Berry Crisp
58 Comments
Updated Jul 25, 2024
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Berry crisp is a warm summery desert brimming blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries baked under a crunchy-sweet topping. This gluten-free dessert is easy to throw together and a definite crowd-pleaser.
If ever there was a quintessential summertime dessert, it’s this one. When grocery stores are overflowing with baskets of brightly hued berries, do yourself a favor and grab a bunch. Then, whip this up this berry crisp and serve it warm and bubbling with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or dollop of coconut whipped cream.
This foolproof dessert couldn’t be easier to put together and looks so gorgeous. You’ll be proud to serve it at your next family gathering, summer potluck, or backyard barbecue. If you’re craving a decadent, fruity dessert…this recipe is the ticket. And come apple or peach season, this apple crisp or peach crisp should be next!
Berry Crisp Ingredients You’ll Need
This recipe calls for a few pantry staples and a couple of special ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Berries: Any combination of berries works great, so choose your favorites!
- Honey: A little bit of natural sticky sweetness.
- Arrowroot Powder: This thickener absorbs liquid while the berry crisp bakes and firms up the filling without making it cloudy.
- Lemon Juice: A squeeze of lemon juice for fresh flavor.
- Gluten-Free Rolled Oats: I prefer rolled oats for a chunkier texture in the topping, but you could use quick cooking oats as well.
- Almond Flour: This nutty flour provides a finer texture in the topping.
- Coconut Sugar: My favorite unrefined sugar in granulated form.
- Butter or Ghee: You can use butter or ghee (or even coconut oil). This is used to bind and clump the topping all together.
- Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon, and Salt: Just a small splash and pinch of these are needed to round out the other flavors.
Find the printable recipe with measurements below
Crisp vs Cobbler – What’s the Difference?
Traditionally, a crisp is a baked, deep-dish fruit dessert topped with a layer of crunchy ingredients – hence the name. It can also be called a crumble. A cobbler is a similar kind of dessert but it’s topped with a dropped-biscuit or pie dough. Same idea, different topping!
Crisp toppings usually include flour, butter, oats, and brown sugar. But since I’m gluten-free, I replaced the flour with almond flour and certified gluten-free rolled oats. Super easy. And once it’s baked with the fruit, the result is a delicious, juicy, fruity dessert with a sweet, crumbly topping.
Can I Use Frozen Berries Instead of Fresh?
Definitely! Frozen berries work equally as well, just let them thaw in their package on the countertop before using. No need to strain, just dump the thawed berries and their juices into the filling mix.
Baking the Berry Crisp Is a Snap!
Just grab a 9×13 baking dish and preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Then, follow these three easy steps:
- Mix together the berry filling ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into your baking pan.
- Mix together the crisp topping ingredients in another bowl. Then sprinkle the crisp topping over the filling.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling around the edges of the pan and the topping is crunchy.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
With a recipe this delicious, you probably won’t have leftovers! If you do, here’s how to store and reheat them.
- To Store: Place any leftover berry crisp covered in the pan in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also transfer it to a glass storage container.
- To Reheat: Individual portions can be reheated in the microwave, or place the entire pan in a 350 degree oven until warmed through.
More Summer Dessert Recipes
Looking for more summer desserts? These are reader favorites!
- Chocolate Covered Bananas
- Berry Sheet Cake
- Chocolate Chia Pudding
- Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Mixed Berry Vegan Cheesecake
- Paleo Lemon Blueberry Cake
Berry Crisp (Gluten-Free)
Description
Ingredients
Berry Filling
- 8 cups mixed berries
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Crisp Topping
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter or ghee, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all of the berry filling ingredients and gently fold together with a spatula until well combined.
- Transfer the berry filling mixture to the prepared baking pan.
- Add all of the dry topping ingredients to a bowl, then stir together.
- Add the vanilla extract and melted butter to the bowl, then stir it together until clumpy.
- Spread the topping on the berry filling. It's okay if it doesn't cover it all. It's meant to look somewhat rustic.
- Bake the berry crisp until the filling bubbles around the edges and topping is golden, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve warm. You can also add a dollop of ice cream, or whipped cream.
Lisa’s Tips
- For the 8 cups of mixed berries I used 12 ounces of raspberries, 12 ounces of blackberries and 1 pint of blueberries (also about 12 ounces).
- My favorite glass mixing bowls always coming in handy for desserts.
- This is a great set of white baking pans, if you need some new ones.
- To make this recipe vegan, just use maple syrup in the filling and vegan butter or coconut oil in the topping.
Nutrition
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Could the maple syrup or honey be swapped for allulose? If so, is it the same measurement (1/4 c)?
This sounds lovely! I recently learned I need to go GF and I’m struggling with giving up bread so looking for comforting recipes to help me transition away. One question: the recipe says put the berries in a prepared pan, but I couldn’t find if that means greasing the pan. I looked twice thinking I just missed it. Will the berries stick if the pan isn’t greased first?
Thanks!
Hi Tina – Thanks for pointing that out! There’s actually no prep work needed if you’re using a baking dish.
For a dessert, to me this recipe is perfection. It’s almost too delicious. It’s rare I have desserts so the sugar rush was quite strong. I will experiment with reducing the sugar but I suspect it will lose it’s perfect crumble taste. I went all out and used fresh organic blackberries, organic raspberries, and organic blueberries. I’m not opposed to frozen but it can’t compare to fresh. I’ve never used arrowroot as a thickener before and am so pleased with it. I usually use corn starch but this was a better consistency and didn’t clump. I’m particular about what I put in my recipe box but this is definitely going in there! I look forward to making the apple version as well. Thank you so much Lisa for this recipe!
Hi Angela – Happy to hear you love this berry crisp!
I used all purpose gluten free flour instead of the almond flour because I bought a massive bag from the Costco Business Centre and don’t really have place for it. Oops. But either way – this was DELICIOUS! I have made it with almond flour as well, and it is very good that way, too!
I normally make a huge batch of topping and then freeze it. Then when I want to whip up a dessert, I dig out a bag of frozen berries and a jar of this topping from my freezer and have such a quick and easy and healthy dessert! Top it with raw whipped cream for a true delight.
So happy you loved it!
Super yummy, loved it! Kids like it as well but I ate most of it.
If I use frozen berries should I defrost them first?
There’s no need to defrost them!
I absolutely love this dessert. I combine all different fruit depending on what I have on hand so it always tastes a little different.
The crunchy topping tastes amazing, it’s perfect for the weather we are having here at the moment.
Made this for a dinner party – it was an easy, light, and tasty dessert with the icecream. I baked it a few hours in advance of the party and then reheated it at 180F for 20-30 minutes while we were eating the main dinner.
It’s definitely a must-make with ice cream!
This looks sooo good! I wonder if I might be able to substitute gluten-free flour for the almond flour? I have a hard time digesting the almond flour. I can handle nuts in small amounts, but years of baking with copious amounts of almond flour left my digestive system intolerant of them. :(
Thank you! I have your cookbook and wondered the same for your pancake recipe and other yummy looking recipes using almond flour.
Yes, that’s no problem at all in this recipe. But each recipe is different on substitutions, so it’s always best to ask for each recipe. :)
Love all your healthy recipes 👏😀
Lisa, absolutely love this recipe!! I usually have allergies when I eat things similar to this, but I was fine!🤸🏼♀️ Flavor and consistency was perfect. I did add some desiccated coconut and shivered almonds to the topper. This is going in my regular line up for breakfasts.
Glad you enjoyed this berry crisp Suzanne!
LOVE this recipe, turned out delicious and today when I made it I literally grabbed all my fruit that was about to go bad so it was blackberries (too tart to eat alone so perfect for this recipe) Blackberries, frozen, Apricots, Plums and Sweet Cherries, what a great combo~! Thanks much Lisa ;) This one’s a Winner~!
Wow! Love the fruity combo you created to make the ultimate crisp :)
It looks great!
Wondering if I can use all frozen fruit?
Frozen berries work equally as well, just let them thaw in their package on the countertop before using.
Can I substitute Monkfruit or Stevia for the coconut sugar?
HI Lisa, I am going to try your crumble for a gathering this week Easter and don’t have coconut sugar – will brown sugar change the taste and work equally well in the crumble mixtureor not? Thanks so much.
Hi Janis – that will work just fine. Enjoy!
This recipe is so simple yet so delicious! I’ve already made it twice, once with arrowroot powder and once with tapioca, and it’s turned out just fine. I do have a question on how to store this, how long will it last?
Good to know this came together with arrowroot powder! You can find storage instructions written in the post – but this will last for up to 3 days in the fridge :)
Hi Lisa. What other type of flour would work in this recipe? My daughter has an almond allergy. Thank you.
Hi Shawn – I haven’t tried this with other flours, but I’m sure a nut-free flour blend would work just fine.
Hi Lisa!
I was wondering the same thing. I have all kinds of other gluten-free flours such as ckickpea and rice flour. I wonder if one of these would be an ok substitute for almond flour, as I am making this for a guest with nut allergies.
Unfortunately, I haven’t tested this recipe with other flours, so not sure how they might turn out. Sorry!
Hi Lisa,
Just wondering what I could substitute the gluten free oats for? I still have issues with these but love this recipe.
Hi Jennifer – check out the topping on my Pear and Pomegranate Crumble recipe, as it’s oat-free! :)
Hi Jennifer! Can I use apples instead of berries?
I’m so sorry, I meant to write your name Lisa. 🙄
Oh! You could, but the flavoring will be a bit different as you’ll need to add some cinnamon into the mix. I’ll be making an apple crisp recipe eventually :)
Made this for a dinner party. Used blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries ( part fresh part frozen).
Everyone loved it.
Can’t wait for leftovers at breakfast 😁
Thanks for another delicious recipe.
Wonderful! I’m happy you loved the recipe, Sandra. And I can attest to the fact that it makes for delicious breakfast the next day – ha! ;)
What could I use instead of rolled oats? I’m allergic to all oats (even so-called GF ones) :(
Hi Amy – check out the topping I did on my Pear and Pomegranate Crumble recipe. There’s no oats in that one! :)
Hi Lisa,
I LOVE this recipe! Thank you!
Could you send me the link to where you purchased your lovely white baking dish ( with handles)? I have been looking for something like this all summer and can’t seem to find it.
Many Thanks,
Cynthia
Hi Cynthia- Unfortunately the pan is sold out at the moment, but I hope to find a replacement soon for it :)
What can be substituted for the butter or ghee?
You could use vegan butter or coconut oil as well.
Can I use Cornstarch instead of Arrowroot powder?
I believe cornstarch should be okay.
I followed the recipe to a T (bought arrowroot powder and coconut sugar specifically to make it) and it turned out really good!
Oh wonderful! I’m happy you loved the recipe Assya!
Would it be possible to use frozen berries or would they have too much liquid?
Yes! I have frozen berry instructions written in the post :)
I just made this with frozen mixed berries I already had on hand… wow! I doubled the oatmeal crisp part that goes on top, because I like that part a lot. This is an excellent summer dessert!
Wonderful! Glad this came out perfectly with your frozen mixed berries :)
I can’t wait to make this! I looked in my pantry and I only have tapioca flour and cassava flour. Can I use either of those instead of arrowroot? Thank you for all of your awesome recipes!
Hi Debra – you could likely use either, but I’d recommend the tapioca flour as the better alternative. Enjoy!
Is there a video for the Berry crisp
Unfortunately I didn’t make a video for this berry crisp. But I hope to make one in the near future for another crisp recipe :)
I’m so happy! This looks SIBO friendly! Ty so much! I love your recipes!
Thanks so much Sylvia! :)