I know what you're thinking ... "These have been done before" and I know they have been. But Seriously... with how healthy and delicious they are, I can't NOT add them to my collective!
The possibilities are endless when it comes to toppings you can put on these bad boys. And! If you have made them before no doubt you will know that spreading the butter of choice onto the apple or pear slice can actually be a bit difficult, especially if it's cold, so I thought I'd offer a couple of suggestions!
I have made these for every birthday that my little boy has had and they are always a hit with the kids! He is now three. And whats more exciting, is if you cut them into wedges instead of slices, you actually can make apple 'Nachos'. Pretty cool hey and amazingly great for kids parties!
I think the reason I love this recipe so much, or just these apple slices in general, is you can set everything out like a little assembly line, and then let the kids go to town. It's a really great idea to get them involved in the kitchen, and let them experiment with their individuality and creativity. What's more, is if you choose the right ingredients, you can get them to eat something really healthy. And they will eat it, because they made it. My little boy LOVES helping in the kitchen to make these 'biscuits'. He gets so excited with all the toppings he can choose! It does help to have a little bit of prep always done to make sure there's always something to sprinkle on top, but we usually have these things at the ready because we sprinkle similar things onto our paleo granola, and coconut yoghurt in the mornings!
Things like sugar free and dairy free chocolate chips work really well, but the ones in the pic above I made myself from my own Raw Chocolate Recipe. You can get the recipe HERE, and then you can either find a mould, or just simply put a little bit of the melted raw chocolate on a spoon, and make splatters onto parchment paper. They will be a little bit smaller than the drops in the picture above, as I use a mould, but will taste the same and rock your little one's socks just as much!
Sometimes when I have some sitting around, we also drizzle a little bit of our home made paleo Caramel Sauce over the top. If I do the caramel sauce, I usually omit the chocolate unless it's for an event like a party. The reason being is that you don't need that much sugar on any normal day. The apple already packs a sweet punch and depending on what you pop on the top, you really want to make sure you don't over do it. Just remember, just because they're natural sugars, they are still sugars and you can still have too much of them. If you would like the Caramel Recipe to drizzle over these bad boys (or to drizzle over wedges of apples to make 'nachos') click HERE.
When it comes to choosing the right apples to use, I have found pink ladies are the best! Especially if you are using somewhat bitter ingredients on the top! They're deliciously sweet and crispy. However, If you do have some sweeter toppings in mind, then I would suggest a good old Granny Smith apple because they are slightly more sour in comparison. Also, don't forget to choose Organic Apples if you can as the skin is eaten.
The reason why it is important to consume fibre with any type of sugar, is because consuming fibre and fructose slow the spike in blood sugar. This is why I like to puree dates and use the puree to sweeten a lot of things. The naturally occurring sugar in dates is wonderfully flavourful, while the remaining fibre helps to regulate blood sugar. Prunes are also wonderful for this because of their high fibre content.. however sometimes the flavour of prunes gets me like *vom*. The flavour really doesn't match every thing, so use them with caution if you are trying to use them as a natural sweetener.
Because this recipe isn't heated at all, I really love adding a sprinkle of pro biotic powder over the top of my little 'biscuits'. It's a great nutritional kick, and if you use cacao in your toppings then the pro biotics are being consumed with a pre biotic which is great to feed the bacteria and will be an awesome addition to your gut bacteria! So why not hey?!
As per usual, leave me some feedback if you give it a go! xx Much Love!
Recipe
Time - 15 Minutes -
Serves - 2 -
What you need:
1 Pink Lady Apple Room Temperature
Peanut/Cashew/Nut Butter of Choice
Toppings of choice... I used:
Raw Chocolate Drops ( See recipe link in article above )
Cut Dried Apricot
Himalayan Salt
Pro Biotic Powder
What to do:
Get a Mug or cup of Hot Water and a butter knife. Place the knife in the Hot water to warm the knife blade.
With a sharp knife, or a Mandolin, Slice your apple to your desired thickness. I recommend about a half a centimetre thick. Don't core the apple as the core has wonderful fibre and nutrients in it. Instead just push the seeds out.
Open your Nut Butter of choice, and using the warm knife spread the butter over the apple slice. If the Butter starts to solidify and pull away from the apple, warm the knife again.
Add your toppings of choice. Not too many, just enough to make it look pretty.
Sprinkle Himalayan Salt (it tends to balance the sweetness out) and then sprinkle pro-biotic powder over the top.
YUM!
