This Berry Crumble recipe has all the satisfaction of a mixed berry pie but none of the effort. A sweet berry filling topped with a generous layer of crumble that is crunchy and crumbly at the same time.
Why Berry Crumble Works
Nothing beats the juicy flavor of fresh berries. And if you love baking with them as much as I do, this recipe is for you. Made using basic pantry ingredients, berry crumble delivers much more than that.
You may wonder what the difference is between a crumble and a crisp? A crumble has a streusel topping, but doesn’t USUALLY contain oats.
However, there are no real hard/fast rules (our apple crumble has oats and tastes amazing.
Here are a few reasons why this recipe works so well.
- Quick prep without making a mess. With only 15 hands-on minutes, the crumble will be ready to go in the oven. You don’t need a mixer, so the cleanup only involves a bowl and spatula. That’s a pretty sweet deal for such a yummy dessert.
- A real crowd-pleaser. This berry crumble can be made in large batches, and it doesn’t require any additional finishing or fancy plating. It’s a great dessert option when you’re feeding a crowd.
- A riot of flavors in every bite. This crumble gives you sweet, tart, juicy, warm, buttery, crunchy, and crumbly, all in one bite. It truly is packed with a lot of flavors.
Be sure to try some of our favorite crisps, crumbles, and cobblers next!
Ingredient Notes
- Fresh Berries – Use fresh blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries for the filling. When they’re out of season, you can use frozen ones. Just make sure you don’t thaw them before adding them to the filling.
- Lemon Juice – It nicely balances the sweetness of the berries and sugar. Add some lemon zest along with the juice to add an extra kick.
- All-Purpose Flour – It absorbs all the excess moisture from the berries while baking. So don’t skip it.
- Cornstarch – It thickens the berry filling and adds a slight smoothness to it.
- Light Brown Sugar – Brown sugar gives a nice caramel undertone to the crumble. For a richer flavor, you can use dark brown sugar.
- Granulated Sugar – It adds a slightly crunchy texture and helps the crumble get its signature brown top.
- Kosher salt
- Unsalted Butter – Use cold butter as those pieces of cold butter melt while baking and create little pockets of richness resulting in a crumbly consistency.
Easy Instructions
- Make the berry filling. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients for the berry filling.
- Prep pan. Pour berlly filling into a prepped baking dish.
- Make the crumble layer. Cut the butter into cubes. Then mix all the ingredients using your hands or pastry cutter until you get a crumbly texture. Sprinkle it over the berries.
- Bake and serve. Bake it at 375°F for 40-45 minutes or until the top is brown and the berries are bubbling. Allow the crumble to rest for 15 minutes. Then serve it warm.
Tips and Tricks
- Use your favorite berries. This recipe uses a combination of 3 berries. You can play around with their proportions or skip the ones you don’t like. But make sure you use a total of 6 cups of berries.
- When using frozen berries. You can use frozen berries instead of fresh berries to save time. But remember not to let them thaw, and add an extra 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour to the filling.
- Make it gluten-free. Switch the all-purpose flour with store-bought gluten-free flour, nut flour (almond, cashew, walnut), or any seed flour (flax seed, sunflower).
- Add some cinnamon or nutmeg. To add some spice and warmth to the crumble, add ½ teaspoon of cinnamon and ⅛ teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg to the crumble topping.
- Add nuts or seeds to the crumble topping. Sometimes a crumble can be very one-dimensional in texture. So add some almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds for that extra crunch and texture.
- Serving suggestions. Warm Berry Crumble pairs well with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream or homemade whipped cream.
Recipe FAQs
Store the cooled crumble in an air-tight container or baking dish tightly covered with foil or plastic wrap. It keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Cover the baking tin with aluminum foil to reheat the leftovers and bake at 350°F for about 20-25 minutes. You may have to adjust the time depending on the quantity of the leftover crumble.
Absolutely. You can assemble the crumble, and cover the baking tin with foil or plastic wrap. Then refrigerate for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the assembled crumble for up to a month. When ready to bake, preheat the oven and bake the frozen/chilled crumble as is. It may take an extra few minutes as compared to a freshly assembled one.
Not at all. This recipe is very dynamic. The crumble can be made with other fruits like apples, peaches, cherries, and pears. But remember to adjust the sugar in the recipe depending on the fruit’s sweetness. For example, if you’re using tart apples, add some extra sugar to cut through their tartness.
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Berry Crumble
Ingredients
For the Berry Filling
- 2 cups fresh blackberries
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
- 2 cups fresh raspberries
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
For the Crumble Topping
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 13×9 baking dish with nonstick baking spray or use our homemade cake release. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine the berries with the lemon juice, flour, cornstarch, and sugar. Toss gently.
- Pour berries into prepared baking dish, spread them out evenly (scrape all the ingredients out of the bowl)!
- In a bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, sugar, and salt until combined. Cut the butter into cubes and add them to the dry ingredients. Use your hands or a pastry cutter to combine everything until the crumbs are pea-sized.
- Sprinkle the crumble topping over the berries. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the berries are bubbling.
- Allow the crumble to rest at least 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Serve crumble warm with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.
- For a richer flavor, dark brown sugar can be used in the crumble.
- Store crumble leftovers in airtight container (or baking dish with foil/plastic wrap) in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Reheat leftovers in 350 degree oven (covered with foil) for about 25 minutes.
- If using frozen berries, keep frozen (do not thaw) and toss with an additional 2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour.
