Take advantage of the season’s orange bounty by making this delicious, and out of the ordinary, Orange Coconut Crisp. I’d not been introduced to an orange crisp until I saw this recipe in the November 2004 issue of Cooking Light magazine—now merged with Eating Well. I tested the recipe as a side dish for a special brunch, and the hums of appreciation were unanimous—even amongst the young’uns of the fast-food generation! Now, I make this orange crisp at least once every winter.

Not only is this a delightful side dish for a special brunch, it’s also a great breakfast when topped with vanilla yogurt! This crisp can be dessert, too, either served nice and warm from the oven, or room temperature topped with a scoop of frozen yogurt, some vanilla ice cream, or a dollop of whipped cream! I love baked fruit—so sweet, so juicy, so comforting, and now oranges can be baked into heaven on a plate, too! 🙂

Baked Orange-Coconut Crisp

INGREDIENTS

• 7-9 large naval oranges
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 Tablespoons Cointreau
• 2/3 cup flour
• ½ to 2/3 cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup cold butter
• 2/3 cup flaked sweetened coconut

DIRECTIONS

1. Peel and section the oranges, discarding as much of the membranes as possible—the number of oranges needed depend on your sectioning skills and the size of the oranges, but you should have enough orange segments to fill half of an 11×7″ baking pan. 
2. Reserve ¼ cup juice from the prepared oranges and mix with the cornstarch and Cointreau, stirring until smooth.
3. Pour this mixture over the oranges in the bottom of the 11×7″ pan, letting oranges marinate for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
4. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. 
5. Grate, or cut in, the cold butter, stirring with a fork until the mixture is crumbly. 
6. Add in the coconut and stir to combine. 
7. Preheat oven to 375°. 
8. Spoon coconut mixture over the top of the prepared oranges.
9. Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 30 minutes, or until crisp is golden and bubbling. 
10. Serve warm—makes 8 servings.

Next time I make this, I’m going to try some oats in place of some of the flour. Not sure how it will work out, because it seems Cooking Light would have thought of that and tested it—but maybe they didn’t!

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