Thinly sliced apples and juicy blackberries are baked and topped with a sweet buttery crumble topping. Apple and Blackberry Crumble is an easy dessert recipe, perfect for cold fall nights.
Fruit crisps (or crumbles) are my absolute favorite desserts! I love the versatility of them and the contrast between the soft baked fruit and the crispy, crunchy topping.
In this Apple and Blackberry Crumble, the apple slices stay intact during baking, while the blackberries bake down to a jam-like texture. Both fruits are sweetened up slightly with some cane sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
I love serving this dessert on a cool, fall night or with Sunday dinner. It's the perfect sweet treat to enjoy after a Roast Chicken Dinner, Dutch Oven Chicken Noodle Soup, or Meatball Stuffed Shells.
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⭐Why this recipe is the best
- Quick to prep! This recipe can be prepped and into the oven in under 20 minutes.
- Use fresh or frozen blackberries! No need to seek out fresh blackberries if they aren't available at your grocery store; frozen blackberries work just as well for this recipe!
- The best comfort food! Apple desserts are the quintessential fall comfort food.
📋 Ingredient notes
Apples: I prefer to use apples that are on the sweeter and firmer side, like Fuji apples and Gala apples. Honeycrisp apples are also a good choice!
Blackberries: You can use either fresh blackberries or frozen blackberries! I've tested this recipe both ways!
Crumble topping ingredients: You'll need 1 stick of unsalted butter, brown sugar, rolled oats, baking powder, and cinnamon to make the crumble topping.
🥘Equipment needed
- You can bake this blackberry apple crumble in a standard 2-quart baking dish, or any other baking dish that is comparable in size.
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Cutting board and chopping knife - I'm very happy with my recently purchased 15-piece knife set!
- Medium-sized mixing bowls like the mixing bowls I use in the photos below.
💭What is a crumble?
A crumble, crisp, and cobbler are all similar deep-dish fruit desserts. These sweet desserts are baked in a casserole dish and topped with a streusel-like mixture consisting of butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, and sometimes nuts and seeds.
Cobblers are usually topped with a biscuit-like dough that contains flour and cane sugar. A crisp and a crumble have very similar ingredients, and the two terms are often used interchangeably.
***Did you know Apple and Blackberry Crumbles are a popular dessert in Ireland? Make this recipe in the fall when apples are abundant, and then make it again on St. Patrick's Day!
📖How to make an Apple and Blackberry Crumble
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 375°F. Thinly slice your apples and transfer them to a mixing bowl, along with the blackberries, lemon juice, cane sugar, corn starch, and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
Pro tip: You don't need to peel your apples if you don't want to! Leaving the peel on saves time and definitely doesn't sacrifice any flavor or texture in the dish.
Step 2: In a separate mixing bowl, combine the ingredients needed to make the crumble topping. Mix together the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, baking powder, table salt, and ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
Cut the stick of cold butter into cubes. Cut the cubes into the crumble using the back of a fork or a dough cutter. You want the crumble to turn into a crumbly texture. You can also use your hands to do this!
Step 3: Transfer the fruit to your baking dish.
Step 4: Pour the crumble over the top of the fruit.
Step 5: Place your dish into your preheated oven and bake for 35 minutes, until the fruit is hot and bubbly and the crumble has turned golden brown.
Let cool before serving, and enjoy!
🍲Recipe variations
Add nuts and seeds: Chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, slivered almonds or pumpkin seeds could all be added to the crumble topping for a little extra crunch!
Substitute in different berries: Fresh or frozen raspberries can be substituted in place of blackberries.
Make it dairy-free or gluten-free: To make this recipe dairy-free, simply use a baking stick of dairy-free butter. To make this blackberry apple crumble gluten-free, substitute the all-purpose flour for gluten-free all-purpose flour and make sure you're using gluten-free rolled oats.
Add toppings: Blackberry apple crumble hot and fresh out of the oven is amazing topped with cold vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream!
👩🏻🍳Frequently asked questions
You might need to continue working your butter into the flour and sugar mixture. You don't want huge clumps of butter, but small pieces of butter are fine.
The fruit releases juices during baking, which can result in a saucy or soupy liquid. Let the crisp cool a bit, and then just use a slotted spoon to serve. I add cornstarch to this recipe for that reason, but the cornstarch doesn't 100% prevent juices from forming.
You may need to bake it for a little bit longer. You could also add some nuts or seeds to make it extra crunchy.
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⏲️Storage and reheating
How to store: You can store crisp at room temperature for up to 2 days, as long as your house isn't too hot! Leftovers can also be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
How to reheat: You can reheat leftover blackberry and apple crumble in the microwave or in the oven. If you reheat it in the microwave, then your crumble topping might lose most of its crunch. If you don't want your crumble topping to lose its crunch, then reheat it in the oven at 350° until heated through.
Apple and Blackberry Crumble
Ingredients
- 3 cups apples thinly sliced
- 3 cups blackberries fresh or frozen
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- ¾ cup cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup regular rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick stick unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Thinly slice your apples. Peeling the apples is not necessary, but you can peel them if you'd like.
- Combine the sliced apples, blackberries, lemon juice, cane sugar, cornstarch, and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Gently mix until the apples and blackberries are thoroughly coated in the sugar.
- In a separate mixing bowl, make the crumble by combining the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, baking powder, ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and salt.
- Cut the stick of butter into cubes. Place the cubes into the bowl of crumble topping ingredients. Using either a pastry cutter, the back of a fork, or your hands, work the butter into the dry crumble topping ingredients. This is called "cutting in the butter." You want your butter to be worked in just enough so that your crumble topping resembles coarse sand. See the photos in the blog post for reference if needed.
- Transfer your fruit filling ingredients to the bottom of a 2-quart (or similar-sized) baking dish. Spread it out into an even layer. Pour the crumble topping over the fruit filling. Spread this out into an even layer as well.
- Place your Apple and Blackberry Crumble into your preheated oven. Bake for 35 minutes, until the fruit filling is bubbling and the crumble topping is golden brown.
- Let cool for about 10 minutes before serving, and enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
- The nutrition information is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for professional medical advice.
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