Blueberry Rhubarb Crumble (gluten free, vegan, sugar free, whole grain)

Excuse my absence from the last couple of days as both baking attempts did not turn out whatsoever. Let's just say my gluten free cake turned into a gluten free pudding/glop/gruel. Not pretty nor tasty.

So instead of setting myself up for disaster once again, I decided to tackle something easier, dare I say fool proof: a fruit crumble. You really can't mess it up. I still had blueberries and rhubarb in my fridge and after seeing bluebarb pie online, I couldn't get the idea of pairing them together out of my head. Bluebarb, what a fun word to say!

Like the rest of my baking experiments during my project, my recipe made a mini portion of fruit crumble. Not only does it save me money on ingredients, but with just two people in this household I really shouldn't make more. I've already eaten half of this dessert, can you imagine if I made a full size version? Portion control has never been a strong point of mine.

Other than it being fool proof, one of the best parts of making fruit crumbles is how versatile and adaptable they are. Don't have blueberries? Try apples, peaches, strawberries, blackberries...any fruit really! Vegan? Don't have butter on hand? Use coconut oil! Gluten free? Try buckwheat flour, almond flour, millet flour, amaranth flour, or whatever flours your have on hand (except sweet rice flour, but if you do any gluten free baking you probably know that already). On a paleo/primal/grain free diet? Use sunflower, coconut, and almond flour. Yeah, you can pretty much use almost anything as long as the ratios (and flavors) match.

For my blueberry rhubarb crumble, I used a combination of almond flour and oat flour. I also added chopped walnuts for more nuttiness and texture. Earth balance was my fat/oil of choice, but cow's butter will also work, as well as plain ol' canola oil.

I've been really into adding lots of different flavors (perhaps to the point of too much going on at once) and drizzled the fruit with some rose water. Sucanat was my sweetener, but only one tablespoon was used and I don't think it made much of a difference, so feel free to leave out any sugar if your fruit is sweet enough.

Blueberry Rhubarb Crumble gluten free, sugar free, vegan, whole grain

1/2 c oat flour 2 Tbsp almond flour 1 1/2 Tbsp chopped walnuts 1 1/2 Tbsp butter, vegan butter (like earth balance), or oil 1 Tbsp sucanat (optional) pinch of cinnamon pinch of salt

1 1/2 c fruit (I used half blueberries half rhubarb) 1 tsp corn starch or arrowroot starch 1 tsp liquid sweetener such as honey, maple syrup, agave (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Cut fruit into bite size pieces if necessary, then toss with starch and optional sweetener. Pour fruit into a small baking dish (mine is 5"x7") and set aside.

Whisk flours, cinnamon, sucanat, and salt together. Next add butter by crumbling together with your fingers until incorporated. If using oil, drizzle in and mix together until a crumbly dough forms. Add walnuts and mix. Pour crumble mixture on top of fruit mixture. You want to keep the crumbly pieces on the larger/chunkier side. If the crumbs are small just press them together with your hands and gently place on top of fruit.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Be sure to let it cool before serving. Enjoy!