Blueberry Lemon Crisp
Summertime and blueberries are a match made in heaven. When my kids were little, we spent hours reading Blueberries for Sal, by Robert McCloskey. Set in Maine’s beautiful countryside, it follows a human child and a bear cub, each with their own mothers on blueberry picking dates. The fresh picked blueberries taste so good. The child Sal and the bear cub spend all of their time eating, rarely paying attention to their mothers. Soon, they are mixed up and following the other’s mother through the forrest. The story is told with gentle sweetness and ends in a warm country kitchen. Sal and her mother can blueberries for the winter. Blueberries and Blueberries for Sal are forever linked in my mind and heart.
Click here to see Blueberries For Sal on Amazon.
I love blueberries by themselves, in salads and especially in Blueberry Lemon Crisp. Adding lemon zest to this recipe gives it complex flavor. Tang and tart balance the sugar. Butter, oats, flour and brown sugar top it all off with satisfying crunch.
Whenever possible, use fresh blueberries.
A little bit of cornstarch keeps the liquids from becoming too watery when they’re cooked.
A pastry blender helps incorporate the topping nicely. If you don’t have a pastry blender, a fork or your hands work just as well too.
I love using ramekins for Blueberry Lemon Crisp because they look lovely and provide instant portion control. But you could just as easily make this recipe in an 8×8 baking pan. I use my ramekins not only for baking, but also for snacks, entertaining and as prep bowls. Click here to see them on Amazon.
When properly mixed, this is what your topping should look like.
Rolled, quick, instant, steel cut oats – which do you chose?? Even though they are more processed, I prefer quick oats for this recipe. The oats are smaller, and develop a satisfying crunch when cooked with the butter and sugar. Rolled and instant oats work well too. The only type I wouldn’t recommend would be steel cut oats because they retain a tough texture, even when cooked.
Enjoy!
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Blueberry Lemon Crisp
Light, bright blueberries and lemon zest with crumble topping create dessert deliciousness. Great in all seasons, pretty enough for company and easy enough for weeknights.
Ingredients
Fruit Filling
- 3 cups fresh blueberries
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
Crisp Topping
- 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
- 1 cup oats
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
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Arrange 6 oven safe, 4-oz sized ramekins on a cookie sheet. Set aside.
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In a medium bowl, gently combine blueberries, lemon zest, corn starch and brown sugar. As much as possible, keep the blueberries intact during mixing. They will pop and become juicy during cooking. Evenly distribute this fruit mixture into the 6 ramekins.
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In a separate bowl, combine the butter cubes, oats, flour and brown sugar. Using a pastry blender, or a fork, or your hands, blend and mix together. Evenly distribute this crumble crisp topping on top of the blueberry mixture in each of the ramekins.
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Bake for approximately 35 minutes, until golden brown on top. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving as the blueberry mixture will be syrupy and bubbling hot. Can also be enjoyed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
It Started With Toast participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. When you click a link in one of my posts and make a purchase, It Started With Toast receives a small commission at no cost to you. Happy shopping and thank you in advance for the support!
When I tried this at the Fourth of July party, I immediately knew I had to try this recipe. It was also fitting that my mom had bought a small basket of blueberries at the time, so it seemed to be almost sort of like my calling to make this. :^)
Some things to start off with is that 1) i used “small ramekins” but I wasn’t sure of the dimensions the recipe called for; regardless they cooked perfectly. 2) Due to the amount of ingredients I had on hand, I only made 2/3 of the recipe, so there might have slight errors in the result product.
This was fairly simple to make in my suprise, but it had a pleasant taste to it regardless. It suprisingly wasn’t as sweet or flavorful as I imagined, but that is most definitely due to the blueberries I used being not fresh nor fragrant, leading to a pretty weak, unsweet blueberry taste. I think it’s also a good rule of thumb to add more brown sugar in accordance to the alread pre-existing sweetness of the fruit. But the crisp topping added some sweet notes on its own, along with a great texture!
It’s notable that due to the blueberries popping and becoming more like a compote in the baking process, what was more like an almost overflowing-blueberry filled-crisp mountain top became a leveled and considerably deflated in my tiny ramekins. So it’s okay to have it rising out over the top.
Overall, a fantastic summer treat to share with friends and family that I would love to make again!
Wow, Aaron! I’m so glad you tried this and shared such detailed feedback. Yes, adding more brown sugar to the blueberries will definitely give you more sweetness. If you’re finding the blueberries too bland, you can also add some lemon juice along with the zest. This will give you more pop. Also, I will update the recipe with a more specific ramekin size so that no one else has to guess. Again, thanks. Keep on baking!