I was wondering how bad they are for you. I love this time of the year because there are so many fresh apples but I am unsure about how bad either apple pie or apple crisp is for a diabetic. If it is really bad does anyone have or know somewhere I can find a good diabetic friendly recipe for it? It would be much appreciated.
Apples have quite a few carbs & even more when they’re cooked. Of course, the crisp part has a ton from flour.
A great low carb alternative for cooked apples is chayote squash. Peel & slice two chayotes like an apple. Put in a pot with 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, a little water (2-3 TBS), sweetener, lots of cinnamon, vanilla, a dash of nutmeg & other spices & a 1/2 cup white chia seeds. The chia seeds make the mixture thick & syrupy. Cook until tender, but not mushy.
The crust is super easy. Mix together 1 cup almond flour with 1/4 cup melted butter, sweetener. cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, 1/4 tsp of blackstrap molasses. Then, stir in 1/4 cup chopped pecans & 1/4 cup chopped walnuts.
Put cooked chayote in a glass baking dish. Crumble the almond flour mixture on top. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes.
Entire recipe has about 35 carbs using zero carb sweetener.
Apples, like all fruit, when cooked has a concentrated sugar level, but not really too bad if you use an artifical sweetener for the fruit and for the pastry.
I am highly sensitive to anything that goes into my mouth, but my Mum makes a mean apple pie using sweeteners and it does not bother me too much and tastes just the same as if it were made from sugar. Many of our guests at dinner do not notice the difference unless we tell them. Apple pie with a little cream is fine as a treat - as is anything in moderation. Of course it would cause problems if you were to eat a whole plate full!
I sometimes get the yearning for custard to go over the top. Simple. Just use sugar free sweetener instead of ordinary sugar and you have a fairly diabetic friendly sweet.
Gerri, this sounds awesome! I am printing this recipe and going to give it a try. I think I’ll use Sweet Perfection for the sweetener. Love it on berries and in whipped cream. Should be great in this. ssslurp!
Gerri:
Chayote squash is hard to find here… have you tried this with any other squash? I have summers, zucchini, pattypans… and butternuts soon.
If not I’ll have to print this recipe and put it in my stash for next year… and hope I find seeds for Chayote squash.
Slyvia,
Afraid other squash won’t work. Chayote isn’t seedy & doesn’t get mushy when cooked. It’s firm & crisp like an apple & also great raw. Hope you can grow them!
In case anyone is interested, here’s a pic.
Randy,
My husband likes this recipe better than one with apples because chayote stays firm. Use a lot of cinnamon. Chayote is great raw in salads also. Hope you like it.
Alright. I really hope that apple crisp doesn’t bother me too much
The answer is in your blood sugar, Corrine. You’re not in insulin so that makes it harder. But if you can eat a small serving of apple crisp and not be too high 2 hours after, then you’re good to go. Without insulin as a tool, another option is to do some exercise to compensate for it and keep your blood sugar from spiking. I see you have a good A1C so you probably eat healthy most of the time, and an occasional treat won’t kill you!
I don’t eat sugar myself (for diabetes and other reasons) but in general I really don’t care for "substitute " type foods. So if I really feel like potato salad, say, I will eat a reasonable sized serving of it (and in my case, bolus for it) and eat it only very occasionally rather than eat cauliflower salad (:::shudder::::). But that’s just me…lol!
Wow! Think I inquired about chayote one Thanksgiving, Awesome recipe! This looks like a great solution to apple pie. Apple pie spikes quite a bit. Raw apple does too but lately she will eat the apple with peanut butter which stops the huge spike. I will be hunting down chayote and trying out this recipe.