Are you all loving the amazing recipes for #EatHealthy16 so far?  I am over the moon excited about today's recipe.  Robyn from Simply Fresh Dinners is absolutely lovely and I routinely use her amazing recipes to create my meal plan for the week.  Be sure to stop by and enter to win the Blendtec 725 Blender that she is giving away!  As well as check out Cupcakes & Kale Chips for some Healthy Snacks or Love Bakes Good Cakes for some Healthy Meal Ideas for our #EatHealthy16 Series.

Hi everyone, I am thrilled to be back guesting on Jenny's blog today and I have brought along one of my new year's resolutions - more healthy baking! Baking is always a good thing, right? And if you're doing it the healthy way, even better.

Are you ready for something light and fresh amidst all the heavier comfort food of these cold winter months? Often times we think of crisps as heavy in sugar and flour but this little creation uses healthy ingredients and doesn't sacrifice the flavor in the process. Not only is this light, it's super easy to make as well!

Mixed Berry Crisp

A lot of my readers have been asking me to include desserts on my blog but I'm not much of a sweets person and I have a little bit of bake-a-phobia, ha! I love to cook because each dish is open to interpretation and you can be a little careless with the amounts of each ingredient. Not so much in baking! It's a science that requires precision and patience - not exactly my best qualities.

But it's the new year and time to take on new challenges, right? After all, how scary can a bowl and a few pans be? So when Jenny asked me to participate in #EatHealthy16 I thought it was the perfect opportunity to face my fears and create something fabulous. And I kinda did! This was delicious and I'm now motivated to try other desserts as well.

Using my favorite fruits definitely helped quell my fears and feel free to buy frozen for this dish if the fresh aren't looking too fresh on your grocer's shelves. Living in Canada means that I'm buying a lot of frozen fruits and veggies in the winter but that's just fine - much better than canned any day!

In the summer months, I'm fortunate to partner with local farms where there is beautiful abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables that truly inspire my cooking. This dessert incorporates fresh berries that requires no baking whatsoever. I love to include berries in savory dishes as well and this Balsamic Chicken with Strawberries, Basil and Feta Cheese is one of the most popular on my blog.

I'm all about texture in my food and love a little crunch in each bite so I decided to add a few crushed walnuts to the almond meal. Substituting pure maple syrup for the sugar is a real bonus as well and so darn delicious!

Now I'll bet you're looking at that whipped cream and saying, 'Hey, that's not healthy!". Guess what? It's whipped coconut milk! You can buy fresh coconut milk or canned for this. If you buy the canned, carefully put it into your fridge the night before being careful not to shake it or put it on it's side. The next day carefully remove the lid and drain the watery liquid off, leaving the coconut fat that has separated and solidified. It whips up beautifully! I'm thinking you could do this with almond milk as well but it would probably require a few more steps as it has a different fat content.

If you're new to baking, you'll love this because it's pretty much fool proof. I loved making it in the smaller bowls too and individual ramekins would be a big hit, I'm sure.

Such a pleasure to join you and your readers in the pursuit of healthy eating, Jenny. Cheers!

Mixed Berry Crisp

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 6 cup mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries)
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of ½ lemon and juice
• ¼ cup tapioca
• ½ cup walnuts
• 1 cup almond meal
• ¼ cup tapioca
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ¼ cup butter slightly softened
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray your baking dish or individual ramekins

  2. Clean and cut your strawberries. Add all ingredients to bowl except tapioca and mix very gently. Sprinkle tapioca over mixture and mix gently again. Pour mixture into baking dish or individual ramekins.
• Topping

  1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and combine. Use fork to mix in butter well.

  2. Sprinkle topping over the berry mixture, covering completely. Bake for 35-40 minutes until bubbly. (If you've filled it to the brim, place your baking dishes on a baking sheet to avoid spillage in your oven)

  3. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve with whipped coconut milk.

Along with this easy, healthy recipe, I’m also sharing a giveaway for a chance to win a Blendtec 725 with Twister Jar! You can enter this fabulous giveaway HERE so be sure to enter to win.

Robyn lives in Canada and has an affinity for all things ocean, including seafood. She loves finding new ways to create dishes with fresh ingredients, low in calories and most of all, DELICIOUS! She believes healthy dishes do not have to be time consuming and expensive and she wants to convince you of that, too!

You can also connect with Simply Fresh Dinners here:

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