An old family favorite, this blueberry crumble recipe has been passed down to me from my Aunt Janet, who learned it from my grandmother and called it Blueberry Belle Crunch. Honestly, I have no idea why it has such a funny title, but it doesn’t matter. The crumble is so easy to throw together that no matter what you call it, you’ll be more than happy with the result. It’s especially memorable when served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.–Ian Knauer
LC A La Mode Note
Who are we kidding? Any crumble instantly becomes better when a scoop of ice cream is plopped atop. Or on the side. Or…beneath? One of our intrepid recipe testers, Lori Widmeyer, encountered an interesting dilemma when she baked this blueberry crumble for her husband and sons. “The debate was whether the cobbler should be on the side of the ice cream, underneath it, or on top,” she explained. “It started when my husband put the blueberry crumble on the bottom of the dish with the ice cream on top. Then my son Matthew put them side by side so he could determine bite by bite just how much ice cream to blueberry crumble he wanted. My other son Jonathan then put his ice cream on the bottom with the blueberry crumble on top and joked he would try it each way. It caught on after that, with my husband quickly coming back for seconds, and the rest of us, too. It had us all laughing, mostly because each try was really just an excuse to have a little more, all in the name of research. Truth be told, with a dessert this good, I don’t think you could come up with a bad way to eat it!”
The verdict? Lori didn’t divulge her personal preference, although she did offer up her initial findings. “The majority felt side-by-side was best to allow you to have total control of the ratio of cold to warm in each bite.” Makes splendid sense to us. But you better try each out for yourself, just to be sure.
Blueberry Crumble Recipe
Ingredients
- For the blueberry filling
- 12 ounces (about 1 pint) fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice, depending on how tart the blueberries
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- For the crumble
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes and softened just a little, plus more for the pie plate
- Vanilla ice cream, preferably homemade
Directions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Generously butter a 9-inch pie plate.
- Make the blueberry filling
- 2. Nibble a blueberry or three to determine how sweet or tart it is. Toss the blueberries with the sugar, flour, lemon juice, and salt, adjusting the amount of lemon juice according to the relative sweetness or tartness of the berries. Transfer the berries to the pie plate.
- Make the crumble
- 3. Stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Blend in the butter with your fingertips or a pastry cutter until well combined. Crumble the topping over the berries in large clumps.
- 4. Bake the crunch until the berry filling is bubbling and the crunch is set and browned in places, 25 to 35 minutes. Let the crunch cool slightly, but only slightly, before spooning it onto plates or into dishes and serving it warm with a scoop of ice cream plopped on top or on the side or even on the bottom (see LC A La Mode Note above).
Hungry for more? Chow down on these:
- Homemade Blueberry Sauce from My Baking Addiction
- Butterless Apple Crumble from Chocolate and Zucchini
- Plum-Blueberry Upside Down Cake from Leite's Culinaria
- Apricot Blackberry Cobbler from Leite's Culinaria
Blueberry Crumble Recipe © 2012 Ian Knauer. Photo © 2012 Christopher Hirsheimer. All rights reserved.
[Natalie R.] I have always shied away from blueberry cobblers and crunches because they can be so sugary sweet. This one, however, is one of the best fruit desserts–and not just blueberry–I have ever made. The easy-to-prepare crumble is absolutely wonderful. It bakes up golden brown and slightly crisp and adds just the right texture to the dish. The fruit portion of the crumble is perfectly balanced–not too sweet and not too tart. Add a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream, and you have a dessert that looks humble but is so luxurious and satisfying. This recipe is well worth getting butter on your hands for.
[Linda B.] Yum! Simple and sooo good! Much easier than a pie. The recipe makes a nice-sized dessert that is great for a weekday meal. Next time I might put a little less flour in the filling, but otherwise I wouldn’t change a thing!
[Lori Widmeyer] This was one of those perfect-storm recipes, with all the right elements coming together to make something amazing. The warm fruit with the crunchy texture of the topping paired with the creamy cold ice cream was perfect. The only debate in the family was if the fruit dessert should be on the side of the ice cream, underneath it, or on top, although maybe this was just an excuse to have three helpings. The majority felt side-by-side was best, to allow you to have total control of the ratio of cold too warm in each bite. The recipe came together very quickly and was so easy. This is a new family favorite!
[Eydie Desser] If you want a dessert that is quick and easy to put together and will delight your guests, make this Blueberry Crumble and serve it with vanilla ice cream or homemade cinnamon ice cream. The recipe works as-is, no need for any changes. The lemon juice gives the richness of the dessert a nice brightness. The only trouble is that the recipe says it serves 6 to 8, but it’s more like 4 to 5 as everyone will go back for seconds!
[Bette Fraser] A 10 in my book. Excellent and loved by my hubby and our houseguest. We all ate it as quickly as we could. Quick and easy and sure to be a stand-by during blueberry season.
[Raye Tiedemann] This takes no time to put together and can be divided, like I did, to make individual tarts. The topping was nice and crunchy. I didn’t do the ice cream–we just ate it warm from the oven–although I’m going to fold the leftovers into some ice cream, just like the ice cream companies do! Enjoy this little recipe.
[Joan Osborne] It’s a breeze to make and looks wonderful. Although my niece and others loved it, this was much too sweet for my tastes. If I made it again for myself, I’d leave out some of the sugar. If you have sweet-toothed friends and family, then this would be great for them.
[Jackie G.] This is a delicious dish. I was going to call it a delicious dessert, but it proved to be a delicious breakfast, too. (Lunch, anyone?) It’s very quick and easy to throw together. The finished product is excellent, even without ice cream. Although I sprinkled the crunchy topping on evenly, I found that it seemed to morph and clump up in spots. The very center of the crumble was still a bit wet, even after the berries were bubbling away and the outside of the crumble was browned. I removed it from the oven anyway. I was surprised to see a wet ingredient, the vanilla, in the crumble. I don’t know if that caused the moistness in the topping, although that in no way stopped this from being a winner.
[Robert Castagna] It worked very well. I would like to substitute crushed pretzels for the oats and take out the salt.
I’ve got a gluten-free version of this in my oven right now and can’t wait to share it with my friends tonight.
Jeannette, we’ll be waiting to hear what you and everyone thinks. Did you simply substitute a gluten-free all-purpose baking mix for the flour, or…?
This looks like the ultimate crumble! Love the pebbly topping. I’m planning to make it tomorrow, and am wondering if anyone’s tried this with old-fashioned rolled oats in place of the quick ones. Will they be a deal breaker?
Hi Alanna, because old-fashioned oats are thicker, versus quick oats which are chopped into small pieces, you’ll get a different texture. (It would be chewier.) If old-fashioned oats are all you have, give some a spin in a food processor or blender. That will break them up to approximate quick-cooking oats.
Now, don’t forget to come back here and tell us what you thought of the recipe!
Hi, David. Thank you for your response, and thank you for posting this awesome crumble recipe. Curiosity got the better of me, and I got some quick oats. The thinner oats made the texture of the topping light and crisp as a butter cookie. I’m a believer! The topping is spot on–a little sweet, a little oaty, a little salty. Just what I’ve been searching for. I will make it again and again!
I varied the recipe a bit by adding cardamom to the topping, and using raspberries, plums and rhubarb (with a splash of port) as the fruit.
Thank you again for such a killer recipe. : )
Alanna, my pleasure. I’m so happy it turned out for you. And you’re variation sounds lovely. I love the idea of using Port wine.