An Easy recipe for Blueberry Crumble

This recipe for Blueberry Crumble makes a delicious pudding that’s quick and easy to make. It’s bursting with fruit flavours and berry goodness and is completed with a delicious oaty topping. Serve it with yoghurt, custard, or ice cream or eat it straight from the dish. (I’m not judging.)

I’ve had a lot of fun trying out lots of different recipes for making a blueberry crumble, making subtle changes here and there. But what exactly is a crumble? And is that the same kind of pudding as blueberry crisp? It is confusing and a little difficult to decide exactly what is a fruit crumble and what is a fruit crisp, they both make amazing desserts and after much poking around on the internet, I’ve come to the conclusion that fruit crisps and fruit crumbles are very similar, first cousin kind of similar.

They both have a bottom layer of fruit, one type of fruit or a combination of fruits. Sometimes, the fruit part will need a little bit of pre-cooking, apples for example and sometimes they won’t like most berries. Both crumbles and crisps have a top layer made from a mixture of flour, sweetener and a little fat … you can see how similar they are. The crisp differs because it always contains oats as part of the topping. Crumbles might or they might not. 

It was a bit of a dilemma working out what to call this recipe. I decided in the end that it was more of a crumble than a crisp but you may disagree and I’ll probably agree with you. The only thing I’m certain of is that it makes a great fruity dessert that is simple to make, uses lots of healthy fruit and be made homely by serving it with custard or perfect for special meals with friends by serving it with cream. I like that versatility in a recipe.

Features of this Recipe

1. It is packed full of blueberries that are just bursting with flavour, juice and natural sweetness.
2. Has a delicious oaty topping that gives the pudding a lovely texture.
3. Simple to make and can be put in the oven so that it’s ready when you’re ready to eat it.
4. A versatile recipe that can be used with soft fruit other than blueberries or mixtures of fruit.
5. Uses fresh or frozen fruit and as bags of frozen fruit are often less expensive than fresh, that’s good news.
6. Nuts are included in this crumble recipe but you can replace these with extra flour if you wish.
7. Blueberry crumble makes the perfect dessert for parties, summer barbecues or family dinners. It’s easy, unfussy and yet impressive.
8. Make batches of the crumble topping and store it so that you make a crumble quite quickly. You’ll then only need to add the fruit and bake.

Making this recipe for Blueberry Crumble

This involves very few steps. Place the washed fresh fruit or thawed frozen fruit into a 9-inch (22cm) pie dish or suitable ovenproof dish. Add the sweetener to the fruit and give it a gentle stir.

Now it’s time to make the topping. Begin by adding the nuts to a food processor and pulsing them for a few brief seconds to turn them into nutty rubble. If you’d like the finished topping to be super smooth then continue until the ground nuts resemble flour in texture.

You may also do this by hand, chop the nuts up into a texture that you like.  Add the nuts to the bowl and stir. This is your topping. It will clump up a little bit but this is good. Spread this lightly over the fruit and it’s now ready to bake.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and the fruit is all luscious underneath. All the details you need to make this for yourself are in the recipe card below.

Variations on this Blueberry Crumble recipe

You can use all kinds of fruit or mixes of fruit to make this beautiful crumble. Berries are an obvious substitute, think blackberries, raspberries or strawberries and bananas. Bear in mind that if you change the fruit you may need to vary the amount of sugar that you use. Some fruits are definitely sweeter than others.

If you use hard fruit such as apples or pears you will need to cook them first as the cooking time and temperature of this blueberry crumble will not be enough to soften these fruits. So, parboil the fruit first, and decide whether it needs a little more sweetness or not. Sugar, maple syrup or honey are good things to use. Then when you’re happy with the sweetness, add the topping and proceed as per the recipe.

Consider cooking this crumble in individual cups such as ramekins. They look quite grand but you will need to shorten the baking time if you do this.

Can I use fresh or frozen fruit?

Both fresh and frozen fruit will be absolutely fine for this dish. It helps to thaw the fruit first so that it gets time to bake and release all those lovely fruity juices.

Storing this Crumble

This crumble can be stored for 2 – 3 days, covered in the fridge. It also freezes well. It is better to freeze the unbaked crumble, thaw it out on the countertop and then bake it according to the instructions below.. 

Serving Blueberry Crumble

Whether you consider this a fruit crumble or a fruit crisp, there are so many ideas as to how to serve this delicious pudding. It can be a gorgeous homely family dish served with glorious custard or Greek yoghurt. It is the perfect make-ahead dish for a dinner party served with cream, creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream. This smashing dessert can be featured at impromptu barbecues and makes an ideal fruity summer pudding. What do you love to serve your fruit crumbles with?

Make it Vegan

To ensure that this Blueberry Crumble recipe is suitable for vegans or those following a plant-based diet be sure to use a vegan-friendly margarine or coconut oil when making the topping.

Make it Gluten-free

To make sure that this recipe is gluten-free make sure that you use certified gluten-free oats. This information should be available on the packaging somewhere. You will also need to substitute the all-purpose/plain flour for a gluten-free flour.

If you like this recipe you may like these;

• Blueberry Muffins
• Lemon and Poppy Seeds Muffins
• Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Rock Cakes
• Castella Cake
• Blueberry Orange Muffins
• How to make Blueberry and Apple Crumble
• Easy Blackberry and Apple Cobbler Recipe

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