Easy Blueberry Crumble
There is nothing more delicious in summer than crumble desserts with seasonal fresh berries, such as this blueberry crumble recipe. Bubbling and delicious blueberries topped with a buttery crumble baked until crisp and golden. The best part is it takes just 5 minutes to prep and 25 minutes to bake.
Are you enjoying all the summer fruits in season this year? Or, shall I say, are you taking full advantage of all the fresh fruits and veggies in season?
Blueberries have got to be one of my favorite fruits. Not just because they are so healthy, but also because they are tart and sweet all at the same time. I often use frozen blueberries during the year, but fresh now that’s something else! Isn’t it?
Why make this crumble?
- One of the reasons I love berry crumbles is this: Look at that thick, tart yet sweet, chewy fruit syrup. Next, look at the crisp, buttery bits of crumble on top. Now imagine a spoonful of that syrupy fruit with the crispy crumble that just bursts in the mouth. There’s a mouthful you cannot resist. Explosion!
- A fruit crumble is the easiest dessert you can make in summer with any fruit. Berries and stone fruit, such as peaches, apricots, and apples, are always a big hit.
- Today, I am making these with blueberries, but you can also make them with other berries, such as raspberries, blackberries, or a mix of berries. Of course, stone fruits, such as apricots, plums, peaches, and nectarines, are also the perfect candidates for crumbles.
- By the way, a blueberry crumble bar is a great way to take these fruit crumbles to family and friends when you visit.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Blueberries – The crumbles work with fresh or frozen blueberries. If you are using frozen, you can keep the amount of sugar unless they are sweetened. Some brands use sugar as a preservative, so please read the label.
- Sugar – I like using a mix of white and brown sugar. The white adds sweetness and keeps a beautiful color, while the light or brown sugar brings the flavor of molasses, which is an absolute luxury when combined with cinnamon or nutmeg.
- Unsalted Butter – I always use unsalted butter because I like to control the amount of salt I use. And if you use salted butter, that’s fine. Just omit salt in the recipe. Margarine or vegetable shortening works as well, and yet they both will affect the texture of the crumble. Margarine has a bit more liquid, so you may need to use a tad less. Vegetable shortening will make the crumble topping crisper.
- Cornstarch – Blueberries are juicy, and the cornstarch helps thicken the juices, giving them a thick, syrup-like consistency rather than a pool of liquid.
- Vanilla – Always use good-quality vanilla extract, bean paste, or vanilla sugar.
- Spice mix – There are so many flavors you can add, like pumpkin spice or gingerbread spice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I admit that when it comes to crumble, I often prefer the fruit to shine. So, I usually add just a pinch of cinnamon and a grating of nutmeg.
Step-by-step: Blueberry crumble recipe
- Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C/ Gas Mark 5.
- Crumble – In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, nuts/oats, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, spice, and chilled cubed butter. Pulse a few times until crumbly, and you’ll have a mix of small and large breadcrumbs. Keep chilled.
Pro tip – The crumble mixture can be made up to four days in advance. Keep it in the fridge to ensure the butter stays chilled.
- Fruit – Combine the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a greased 8 x 8 square pan or 6-inch pie pan. Alternatively, you can also use 4 x 4-oz ramekins for individual servings. Set aside.
Pro tip – Greasing the pan with butter is optional, but it will prevent the crumbles from burning into the pan.
- Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top of the blueberries. Make sure to cover all areas.
Pro tip – I like to do this with my hands and make sure to cover all areas. Try putting the large crumble pieces on top, as they look prettier.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is crisp and golden. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Pro tip – If you make small individual ramekins, you will need only 12 to 15 minutes of baking time. - Fruit crumble can be served hot or cold. We love to serve it warm with chilled ice cream or cold with whipped cream.
Pro tip – The fruit syrup is very hot, so wait 10 minutes to prevent anyone from getting hurt.
Frequently asked questions
I love baking the crumble fresh so the topping stays wonderfully crisp. And yet, you can make this crumble in advance. Cool it completely before wrapping it well and placing it in the fridge.
Both are baked fruit desserts. A cobbler uses dollops of biscuit dough or pie dough topping, which, when baked, often looks very similar to a cobblestone. A crumble uses a streusel-like topping made of flour, sugar, and butter with nuts.
Again, a crumble and a crisp are both baked fruit desserts, and a streusel topping is used with butter, sugar, and flour. And yet, a crumble uses the addition of nuts, while crisps use rolled oats. These oats become crisp and flaky when cooked, while the crumble topping is cakey and dense.
Adding more butter to the crumble topping is very tempting, but too much butter will blend the flour and sugar mixture. Creating the perfect crumb with flour and sugar requires not adding too much butter. Ideally, a ratio of 1:1:2 works best – One part butter, one part sugar, two parts flour
Easy Blueberry Crumble
Nothing is more delicious in summer than crumble desserts with seasonal fresh berries, such as these blueberry crumbles. Bubbling and delicious blueberries are topped with a buttery crumble and baked until crisp and golden. The best part is that it takes just 5 minutes to prep and 25 minutes to bake.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 g) All-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp (60 g) Light brown sugar
- 4 tbsp (60 g) White sugar
- ½ cup (113 g) Unsalted butter chilled, cubed
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 tsp Spice mix cinnamon / gingerbread
- ½ cup (40 g) Almond meal or rolled oats
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg fresh grated
Method
- Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C/ Gas Mark 5.
- Crumble – In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, nuts/oats, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, spice, and chilled cubed butter. Pulse a few times until you have a combination of small and large breadcrumb consistency. Keep chilled.
- Fruit – Combine the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a greased 8 x 8 square pan or 6-inch pie pan. Alternatively, you can also use 4 x 4 oz ramekins for individual servings. Set aside.
- Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top of the blueberries. Making sure to cover all areas.
- Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is crisp and golden. Let cool for 10 minutes before you serve.
- Fruit crumble can be served hot or cold. We love to serve it warm with chilled ice cream or cold with whipped cream.
Notes
- Fruit – You can use fresh or frozen blueberries. If using frozen, make sure to thaw well and drain excess moisture so the crumble does not become soupy.
- The perfect crumble topping is the flour, sugar, and butter ratio—two parts flour, one part butter, and one part sugar work every single time. You can replace some of the flour with oats and nuts.
- Freezing crumble mixture – You can store any extra crumble mix well wrapped in a freezer bag (to prevent ice crystals) for up to 3 months.
- Gluten-free fruit crumbles – Simply replace the flour in the recipe with your favorite gluten-free flour and oats.
- Reducing sugar – You can reduce sugar by simply tasting the blueberries. If you have sweet blueberries, reduce the sugar accordingly. If the blueberries are tart, you can also use maple syrup or honey to substitute some of the sugar.
- Reheating crumble – A few minutes in the microwave will bring it back to its syrupy goodness. Then, a few minutes in the oven will help crisp the streusel topping.
Equipment you will need
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
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I wonder if your recipe has an error. To have a 1:1:2 ration of sugar, butter and flour, the butter would need to be 1/2 cup. Therefore it is 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 c butter and 1 c flour.
Yes, Angie – it is 1/2 cup butter and the sugar has been divided between white and brown so they are both 1/4 cup and 1/4 cup. Thanks
If I’m using frozen fruit do I need to thaw it out first? And also if I’m not using 4 ramekins what size baking dish should I use? Thanks!
Hey Deanna. Sorry for the late reply, just found your comment in the spam, unfortunately. You can use frozen blueberries. No need to thaw. You can use an 8 x 8-inch baking pan. Thanks
Wow not sure if any of those people commenting how great it looks actually tried making a crumble following this recipe. It absolutely needs more butter. I thought 56 g sounded too little but looked that it has good reviews so trusted the raiting. The topping turned out absolutely dry and the recipe has way too much sugar. If you write optional oats in recipe please also add how much butter to add to this. What a waste of great blueberries.
Hey Annie. Sorry, this recipe did not work for you.
I myself have made this recipe more than once and the proportions are right.
You can use less sugar but perhaps you had very sweet blueberries. I have made this with fresh and frozen blueberries so 1/4 cup sugar for 1 heaping cup of blueberries is just right and balances out the tartness.
As for the crumble I did mention in the notes above that if you use oats you will need more butter – but since you mentioned it, now, I have written it in the card below as well.
As for the butter in the crumble, again, the ratio of butter to flour is right. Any more butter and you rick the crumble melting to a flat biscuit.
Sorry, you didn’t enjoy this recipe but I have rechecked the recipe and I do think the proportions are correct. I do make fruit crumbles often so this is my goto recipe.
Thanks for stopping by.
I always make an apple crumble but not a blueberry one. Your version looks amazing, I’ll have to try it.
I love apple crumble too. Absolute classic
Hello there! We are excited to make this today. I just made the topping and am wondering if I put it all on the two cups of berries? It seems like a lot. This is my first crumble, so I’m not sure what to expect!
Hey Erin. yes, actually we do add a lot of crumble. But this is a very versatile recipe and you can certainly use less crumble or add more blueberries.
The crumble is the best part of this dessert. When the blueberries cook down they get quite soft and syrupy which tastes nice with the crumble.
Thanks
Thanks for the feedback and this recipe! It turned out so good!
Thank you so much, Erin. Happy you enjoyed it
I also love when it is fresh berry season. For the past few summers we have gone blueberry picking with my girls and they just love it. Looking forward to picking some this summer to make this yummy blueberry crumble.
I love the thought of going blueberry picking with my kids. Here were have to buy them in the supermarket and so expensive Kelly.
I don’t think I could love this recipe more than I do! So easy and so yummy!
Thank you, Cindy. Happy to hear that.
We love blueberries here too! We have three bushes in our backyard and I am saving this recipe for them, it’s perfect!
Thank you, Pam. So lucky you have them growing at home. These are so expensive here.
This is making me feel nostalgic for cosy Sunday dinners with family! Definitely a must make next time I’m entertaining!
Thank you, Cliona.
Talk about easy and adorable! I love blueberries and this recipe is so easy to make and so perfect.
Me too Heather. Thanks