Dessert Week Offering #1: Apple Brown Nik

~by Nikki

So you might be wondering why, in the midst of a week when every website and food blogger is trying to woo you to their stuffing recipes and turkey techniques, we at Bariatric Foodie have chosen to do Dessert Week.

Well...that's the thing. You have a plethora of recipes. If you came out to the 2010 Holiday Preview or ordered your Portable Preview, a few of those recipes are even ours. And there's a cajillion on the internet. In general, Jen and I find that you know what you can and can't eat and what you should and shouldn't eat with regards to regular food.

Dessert, however, sometimes trips folks up. As newbies we think we can't have dessert (not true...for me personally dessert is a whole separate meal but I still eat it). Further-outs often try to avoid dessert because of the infamous "bounce."

But dessert isn't evil and, yes, you can have it! So this week we are going to show you some sensible desserts. Some will be protein added, some not, some will be quick to put together, while others will have a few more steps. We hope this helps you decide how to finish off your stellar Thanksgiving meal!

First up is a classic from the Bariatric Foodie coffers. Apple Brown Nikki! I started making this my first year post-op. Last year, you might remember, the family became aware of its yumminess. This year I'm going in prepared. I'm making two of these!

This was all that was left of last year's batch!

Apple Brown Nikki

Ingredients:
5 - 6 Granny Smith Apples peeled, cored, and sliced
3 tbsp Blue Bonnett Light (or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light...I'm not picky)
1 cup + 1 tbsp Splenda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 chopped hazelnuts
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup Honey Bunches of Oats cereal
1/2 cup Fiber One cereal

Directions:

1. In a pan, melt "butter." Add apples, cup of Splenda, cinnamon, and nutmeg and sautee until apples are considerably softened. Set aside.
2. In a dry pan, toast the hazelnuts and walnuts until browned.
3. In a blender or food processor, combine both types of cereal, remaining Splenda, and nuts until a crumb mixture forms.
4. Place apples in a casserole dish (I used a 9 x 13). Top with crumb mixture and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until apple mixture is bubbling up through openings in the crumb AND crumb mixture is brown.

Some additional tips for this dish:

• If you are newer out and not having a big dinner (hence, you can't pawn most of this off on family), get yourself some small ramekins, reduce the recipe down to 2-3 apples, place your cooked apples in the ramekins, sprinkle with the topping and place all the ramekins on a cookie sheet to bake. Perfect portion control!
• If you want a little bit more of a sophisticated taste, try adding in a quarter cup of Davinci sugar-free Butter Rum syrup to your apples while they are cooking.
• For a little extra "oomph" on your topping, place your whipped topping in a bowl and gently fold in 2-3 tablespoons sugar-free hazelnut syrup (or any other favorite syrup, I find sugar-free French Vanilla syrup works well too), a dash of cinnamon and a sprinkle of nutmeg and then set it out as a topper.

This is an easy, no muss, low mess alternative to the traditional apple pie that gives you lots of fiber in return. If you make a batch of your own, be sure to snap a pic and send it our way! Enjoy!

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