Autumn Skyr Parfait with Toasted Oats and Cinnamon Apples
Layered Nordic parfait of thick skyr, warm cinnamon apples and toasted honey-oat crunch — high protein, fruit-sweetened.
Best for A high-protein, fruit-sweetened brunch with wholegrain crunch and no added refined sugar
This is the brunch I build when the mornings turn cool and I want something that feels like dessert but eats like a proper meal. Thick, tart skyr does the protein heavy lifting, sweetened only by apples cooked down until they taste like the inside of a pie, while a slow-toasted rye-and-oat crunch keeps every spoonful interesting. It layers up in glasses at the table, so it looks like a Nordic cafe put real effort in — but you can have it done before the coffee finishes brewing.
Ingredients
- 600 g Plain skyr , cold, thick; Icelandic-style
- 100 g rolled oats , old-fashioned, not instant
- 30 g Rye flakes
- 40 g Chopped hazelnuts
- 15 g Ground flaxseed
- 30 g honey , divided; use maple syrup to keep it vegan-adjacent
- 10 ml neutral oil , such as rapeseed
- 3 Apples , tart-sweet like Cox or Honeycrisp, cored and cut into 1 cm dice, skin on
- 2 g ground cinnamon
- 1 g Ground cardamom
- 30 ml water
- 5 ml Vanilla extract
- 1 lemon , juiced; you need about 15 ml
- 1 g fine sea salt (optional – can be omitted)
Instructions
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1
Toast the crunch: heat a large dry skillet over medium heat, then add the rolled oats, rye flakes and chopped hazelnuts. Toast, stirring often, until the oats smell nutty and the hazelnuts color, about 6 minutes. Push everything to one side, add the oil, 15 g of the honey and a pinch of the flaky salt, then stir the whole lot together so it clumps. Stir in the ground flaxseed off the heat and tip onto a plate to cool and crisp — it will stay soft until it cools.
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2
Cook the apples: in the same skillet over medium heat, combine the diced apples, cinnamon, cardamom, water, lemon juice and remaining 15 g honey. Cover and cook 5 minutes to steam and soften, then uncover and cook another 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until the apples are tender but still hold their shape and the liquid is syrupy. Stir in the vanilla and let cool to just warm — layering with hot apples will slacken the skyr.
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3
Stir the skyr smooth in a bowl. Layer into 4 glasses: a spoon of skyr, a spoon of cinnamon apples, a scatter of oat crunch, and repeat, finishing with apples and a generous handful of crunch on top so it stays crisp. Serve right away, or chill up to 2 hours — but add the top layer of crunch only at the table so it keeps its bite.