Oh my goodness! Fall is here and it is absolutely my favorite time of year! With fall, comes everything pumpkin and apple. Two of my very favorites!
Last Monday, I planned to have the family over to celebrate my youngest daughter’s birthday. I asked her if she wanted something special for her birthday dessert and to my pleasant surprise she asked for a keto apple crisp! Yes!! That made me happy too! I had never made one, but the Pinterest hunt began immediately for that perfect recipe. My excitement quickly faded as I realized Apples and keto do not hold hands. I did not find one single keto apple crisp recipe. Or, I should say…I did not find a keto apple crisp recipe that used “apples”. I did find some that called for zucchini instead of apples…. I….don’t…..think….so!
One recipe did catch my eye… it called for chayote squash, which I had never heard of. I googled chayote squash and found out that it resembled a pear. Hmmm… it looked a lot better to use in an apple crisp than a zucchini would (in my mind anyway!).
I decided to try it and WOW! We were all pleasantly surprised! We even asked the guys who tried it what they thought it was – they answered “apples”! No one could believe it was squash! I am super thrilled, as this will also be added to our 2018 Thanksgiving menu now! I love finding a recipe that is healthy AND loved. (I’ve tried many that are healthy, but far from loved!). This one’s a winner! You won’t be disappointed!
Low-carb “Apple” Crisp. (BIG thank you to Holistically Engineered for this recipe!)
- 6 chayote squash (peeled, cored, and sliced like thin apple slices – see note below)
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3/4 cup of Swerve granular sweetener
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
Topping:
- 1 cup almond flour
- 3/4 cup sliced almonds
- 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
- 4 tbsp of Swerve granular sweetener
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp coconut oil
Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Peel the chayote squash and cut into super thin wedges (similar to how you would slice apples for an apple pie).
Add the squash, lemon juice, sweetener, cinnamon, and nutmeg (the first 5 ingredients) to a large sauce pot. Cover and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the squash to a 9″ pie plate coated with coconut oil spray. Bake for 45 minutes (stirring the squash every 15 minutes).
While the squash is baking, make the crisp topping. Combine all the topping ingredients. After the squash has baked for 45 minutes, add the crisp topping and bake for another 20 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the squash is tender.
50 net carbs for the entire recipe. Yields 8 servings, which makes each serving 6.25 net carbs.
Side note – you may want to wear gloves when working with chayote squash. I ignored the warnings that it can have an extreme drying effect on the skin, so I learned the hard way.
Top with a dab of cool whip to make this “Apple crisp” just perfect! (We almost didn’t get the picture before it disappeared!)
One last note about this fall…. we are going to start a new Bible study together soon! If you want to join in, make sure you sign up for our blog updates and go ahead and purchase this study guide Fight Back With Joy by Margaret Feinberg. We will begin on November 5th and it’s a 6 week study. I hope you will consider joining us as we will study in our own quiet times at home and then share our thoughts and stories weekly through this blog. Invite your friends to join too! Maybe you can pull together a small group for an even more intimate time and bonding of friendships and greater opportunities of encouragement. Or, just join us! You can purchase at Lifeway. There are videos that go with this study, although we are just using the study guide. (If you are arranging a small group, you may want to consider that option).
Please share comments, your favorite fall recipes, and also let us know if you’re going to join in on this Bible study beginning November 5th!
Hope you are enJOYing the fall!
By His Grace,
+Linda
