Unlike in most crisp recipes, here I did not combine the fruit with sugar prior to adding them to the baking pan. This makes the crisp less syrupy and less sweet, which I personally prefer. If you’re into sweeter and more syrupy crisp, you can mix the cut fruits with 1/3 cup sugar and let sit for 15 minutes before adding to the pan.

Makes: 8
Prep time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:
1 Tbs soft butter
2 large plums
¼ large pineapple
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup flour
½ cup hazelnut meal
2/3 cup coconut sugar (or soft brown sugar)
Dash salt
1 stick (115 grams) cold butter
½ cup coconut flakes

1. Cut the plums and pineapple into medium size pieces (check under TIPS for how to peel and cut pineapple). You should end up with about 4 cups cut fruit.
2. Preheat the oven to 355F (180C). Spread the soft butter on the bottom of an 8×8” (20×20 cm) square pan.
3. In a bowl, combine the oats, flour, hazelnut meal, coconut sugar and salt. Cut the butter roughly and add to the bowl, and mix to a fairly large crumbs mixture. Add the coconut flakes and mix lightly.

4. Sprinkle 1 cup of the crumbs mixture over the pan, and add the cut fruits on top. Cover with the rest of the crumbs mixture.

5. Bake for 35 minutes, until the crumbs are golden and crisp and the fruits soft. Serve at room temperature.