Apple Blackberry Crisp

Apple blackberry crisp is a simple, and delicious way to say hello to autumn! It’s a hearty, comforting dessert for cooler weather.

Photography by Sophie MacKenzie.

Summer has faded, with fall sneaking in quickly. Who else is ready for cozy sweaters, apple picking, and comfort food? When chillier days arrive we are more than ready to turn our ovens on, getting back to simple, hearty dishes.

And when we’re craving something sweet and easy to make? Fruit crisps are the answer! They’re a great way to use up of any leftover fruit kicking around the fridge.

Blackberry apple crisp is a beautiful, gluten free dessert, and vegan-friendly to boot! A blend of late summer blackberries and early autumn apples, it’s a match made in seasonal fruit heaven.

Jump to:

• 💖Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• 📋Ingredients
• 👩‍🍳Method
• 💡Top Tips
• 📝Recipe Notes
• ❓Recipe FAQ
• Recipe

💖Why You’ll Love This Recipe

✔️ It’s naturally gluten-free, using, almond meal for the topping.
✔️ You can adjust the sweetness to your personal preference.
✔️ It freezes wonderfully, so you can make it now with seasonal fruit to save for later.

📋Ingredients

For The Fruit Filling

For The Topping

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Coconut oil: you can use dairy or non-dairy butter rather than coconut oil if you prefer.
• Berries: make this recipe any time of year with frozen blackberries, or any other berries you like. Raspberries are especially delicious and frozen raspberries work well.
• Maple syrup: substitute the maple syrup for ¼ to ½ cup (50 to 100 g) of brown sugar, depending on how sweet you want it.
• Cornstarch: If gluten isn’t a concern you can use all-purpose flour in place of the cornstarch in the fruit filling and the almond meal in the topping.
• Cinnamon: Homemade apple pie spice or pumpkin spice are great alternatives to cinnamon.

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.

👩‍🍳Method

STEP 1: Prep the apples and add the maple syrup, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Mix to combine.
STEP 2: Add the apple mixture to the baking dish along with the blackberries and cornstarch.

STEP 3: Make the topping. Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well.
STEP 4: Top the crisp in an even layer and bake until bubbling, about 40 minutes.

💡Top Tips

1. Don’t omit the lemon juice. It’s there to prevent the apples from browning, but adds a little extra flavour, too.
2. Bake until bubbling. A key thing to watch for when baking crisps is a bubbly filling around the edges. Once it bubbles, that cornstarch has done its work and thickened.
3. Don’t thaw the berries. If you’re using fresh berries, great! But from frozen, there’s no need to thaw first – the baking time won’t change.

📝Recipe Notes

• We recommend using apples that hold their structure during baking. No one wants mushy crisp! Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Cortland, and SweeTango are all great.
• You can pulse the topping a few times in a food processor if you don’t want to mix by hand.
• We wait to add the berries so as not to squish them, but as they’re being baked anyway, feel free to add them to the bowl with the apples before stirring everything together.
• This can be frozen before or after baking. Cover very well and freeze for up to three months, then thaw in the refrigerator overnight and bake as directed, or warm through if already baked.

❓Recipe FAQ

🍎 More Autumn Apple Recipes

Recipe

This post first appeared in September 2014, and was last updated September 2022.