Simple Apple Crumble

It's finally fall!! My favorite season for many reasons (boots, sweaters, pumpkin picking, the beautiful scenery) but I enjoy fall mostly because of the cooking! There is nothing more comforting than a recipe with flavors of autumn...apples, pumpkin, butternut squash, sage, oh my! Just because fall is here and we are breaking out the baked goods doesn't mean we have to forget our goal of putting health first. 
Today I was craving a yummy apple crumble- oh a classic. However, traditional apple crumble is loaded with sugar and fat. The recipe I have used for apple crumble in the past calls for 12 tablespoons of butter, just for the crumble topping!! I do love apple crumble, but not enough to eat a stick of butter.  SO I came up with this healthy alternative. I substituted sugar for Splenda (no calories), and instead of 12 tablespoons of butter I used only 1 and added pureed pumpkin to replace the remaining 11 tbsp. Fat avoided! 
Now I know a lot of people are not fans of Splenda and the families of sugar substitutes. Some people say that because there is more of a refining process to create these sugars that they are bad for your body and loaded with chemicals..I'm not necessarily in agreement with that but to each their own. I think that calories saved equal lives saved from obesity, diabetes, and cardiac disease. My standpoint on these sugars is this...Last time I checked, obesity was the source of the top three causes of death in America, not sugar substitutes...
Ok, off my soapbox...Onto cooking!

Simple Apple Crumble

Ingredients:

2 apples - peeled, cored, and diced 

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I don't use wheat flour for this because it doesn't give as sweet of a flavor)

For the Topping:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/3 cup Splenda brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and diced

3 tbsp pumpkin puree (I used canned)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix your apples, lemon juice, vanilla extract, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Gently toss until apples are well coated. Let this mixture sit while you prepare the crumble topping.

3. For the crumble topping: in a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Mix in the butter and pumpkin with a fork until the mixture comes together and you have big crumbles. You can always add more of less pumpkin depending on how wet of a mixture you want.

4. Place the apple mixture in any baking dish you have (I used two oval dishes but you can use a square dish, skillet, or if you want to get more creative- use muffin pans). Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the apples. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, enjoy!