This month’s “Savor Cooks” recipe features blackberries. Try our recipe for Blackberry Olive Oil Crumble.
Fresh berries are best as is – fresh. And they are even better in the warm summer months when they are in peak season.
If you happen to have an overabundance of berries or are brave enough to turn on the oven in August, berries are great for baking into muffins, pies, crumbles and more.
Want berries all year long? The best route is to purchase frozen berries and use them in smoothies and sauces or enjoy right from the freezer like a mini frozen fruit popsicle. Blackberries are rarely packaged alone in the freezer section, but a bag of mixed berries should suffice if you crave blackberries in December.
Don’t forget to check out our Food of the Month post on blackberries.
Recipe
This is a crumble meant to highlight the natural sweetness of fresh summer berries. The recipe uses a range of sugar because if you can get super ripe berries, they probably need less added sugar than a more tart berry.
The filling uses cornstarch to help thicken the berries slightly. Make sure you bake the crumble long enough for the berries to boil. That will activate the cornstarch.
The lightened up topping uses olive oil instead of a more traditional fat like butter. This also makes the crumble vegan. When baked, there is still a subtle olive oil taste to the crumble, which pairs well with the innate floral taste of the blackberries.
Feel free to add in 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans to the topping for extra texture.
- 4-5 heaping cups fresh blackberries, or a mix of berries
- 2-4 tablespoons granulated sugar – use more or less depending on the sweetness of the berries
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2/3 cup flour – all-purpose, whole wheat or spelt work well
- 2/3 cup rolled oats
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Prepare the filling: In a large bowl, combine the berries with sugar (use more or less depending on the sweetness of the berries), cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently dump into a pie dish. Set aside while you make the topping.
- Make the topping: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, brown sugar and salt. Add the olive oil and stir until everything is wet.
- Crumble the topping over the fruit filling and place the pie dish onto a baking sheet (makes it easier to take in and out of the oven and catch any juices that may boil over) and into the oven. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
