Crisp

Crisp is very similar to crumble, but it has oats and sometimes nuts in addition to the sugar, flour and butter in the topping. The resulting crunch feels heartier than a crumble topping, and thus qualifies it as breakfast in my neck of the woods. Because this loose topping does not require any binders, like flour, to hold it together, choose crisp when making gluten free or lower sugar options. Choose a gluten free flour or leave it out entirely. You can make this dairy free as well by swapping the butter out for solidified (cold) coconut oil or a plant-based butter substitute.

Yield: 8-10 servings

What You Need:

• 4-5 cups prepared fruit filling (see below)

• 1 ½ cups rolled oats

• ½ cup flour (all purpose, cup-for-cup gluten free blend, almond meal, cornmeal, or combination)

• ¼ - ½ cup raw nuts (almonds, walnuts or pine nuts), finely chopped, optional 

• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

• 6 tablespoons brown sugar or maple crystals

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cut into ¼ inch pieces (you can substitute 8-10 tablespoons melted coconut oil to make this vegan)

What You Do:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Transfer the prepared fruit filling to one large (13x9 inch or 8x8 inch) baking dish, pie plate or 8 individual (3-inch) ramekins.

3. In a mixing bowl (I use the same bowl the fruit was in), stir together the oats, flour, nuts, salt and brown sugar. With your fingers, press the 4 tablespoons of butter and maple syrup into the mixture until you have coarse crumbs.

   Optional: For a less sandy texture, melt the butter with the maple syrup before stirring into the dry ingredients.

4. Dot the fruit with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. With your fingers, scatter the crisp topping evenly across the fruit filling.

5. Put the baking dish on a sheet pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour (30-35 minutes for smaller portions) or until fruit is bubbly and top is browned. Cover lightly with foil if topping is browning too quickly. Allow to cool completely on a baking rack.

The Fruit Filling

What You Need:

• 5 cups fruit, (2.5 pounds peaches, plums, apricots, apples, etc. and 2 pints blueberries, raspberries, cherries, etc.) peeled if desired, pitted, sliced 1/4 inch thick or diced into 1/2 inch chunks

• ⅓ cup sugar (white, brown, cane, turbinado, raw, maple crystals, or coconut)

• 3 pinches fine sea salt

• 1-2 teaspoons ground spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cardamom, etc.) or the insides of a vanilla bean, optional

• Zest and juice from one lemon*, optional but highly recommended

• 2 tablespoons tapioca flour/starch or cornstarch, optional with apples

*note: with cranberries, pears and apples, try orange in place of lemon, and only use half of a medium orange

What You Do:

1. In a large bowl, stir together the prepared fruit, sugar, salt, spices, lemon zest, and lemon juice.

2. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours. You can refrigerate if you choose but this is not necessary.

3. Immediately before baking, stir in the tapioca flour/starch or cornstarch.

Crumble

Fruit filling is covered with a streusel-style topping, made primarily of brown sugar, flour, and butter, that is literally crumbled and scattered across the top by hand. Choose crumbles when you have the least amount of time and limited ingredients. Since I can usually assemble a crumble in 5 minutes plus time to cut the fruit, it’s my reliable stand-by dessert for surprise company.

Yield: 8-10 servings

What You Need:

• 4-5 cups prepared fruit filling (see below)

• ¼ cup brown sugar (or cane sugar, turbinado, maple crystals or coconut sugar)

• 4 teaspoons ground spices, optional (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, etc.)

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• ½ cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into ¼ inch pieces

What You Do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Transfer the prepared fruit filling to one large (13x9 inch or 8x8 inch) baking dish, pie plate or 8-10 individual (3 inch) ramekins.

3. In a mixing bowl (I use the same bowl the fruit was in), combine the brown sugar, spices and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until smooth. With a fork, add the flour to make crumbles like damp sand.

4. Dot the fruit topping with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. With your fingers, scatter the crumb topping evenly across the fruit filling.

5. Put the baking dish on a sheet pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour (30-35 minutes for smaller portions) or until fruit is bubbly and top is browned. Cover lightly with foil if topping is browning too quickly. Allow to cool completely on a baking rack.

The Fruit Filling

What You Need:

• 5 cups fruit, (2.5 pounds peaches, plums, apricots, apples, etc. and 2 pints blueberries, raspberries, cherries, etc.) peeled if desired, pitted, sliced 1/4 inch thick or diced into 1/2 inch chunks

• ⅓ cup sugar (white, brown, cane, turbinado, raw, maple crystals, or coconut)

• 3 pinches fine sea salt

• 1-2 teaspoons ground spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cardamom, etc.) or the insides of a vanilla bean, optional

• Zest and juice from one lemon*, optional but highly recommended

• 2 tablespoons tapioca flour/starch or cornstarch, optional with apples

*note: with cranberries, pears and apples, try orange in place of lemon, and only use half of a medium orange

What You Do:

1. In a large bowl, stir together the prepared fruit, sugar, salt, spices, lemon zest, and lemon juice.

2. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours. You can refrigerate if you choose but this is not necessary.

3. Immediately before baking, stir in the tapioca flour/starch or cornstarch.