This dessert is one last hurrah before it gets too warm to use the oven. I wanted a challenge to see if I could take something that contains something as sweet as bananas and bring down the sugar level to something more manageable. Also, it just looked really good. Who doesn’t love a good crumble recipe? We’ve been busy around here planning to actually see people after I am fully vaccinated from COVID-19. Before I go on, let me stand up on my soap box for a moment. PLEASE GET VACCINATED! It is up to all of us to make this disease go away. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for the people who can’t get vaccinated. Also, WEAR YOUR MASK IF YOU ARE NOT FULLY VACCINATED! It’s no skin off the nose of a person who is fully vaccinated. For those of you think it’s cute to not wear a mask and fake being vaccinated, you better hope you don’t get it. COVID-19 is no picnic. Don’t make it a problem for yourself. Get vaccinated and you will get back to normal faster. I’m done, I’ll step off my soap box now.

Now that I’m done with my rant, we are visiting fully vaccinated relatives within the next month or so. It almost seems weird to see people again. It’s a good thing. We are really looking forward to it.

On to the recipe. I chose the recipe from Love Food for Banana and Peanut Butter Crumble Recipe to challenge what I can do with a recipe. I think it will be good. I will be deleting some parts, just because they are gilding the lily a bit. Not that that’s bad, but sometimes it can be too much in the calorie department.

Here are the original stats:

Here’s what I changed:

• I deleted the cream sauce because it was unnecessary to add and reduce the calories.
• I replaced the maple syrup with a sugar free variety to reduce the calories.
• I replaced the peanut butter with peanut butter powder to reduce the calories.
• I removed the coconut oil and use a non-stick pan to caramelize the bananas to reduce the calories.
• I increased the servings from 8 to 14 to reduce the calories.
• I reduce the number of bananas from 6 to 4 to reduce the calories.
• I’m using a muffin tin for easier portioning.

Here are the final stats:

Here is the final recipe:

Lower Sugar Banana and Peanut Butter Crumble

Serves 14

For the caramelized bananas

• Cooking spray
• 4 ripe bananas, sliced into rounds
• 1 splash of sugar free maple syrup
• 1 3/4 cups unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 tbsp shredded coconut

For the crumble

• 3.5 ounces ground almonds
• 1 3/4 ounces old fashioned oats
• 3 tbsp rice flour
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseeds
• 3 tbsp sunflower seeds
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 0.5 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 0.5 tsp sea salt flakes
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 6 tbsp peanut butter powder
• 6 tbsp sugar-free maple syrup
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Grease or line 14 cups of two muffin tins and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F.
3. First caramelize the bananas. Spray a large non-stick frying pan with cooking spray, then add in enough slices to cover the bottom of the pan.  Heat the pan to medium.
4. Add a splash of maple syrup and allow the bananas to caramelize. Turn over to caramelize the other side. Remove, scraping the pan for any sticky caramelized bits, into a bowl and set aside. Repeat the process with the remaining bananas.
5. Add an even amount of sliced to the bottom of each muffin cup.  Pour a little milk (just shy of 3 tablespoons each) over the top and sprinkle each with a little coconut.
6. For the crumble, mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix together the peanut butter (and three tablespoons of water), maple syrup, almond and vanilla extracts.
7. Add this wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir thoroughly to bring the ingredients together, then use your hands to form a crumbly mix.
8. Spread the crumble topping over the bananas and bake for 15-20 minutes minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little.
9. Serve.