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DCL
She had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples, to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting at last. ~Willa Cather
Every fall, I leave the big city and train out to mom in my home state, Connecticut, for an apple-picking excursion at one of our favorite local orchards. I think there's something about two of us harvesting together that really brings out that primal pre-Industrial Revolution experience I can only imagine our lady ancestors must have experienced. As we scavenge and sample the best, juiciest looking Red Delicious, Fuji, Braeburn & Granny Smiths, we chat, laugh and get some much needed vitamin D as we stroll the country orchard aisles. (This is one of those moments that I don't miss city life.)
We pack our pick-your-own bags to the brim, overwhelmed by the possibility of the shiny red and green orbs. I love my apples in the raw. Especially knowing, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" with their rich abundance of fiber and vitamin C. But there's something that so totally screams the warmth of autumn like a hot baked apple pie like the orchard farm stand tauntingly reminds us with cider donuts and more. Could mom and I, who happen to both be watching our waistlines through low-refined sugar/flour intake, have our apple cake and eat it too?
Refined Sugar/Flour-Free Apple Recipes
VegNews tells us so in their Apple Picking Guide! I took the liberty of curating the recipes that are refined-sugar free. (More and more studies are linking high levels of refined sugar and fructose to obesity, fatty liver heart disease, cancers, and pre-mature aging.) I even excitedly found a maple syrup and barley flour-based muffin recipe purported to taste like old-fashioned doughnuts. Yum! Others seeking alterna-sweets like mom and I will rejoice in some of these tasty snack options beyond the raw apple:
Apple-Cranberry Cinnamon Oatmeal
Apple, Sunflower Seed and Coconut Salad
If you can't find sugar alternatives like real maple syrup, agave and wholesome flours like barley in a conventional super market check out a nearby Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or mom and pop health food store.
What alterna-sweet apple creation will you be making this yummy fall season? I'd love to know!
