The Harvest Coffee Cake is even better the second day, after the crust has a chance to absorb some of the moisture from the filling and softens up a bit.
⅓ cup melted butter (or coconut oil if vegan)
2 Tbsp agave, maple syrup, or molasses
1 Tbsp tapioca starch
⅓ cup milk (or almond/rice milk if vegan)
¾ cup nut pieces (your choice)
½ cup almond meal
¼ cup flax seeds
⅛ cup chia seeds
1 cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats (not quick cook or instant)
⅓ cup coconut flour
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp cloves
⅛ tsp fine sea salt
2 cups canned or homemade unsweetened pumpkin purée (sweet potato or butternut squash make great substitutes or combinations)
3 medium sweet apples, peeled, cored and grated on large holes of a box grater
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ cup – ⅓ cup agave nectar, molasses, or honey
⅓ cup raisins
½ cup dates
¼ cup dried cranberries
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9″ (22.5 cm) square pan with parchment, or spray with nonstick spray.
- In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil/butter, syrup, tapioca starch, milk; set aside.
- In the bowl of a food processor, blend together the nuts, almond meal, flax, chia, oats, and coconut flour until the nuts are ground and mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt and blend just to mix. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture in the bowl and toss with a fork (as if making pie dough) until it comes together in a very moist yet crumbly dough (it will stick together if pressed, but should readily separate into crumbles if tossed with the fork). Set aside while you prepare the filling.
- To make the filling, mix together the pumpkin, apple, sweet potato/butternut (if using), vanilla and dried fruits.
- Take about half the crumble mixture (you can just estimate) and press it firmly into the bottom of the pan. Top with the filling, spreading evenly. Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture evenly over the filling and press gently with the palms of your hands. Top with additional oats and drizzle with a little syrup or raw sugar if desired.
- Bake in preheated oven until edges are browned and the top of the crumble begins to brown a bit, 45-55 minutes, rotating pan about halfway through. (The filling won’t bubble the way typical fruit fillings do).
- Allow to cool to room temperature before cutting into squares; reheat if desired to serve.
Makes 9 large servings. May be frozen.