This vegan blackberry crumble recipe is one of our favorite desserts because it comes out of the oven bubbling with jammy fruit in less than 30 minutes. Depending on the season, you can make raspberry, pear, or apricot crumble just as easily.
The gluten-free topping is a crunchy macadamia nut streusel that browns ever so perfectly. If you are looking for a special, quick, and healthy dessert, this blackberry crumble is sublime right after it’s baked.
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⭐ Why it works
- Whole food, vegan and gluten-free.
- Easy blackberry crumble recipe that can be made with your choice of fruit.
- Crunchy, golden macadamia nut topping.
- Winning dessert any time of the year.
- No soggy leftovers with recipe sizing tips.
📋 Ingredients
Fruit filling
The best thing about this quick, sweet, luscious dessert with its crisp topping is how easy it is to swap out fresh blackberries for other fruit.
- Fresh fruit - Choose blackberry, raspberry, pear, apricot, or mango. All are soft and bake quickly with beautiful results.
- Maple syrup - Moistens the filling and adds a mellow sweetness to the blackberry crumble.
- Lemon juice - Skip with tart fruit like apricot.
- Arrowroot powder- Ideal thickener for translucent, glossy fruit filling.
- Spice - Cinnamon, allspice, or ginger are tailored in the recipe card to match the fruit.
Are you curious to know more about how to cook with arrowroot? Here is an excellent link from Bob’s Red Mill explaining when to choose one particular starch over another.
Crisp Topping
- Almond flour and shredded coconut - Add nutrition and make the blackberry crumble topping sweet and rich.
- Macadamia nuts - For the crunch. Choose raw, unseasoned macadamia nuts.
- Coconut sugar - Anthony's has organic and gluten-free verified coconut sugar.
- Gluten-free flour - We like Bob's 1 to 1 gluten-free flour. You can use all-purpose flour if preferred.
- Coconut oil - Browns nicely and adds a subtle sweetness, but can be replaced by vegan butter if needed.
The vegan topping for this blackberry crumble recipe is so easy to mix. You don't need to melt or sift any ingredients.
Just stir the mixture together, whether your coconut oil is semi-solid or liquid. Then squeeze handfuls together to crumble the topping over your fruit filling.
That way, you can loosely cover the top and leave space for your filling to bubble as it cooks. The finished top layer bakes up lightly toasted and studded with crunchy macadamia nuts.
🔪 Steps
- Stir filling ingredients together.
- Place filling in a baking dish.
- Mix crumble ingredients while holding nuts aside.
- Cover fruit filling with crumble, dot with macadamias, and the crumble is ready to bake.
🥧 Cobbler, crisp, or crumble?
Do you wonder what the difference is between a crumble, a crisp, and a cobbler? The terms are sometimes used interchangeably, and chefs don't adhere strictly to the same recipes.
All three are pastry toppings used with baked fruit desserts. However, there are some widely agreed-upon distinctions useful to the home cook.
- Cobblers - Cobblers are made from dough that is dropped in mounds on top of the dessert before baking. It's often biscuit-like, but can be a cake batter or cookie dough as well.
- Crisps - Crisps have a drier, streusel-like texture and typically include oats. They bake to a crunchy texture, as the name implies, and work well with firmer fruits like apples.
- Crumbles - Crumbles are very similar to crisps. However, traditionally crumbles have not included oats. The ingredients in a crumble clump together more easily than the oat mixture of crisps.
🍽 No soggy leftovers
Have you ever noticed how the topping on fruit crisps and cobblers becomes soggy and unappealing the day after it’s baked?
If you are like me, that has held you back from making full-sized crumble pies. Sometimes you want just enough dessert for one evening, and you want it now.
This dessert, sized for two, is meant to be eaten 5 minutes after it cools, up to the same day. However, you can still make this vegan blackberry crumble recipe for a larger group.
Just make two or three batches separately and bake in the required number of pans. Everyone will be guaranteed dessert at its peak. You can even give each couple a different fruit!
📖 Variations
- Pear crumble - Make sure your pears are ripe enough to give way with a squeeze. Peel pears with coarse skin for a nice soft filling that compliments crunchy macadamia nuts. Leave out the lemon juice and replace cinnamon with allspice.
- Apricot crumble - This is the one that started it all. Apricots are fabulous in this recipe! Cut pitted apricots into one-inch pieces with the skin on. Leave out the lemon and substitute cinnamon with ground ginger.
- Raspberry crumble - Mellow raspberries benefit from a little tartness. Increase the lemon juice to one tablespoon and add ½ a teaspoon of grated lemon zest. Keep the cinnamon just like the blackberry version.
- Mango crumble - Treat yourself to tropical heaven with fresh, ripe mango. No frozen fruit, please. You can use the exact same recipe as the blackberry crumble. Substitute mango for fresh blackberries and keep everything else the same.
- Wild card crumble - Mix and match fruit and spice combinations for your own creation. Two of our favorite combos are raspberry/mango and pear with Suriname cherry. You'll be on your own as to the spices and citrus, but hopefully, the combinations above give you an idea of how to adjust for different fruit.
👩🏻🍳 Expert tips
- Use fresh fruit and not frozen.
- Omit salt from crumble ingredients if using vegan butter in place of coconut oil.
- The basic recipe makes enough for two hungry eaters. If doubling or tripling the recipe, make each batch separately and bake in two or three pans accordingly.
- Hold macadamia nuts aside while mixing the remaining ingredients for the crumble topping. Then, distribute pieces of crumble topping over the unbaked fruit, and finally, place macadamia nuts over all.
- Bake long enough for juices to bubble and turn translucent.
- Watch carefully the last couple of minutes of baking as macadamia nuts can burn quickly. Let them turn golden, and then pull the crumble out of the oven.
💭 FAQ
Arrowroot is a tropical plant that produces underground rhizomes. These roots are used to make white, neutral-tasting starch. The starch, sometimes called flour, or powder, has the same thickening power as cornstarch. However, arrowroot starch makes a clearer gel for pie fillings than cornstarch. It's gluten-free, grain-free, and vegan.
🍰 More vegan bakes
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Blackberry Crumble - (Raspberry, Pear and Apricot)
Ingredients
Blackberry Filling
- 1 ½ cups fresh blackberries
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 TB arrowroot
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
Crisp Topping
- 2 TB gluten-free or all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup almond flour
- 2 TB coconut sugar
- 2 TB shredded coconut
- 1/16 tsp. salt
- 2 TB coconut oil
- 2 TB coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
Instructions
Make blackberry crumble
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Mix 1 ½ cups fresh blackberries in a bowl with ¼ cup maple syrup, 1 TB arrowroot, ⅛ tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. cinnamon, and1 tsp. lemon juice. Mash a few berries to release juice. Stir well to dissolve the arrowroot. Spoon blackberry mixture into a small baking dish approximately 5x7 inches or 6 inches round.
- Mix together 2 TB gluten-free or all-purpose flour, ¼ cup almond flour, 2 TB coconut sugar, 2 TB shredded coconut, 1/16 tsp. salt, and 2 TB coconut oil. Squeeze the topping firmly in your hands and crumble it over the fruit. Arrange 2 TB coarsely chopped macadamia nuts on top.
Bake
- Bake blackberry crisp on the middle rack of the oven for 15-20 minutes or until bubbling around the edges and in the center.
- Ovens vary, so judge crisp by these signs: Bake long enough for the arrowroot to cook fully and become transparent. The crisp topping should be lightly browned, and the macadamia nuts golden. Take care the last couple of minutes not to burn them.
Serve
- Cool baked fruit crumble for 5 minutes. Serve right away or anytime on the same day.
- Vegan vanilla ice cream is delicious with hot blackberry crumble and coconut whipped cream is a good pairing when it has cooled more.
Notes
- Pear crumble - Make sure your pears are ripe enough to give way with a squeeze. Peel pears with coarse skin for a nice soft filling that compliments crunchy macadamia nuts. Leave out the lemon juice and replace cinnamon with allspice.
- Apricot crumble - This is the one that started it all. Apricots are fabulous in this recipe! Cut pitted apricots in one-inch pieces with the skin on. Leave out the lemon and substitute cinnamon with ground ginger.
- Raspberry crumble - Mellow raspberries benefit from a little tartness. Increase the lemon juice to one tablespoon and add ½ a teaspoon of grated lemon zest. Keep the cinnamon just like the blackberry version.
- Mango crumble - Treat yourself to tropical heaven with fresh, ripe mango. No frozen fruit please. You can use the exact same recipe as the blackberry crumble. Substitute mango for fresh blackberries and keep everything else the same.
- Wild card crumble - Mix and match fruit and spice combinations for your own creation. Two of our favorite combos are raspberry/mango and pear with Suriname cherry. You'll be on your own as to the spices and citrus, but hopefully the combinations above give you an idea of how to adjust for different fruit.
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