Fruit Crumble

By Genevieve Ko

Updated March 18, 2024

  • Joseph De Leo for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
1¼ hours, plus cooling
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour 10 minutes
Rating
5(765)
Comments
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The buttery blend of oats and nuts in this easy, warm dessert stays nubby and crunchy while baking over the juicy fruit. (It also happens to be gluten-free.) A chai spice blend is especially nice in the mix, but other sweet-leaning spices like cinnamon and cardamom taste just as good. Any blend of fruit works, and keeping the peel on apples, pears and stone fruit not only streamlines the preparation but also adds a pleasant chewiness. If you want to go all berry, stick with fresh options; frozen fruit ends up too wet. (Thawed frozen berries work just fine with a mix of sturdy fresh apples and pears, though.) You don’t have to serve a warm bowl of this crumble with ice cream, but you probably want that creaminess swirling into the jammy fruit.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

FOR THE CRUMBLE

  • 1 ½ cups/154 grams instant oats (see Tip)

  • ¾ cup/150 grams sugar

  • ½ cup/56 grams chopped pecans or walnuts

  • 1 teaspoon chai spice or ground cinnamon (see Tip)

  • 1 teaspoon fine salt

  • ½ cup/114 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature

FOR THE FRUIT

  • 2 pounds fruit, such as berries, pears, apples, peaches, plums or a combination

  • ½ cup/100 grams sugar

  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch or flour (see Tip)

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 to 8 servings)

61 grams carbs; 31 milligrams cholesterol; 402 calories; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 18 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 335 milligrams sodium; 4 grams protein; 43 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Prepare the crumble: Heat oven to 375 degrees with a rack in the center.

  2. Step 2

    Mix the oats, sugar, nuts, chai spice and salt in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into cubes the size of dice and toss in. Use your fingers to smush the butter into the dry ingredients until no yellow bits remain and the blend forms clumps. Refrigerate uncovered while you prepare the fruit (or covered for up to 3 days).

  3. Step 3

    Prepare the fruit: If you’re using big fruit, scrub it well, then cut into ½-inch pieces, about the same size as small blackberries or big blueberries. Throw out any pits, seeds or stems.

  4. Step 4

    In a large bowl, mix the sugar and cornstarch. Add all the fruit, then the lemon juice and stir until well mixed. Scrape the fruit and any juices into a 9- or 10-inch ovenproof skillet and spread evenly.

  5. Step 5

    Scatter the chilled crumble mixture evenly over the fruit, breaking any large clumps into smaller pebbles. Place the skillet on a sheet pan to catch any dripping fruit juices.

  6. Step 6

    Bake until the fruit is bubbling, the liquid has thickened and the top is nicely browned, about 45 minutes. If the crumble darkens too much before the fruit mixture is thick, place a sheet of foil loosely on top. Cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Tips

  • If you want to make this gluten-free, be sure to use gluten-free oats and cornstarch.

  • You can also use a spice blend, such as apple pie spice or pumpkin spice, or a savory blend, like baharat.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
765 user ratings
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Comments

Rose K

I make the crumble using equal parts butter, flour, oats and brown sugar. This can be multiplied ad infinitum, pressed into a slab and frozen. Then when I need it for the dessert, I just cut off a piece and chop it into crumble size. Now, for the fruit - frozen berries are NOT too wet. Don't thaw them unless you like mush. Toss any combo of berries with cornstarch and a little grated lemon rind, then pour into oiled baking dish. Top with frozen crumble and bake till bubbling.

dimmerswitch

Rebecca - you ask if regular oats can be subbed in for instant. Like you I never buy instant oats and while I haven't tried the regular oats in this recipe, haven't made it yet, I often make fruit crumbles during the year and when I use oats I always use Bob's Red Mill regular oats and it works great. When I make this, I am going to use those regular oats.

Michael

Super easy and helps with a group of people. I used regular rolled oats and they worked fine.

Sissy

So yummy. I made it exactly as written for the topping, while my filling was a clean-out-the-fruit drawer affair with peaches, blueberries, and raspberries doing the heavy lifting. It was absolutely delicious, my new favorite crisp. Initially, I worried that the full teaspoon of salt for the topping would be too much, but it gave the dessert that fantastic sweet-salty balance. I will definitely make again!

Liesl

Made as a pear crumble, delicious!! Used 6 pears to get the weight, peeled & used apple corer/slicer, then rough chopped 1-1.5". Pumpkin pie spice mix. Used a buttered 2.5 qt baking dish bc I wouldn't have room in fridge for skillet. Baked the fruit for 20 minutes before adding crumble. Smaller surface area resulted in deeper crumble but since when is that a problem?!

Patty R

Made this as written, using regular oats, plums, apples and a nectarine. I'll half the sugar next time.

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