Triple Berry Crumble - made with frozen fruit - is one of the most low-effort/high-reward desserts you can make! Mix your dry ingredients together to make a buttery crumb topping, then pour that over the fruit and bake to sheer perfection. It's divine with a big scoop of ice cream on top!
My fiancé asked a great question while I tested this recipe - is berry crisp considered dessert or breakfast? Honestly, with the antioxidants from the berries and the filling fiber from the oats... I wouldn't judge you too much if you had a big slice of this to start your day!
The Coined Breakdown
- Total Cost per serving: $0.36
- Total Cost (about 8 servings): $2.89
- Those Other Guys: $8.99 per serving
Ingredients
- Triple Berry Frozen Fruit Blend - This recipe uses frozen fruit - which is a lifesaver when baking with raspberries, since they seem to grow mold on the car ride home! You can sub for fresh fruit if you prefer; if using that instead, I would remove a few minutes from the final cooking time.
- Oats - Quick oats are always in our home pantry. You could also use rolled/old fashioned oats.
- Cold Butter - Cubes of cold butter are mixed in the topping to bring everything together.
- Brown Sugar - A touch of brown sugar in the crumble topping adds the perfect amount of sweetness.
- Lemon Zest + Juice - For a subtle pop of acidity which works well with the natural sweetness of our berries.
Variations and Substitutions
Other Fruit Crumbles: You can use your favorite type of berries/fruit in this recipe. Try strawberry, rhubarb, or peach!
Vegan Berry Crumble: If you're not a fan of consuming butter, try using melted coconut oil to make the crumble topping come together.
An Extra Nutty Topping: Add pecan or walnut pieces to the crumble mix! Bake as usual.
How to Make Triple Berry Crumble
Whether you call it berry crumble or berry crisp, this dessert is perfect to make especially for those who are a little hesitant about baking. It's super hard to mess this up!
This recipe would be a hit at the treat table for Easter. It also makes a great Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving dessert, or a "just thinking of you" surprise for a friend.
Step 1: Start by mixing together your frozen fruit, all purpose flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract, salt, and honey.
The honey will seize up because of the fruit's cold temperature; don't worry about that.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, stir together the oats, flour, both sugars, cinnamon, and salt.
Step 3: Cut the cold cubes of butter into the oat mixture. You can use a dough cutter, a fork, or your hands.
Step 4: The texture should be slightly damp, like wet sand.
Step 5: Prepare a ceramic baking dish with nonstick spray.
Pour in the fruit mixture, then add the crumble on top. I like to press the topping down gently with the back of a spoon.
Step 6: Bake at 350℉ for 50-55 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling up on the sides and the crumble topping is golden brown.
Let the crisp cool for at least 5 minutes so the filling will set, then serve warm with some vanilla bean ice cream.
Recipe Pro Tips
- Get into it! I've found using your fingers to cut the butter into the oat/flour mix is the best way to get an even consistency. Second place goes to using a pastry cutter.
- Practice patience. I know, it smells fantastic coming straight out of the oven. Still, let your pan cool for at least 5 minutes. This allows the filling to set a bit more, and helps avoid anybody burning their mouth on the hot fruit.
Recipe FAQs
Honestly, either works! Frozen fruit is a lot more convenient and you can use it right out of the bag. Fresh fruit is great too, but you'll want to wash and dry the fruit and pick out any pieces that don't look good. With fresh fruit, I would add another 5 minutes of cooking time.
I haven't personally tested it, but I don't see why not. It should be a 1:1 ratio. If you make that substitution, please let me know how it turned out in the comments!
It could be because of your dry ingredient to fat ratio.
To fix this, you can take the dish out of the oven and pour some melted butter or coconut oil on top. Using a fork, lightly stir the topping to evenly distribute.
Then, pat it down and bake for another 5-8 minutes. The crumble topping should be more "crumbly" and less dry.
Other Dessert Options You'll Crave!
If you tried this Triple Berry Crumble Recipe, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Thanks for visiting!
Triple Berry Crumble
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Microplane
- Citrus Squeezer
- Pastry Cutter optional - could also use a fork
- Chef's Knife
- Ceramic Baking Dish
Ingredients
Berry Filling
- 5 cups triple berry blend frozen fruit
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ½ count lemon zest and juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Crumble Topping
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold, and cut into cubes
Instructions
- In a large bowl, pour in the frozen berries, flour, honey, the zest and juice from ½ a lemon, vanilla extract, and salt. Stir thoroughly and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the oats, flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
- Using a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers - cut in the cold butter cubes to your dry bowl. The mixture should be slightly moist and resemble wet sand.
- Preheat your oven to 350℉.
- Prepare a pie dish or baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour in the berry filling mix.
- Top the berries with the crumble topping. Slightly press the topping down using the back of a spoon; it doesn't have to be perfectly even.
- Bake, uncovered, for 50 - 55 minutes. You'll know it's ready when the fruit layer is bubbling around the edges and the crumble topping is golden brown.
- Let the pan rest for at least 5 minutes so the filling can set and slightly cool down.
- Serve on its own, or with vanilla bean ice cream on top. Enjoy!
Brittany G says
I absolutely love this recipe! Using a bag of frozen fruit makes it really easy to prepare. This tends to be one of the first sweets to go at large events.
Shani W. says
Thank you so much for trying and commenting, Brittany! 🙂