Apple Crumble is a favourite home baked dessert dish in our family. However I tend to make it when the weather is cooler because the cinnamon-scented apple base and rich buttery oatmeal topping is best eaten warm from the oven. 

My daughter Sofia asked me to make Apple Crumble while her younger brother Luka, requested, “…some little cookies to have with cold milk please because I’m really very hungry.” Bear in mind that Luka said this after lunch and after polishing off a large juicy peach from one of the two wooden trays on the kitchen bench that were spilling over with fresh fruit. When he said “hungry” he was referring to something sweet, something delicious and something home made. To make both of the little ones happy, I decided to develop a recipe for Apple Crumble Cookies. After some adjustment to the original ingredients and much hasty note taking, I came up with the successful version below. These golden cookies have texture, moisture, and flavour and don’t require a trip across town for the ingredients. They are also egg free, making them suitable for anyone with an egg allergy. 

With the children still on school holidays, this was an excellent opportunity to involve them in the kitchen. With hands freshly scrubbed and aprons on, I had Sofia and Eva peeling apples, Luka stirring the mixture and everyone including the two eldest children, clambering around to taste test the results as the trays came out of the oven.


Apple Crumble Cookies – 44 small cookies or 32 medium sized morsels will come out of the oven, but not all will make it to the cookie jar!

250 g unsalted butter
3/4 cup raw sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 apples, peeled and diced into 1cm pieces
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup desiccated coconut
2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon orange juice

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees on a fan forced setting. 

Melt the butter in the microwave in a large mixing bowl. Remove from the microwave and add the raw sugar and cinnamon. Using a mixing spoon, stir until combined and smooth. 

Add the apples, oats and cinnamon and stir again until just combined. Add the flour, baking powder and orange juice and once again stir very well until the mixture is combined and starts to stick together. You may need to add a little more orange juice if needed, but take care because you don’t want a wet mixture, rather a pliable dough-like consistency. 

Take small amounts in your hands – about a tablespoon – and roll into a ball the size of an apricot for a decent medium sized finish. Place this on a lined baking tray and flatten slightly with your fingertips. repeat until all the mixture has been laid out on the trays. You can also roll balls into the size of a walnut of you want a more delicate cookie. 

Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes for medium sized and 15 minutes for the little ones.  

When cooked, remove the trays from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before serving up warm and deliciously scented or transferring to cooling racks. 


Hearty Sautéed Vegetables

I usually grate my vegetables or chop them finely in my trusty Magimix food processor when preparing Spaghetti Bolognese. This time I felt like a heartier, textured Bolognese sauce so I diced up a vitamin charged selection from my fridge and sautéed them for 15 minutes in olive oil and butter. I combined carrots, zucchini, spanish onion, garlic, fennel, celery, mushrooms and dried Italian herbs. This is what they looked like just before I added them to the beef mince that had been browned in a separate pan. I think they look like glossy, edible gems! These veggies could also be tossed through spaghetti with a good grating of parmesan, a grind of black pepper and sea salt.