Customizing a Fruit Crisp
If you are intimidated by baking or new to the kitchen, fruit crisps are a really great place to start. They are very forgiving and can be easily customized without much of an impact on the final product. You can make this crisp with fresh or frozen berries, but if using frozen berries you’ll want to cook a bit longer. You can use a different mix of berries too, just keep the total amount of berries to 6 cups.
You can also play around with different flavorings like spices or sugar! This crisp uses only 1/4 cup of sugar in the fruit mix. I like the fruit to have a little bit of sweet and sour, especially if you are going to top with vanilla ice cream. But if your berries are especially sour, or you just like things a bit sweeter, you will want to add some more sugar. I like to make a summer berry crisp like this one with just vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice to flavor it, but this is also great with lime zest and lime juice, or even fresh herbs like basil or thyme. You can also make the flavors a bit warmer by adding ginger and cinnamon! It’s easy to experiment with these things to make this perfect for you!
The last thing you can experiment with is the baking vessel. I have made this same recipe in a 9×13 Pyrex, a 2qt square Pyrex and the ramekins shown in the photo. You can use any 2-3qt baking dish for the full amount of the recipe. In a deeper dish, you’re topping layer will be thicker (yum!!) and your berry mix will thicken less. In a shallow but wider dish, your berries will be jammier and even though it’s the same amount of dessert as the square baking dish, it feels like MORE. Which is always good! The individual ramekins (or you can use a muffin tin!) will bake up faster and give you several individual portions. You could even make half of the crisp in a square pan and half in individual tins, if you wanted. This really is easy to customize to the tools you have. The cooking times will differ, but as long as you follow the rule of thumb to bake until the topping is crispy and golden brown and the filling is bubbly, you will be met with success!
Step-by-Step Instructions
First you’ll make your topping by combining the cold butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, and salt together in a bowl. I use my hands for this because I think it’s easiest. But you can also use a pastry cutter or fork. You want the butter pieces in the topping to be cold when you put this in the oven, so I make the topping first and then put in the fridge while I prep my fruit and make my filling.
To make your filling, combine all of the filling ingredients (berries, sugar, flour, vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest) in a large bowl. Toss to combine. Then place the berry mix in your prepared baking dish of choice.
Then remove the topping from the fridge and just run your fingers through it a few times just to break up any larger clumps. Pour the topping over the berries and spread it out evenly. Then bake in the oven until the filling is bubbling and the topping is browned and crisp. Enjoy a la mode!
Triple Berry Cherry Crisp
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 2 cups cherries halved, stems and pits removed
- 2 cups blueberries stems removed
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1 cup blackberries
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- Zest and juice of half of a lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the topping:
- 1.5 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare a 2-3qt baking baking dish by spraying with cooking spray or greasing with butter. You can use a square 2qt dish, a 9×13 dish, or several ramekins/muffin tins. Fruit crisps are very easy to customize to what you have at home, so use whatever cooking vessel that works best for you. You can also use a cast iron pan!
- In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the topping.
- Using a fork, pastry cutter or your hands, break apart the chunks of butter and combine with the dry ingredients until the mixture is sandy.
- When the mix is finished, put it in the refrigerator while you make the filling. You want the butter to be cold when you bake it.
- In a separate bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the filling. Toss together until it is evenly combined. It’s okay if someone of your berries break apart while you are mixing!
- Pour your berries into your prepared baking dish. If you are using ramekins or a muffin tin, you want your berry mix to fill about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up.
- Remove your topping from the refrigerator and cover the berries with topping.
- Bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes, until the berries are bubbling and the top is golden brown all over. If you are using the ramekins or muffin tin, bake for about 25 minutes.
- Broil on high for 1-2 minutes to really brown the topping and make it crunchy.
- Serve topped with vanilla ice cream as dessert or over yogurt for breakfast!
