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This Berry Crumble Recipe is super easy and bursting with fresh berry flavor! Use whatever mix of fresh or frozen berries you desire. A hint of cinnamon in the chewy and crisp streusel topping adds a little warmth, and lemon balances out the sweet! Only 10 minutes of prep!
Summer begs for a crumble moment. The simplicity, the versatility, the bright flavors! Just mix up your favorite combination of summer berries, top it with a generous amount of streusel topping and bake it ‘til bubbly perfection.
Serve it hot or cold. Serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or vanilla bean anglaise. Or just eat it straight from the dish for breakfast. There is no judgment here and no wrong way to eat a crumble! Mix it up with other summer stars, like raspberry rhubarb crumble, peach streusel muffins, and soft chewy smores crumble bars!
Why you will love this crumble:
- A quick and easy dessert for any occasion. This incredibly straightforward crumble recipe gives you pro tips and tricks, but is so quick and easy to make that the whole family can join in!
- Adjust the recipe to serve just 2 or a whole crowd! The perfect simple dessert for parties, potlucks, barbecues, or a date night al fresco.
- Customize it to the fruit you have on hand and your taste. You can mix and match berries, fruit and even the topping! Adapt this recipe to your favorite flavors, or what’s in season. If going with frozen berries, just throw them in the mix un-thawed!
- This mixed berry crumble is a crowd-pleaser. It tastes both tart and sweet, with the best flavors of summer throughout! The lemon juice complements and augments the berry flavors.
Professional Tips
- Taste your fruit for sweetness. You might want more or less sugar depending on the ripeness of the berries. I like to mix and then taste to get a real indication of how the flavors will meld.
- Lemon is extremely important. Lemon is the linchpin. It has a magical quality that allows it to enhance all other flavors, especially berries.
- More is more when it comes to crumble topping. Give every scoop a generous amount of streusel! The beauty of this recipe is that it allows for some to sink in and absorb some of the fruit juices and some to stay on top and get nice and crispy.
- Bake your crumble long enough. I was a habitual under-baker in my formative years. I was so worried that I would over bake, that I never allowed the juices to melt and get thick and bubbly. Wait until you see those bubbles to take it out of the oven!
Ingredients
- Mixed Berries: Just as in my mixed berry jam, I use a combination of fresh blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. For a thick crumble, keep the strawberries at a third or less of the total fruit! The precise ratio isn’t important.
- Lemons: Lemon juice heightens the flavors of the berries and brightens the whole dish! It also tempers some of the sweetness.
- Sugar
- Salt
- All-Purpose Flour: I use all-purpose flour but you could also use bread flour with minimal impact.
- Butter: I use unsalted butter for baking, because you want to control the amount of salt you are adding. Every brand is different and it makes adjusting the recipe a challenge.
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon is the star of this crumble. It warms the whole dish and pairs beautifully with the berries. Choose a high quality cinnamon such as saigon or ceylon.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Mix up the flavor: Try pumpkin spice, apple pie spice, or even speculoos spice mix instead of cinnamon! You will want to use less than the cinnamon measurement in the recipe below, so add a pinch, taste and repeat.
- Reduce or increase the crumble topping: You can double the topping as written, sprinkle on as much topping as you want and then just save the remaining crumble topping in the freezer to make a cardamom pear crisp or individual blueberry raspberry crumbles.
- Make it crisp: If you want to use oats, I suggest you make the topping from my easy apple crisp recipe!
- Different Berries: You can mix and match the types of berries you use in this crumble. Taste your fruit for sweetness. You might want more or less sugar depending on the ripeness of the berries, or even brown sugar for a more molasses flavor. I like to mix and then taste to get a real indication of how the flavors will meld. Visit my strawberry rhubarb crumble for added inspiration!
How do you thicken fruit crumble?
- Use fewer strawberries. I developed this recipe using New Jersey Tri-Star strawberries which are smaller with a lower moisture content. They tend to retain their shape in baking. When using other strawberries, particularly store-bought, there will be a higher moisture content and they will break down in the filling. Reduce the strawberries to 1 cup and increase the other berries.
- Pre-cook the filling. This feels like a shame because the beauty of a crumble is that it is supposed to be EASY! But you can combine all the filling ingredients in a pot and cook until thickened. It will still be on the looser side unless you also add a thickener.
- Add a thickener. My thickener of choice is tapioca because it is clear and tasteless. In this recipe you could add 1-2 tablespoons tapioca flour or finely ground quick-cooking tapioca. Cornstarch is a close second. Use closer to the 2 tablespoons if going with corn starch. Just make sure that either one boils in the center or you will be able to taste and feel the starch starch on your tongue.
How to Make Berry Crumble
Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below!
Make the crumble topping:
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) with the rack in the middle.
Step 2: In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, ½ cup sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or on low speed with the paddle attachment until the mixture comes together and is crumbly and homogenous. There will be no visible pieces of butter left. It should be clumpy.
You can also do this in a food processor.
Mix the berry filling:
Step 3: Wash, hull and dry strawberries. Dice into bite-sized pieces.
Step 4: In a large bowl, combine blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Add 1 cup granulated sugar, and lemon juice. Stir to evenly coat all the fruit.
If you have the time, you could let it sit for 1 ½ hours, covered in the refrigerator; stirring occasionally. The flavors are better if you let the berries macerate, but just know that I understand if you bake it right away. The crumble will still be delicious.
Assemble & bake the crumble:
Step 5: Give the filling one last stir. Spoon into a shallow 1 ½ quart baking dish.
Step 6: Sprinkle crumble evenly over the fruit mixture.
Cover with the crumble topping using as much or as little as you wish.
Step 7: Bake at 350℉ for about 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the mixture is hot and bubbly.
The key to a thicker filling here is to make sure it bakes long enough! Wait to take the crumble out of the oven until after you can see the filling bubbling. If the topping starts to brown too quickly, cover with foil for the remaining baking time.
Step 8: Let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream or caramel, or make this crème anglaise while it cools!
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Chef Lindsey’s Recipe Tip
In simple recipes like this one, make every ingredient count. If you can, choose fresh in-season berries; take the time to juice a fresh lemon; and bake it all the way for a thick filling!
Frequently Asked Questions
Bake ahead, cool and then freeze for one month. Refrigerate leftovers for up to seven days.
People don’t follow rules any more but technically speaking berry crisps have oats in the streusel topping while berry crumbles do not.
There could be a couple of reasons your crumble isn’t crispy. You want to make sure your butter is cold when you first cut it in. Be careful not to overmix, and to bake until your topping is golden brown! Sometimes a crumble topping is actually too thick (I know, le gasp), and it could be that you didn’t spread it evenly enough over the fruit so it becomes soggy. It’s all about balance!
Serve with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, a spoonful of vanilla bean anglaise, or a swirl of lemon curd whipped cream. There is no wrong way to eat a crumble! Fold your favorite toasted nuts, like walnuts or almonds into the crumble topping for extra crunch!
If you tried this recipe and loved it please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love hearing from you; your comments make my day!
Berry Crumble
Ingredients
For the Crumble:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold and cubed
For the filling:
- 2 cups strawberries sliced
- 2 cups blueberries fresh or frozen
- 1 cup blackberries fresh or frozen
- 1 cup raspberries fresh or frozen
- 1 cup sugar more or less to taste
- 1 ½ lemons juiced, approximately 3 tablespoons
Instructions
Make the crumble topping:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) with the rack in the middle.
- In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, ½ cup sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or on low speed with the paddle attachment until the mixture comes together and is crumbly and homogenous. There will be no visible pieces of butter left. It should be clumpy.
Mix the berry filling:
- Wash, hull and dry strawberries. Dice into bite-sized pieces.
- In a large bowl, combine blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Add 1 cup granulated sugar, and lemon juice. Stir to evenly coat all the fruit.
Assemble & bake the crumble:
- Give the filling one last stir. Spoon into a shallow 1 ½ quart baking dish.
- Sprinkle crumble evenly over the fruit mixture.
- Bake at 350℉ for about 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the mixture is hot and bubbly.
- Let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream or caramel, or make this crème anglaise while it cools!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Before You Go
I hope you enjoyed this professional chef tested recipe. Check out our other delicious, chef-developed crisps and crumble recipes!
