Apple and Blackberry Crumble
Apple and Blackberry Crumble is an easy and delicious mix of apples and blackberries tossed with brown sugar and cinnamon and topped with a crispy graham cracker streusel and a generous amount of vanilla ice cream!
Why You’ll Love This Apple And Blackberry Crumble
- This apple and blackberry crumble feels super light because it’s mostly fruit.
- It’s perfect for summer and fall which makes it the perfect summer to fall transition dessert!
- Optimal amount of streusel topping is involved and I made it fun by adding some graham cracker crumbs *optional.
- One of the easiest types of desserts to bake up! Literally only 6 steps!
I was a little skeptical of adding berries to a good traditional apple crumble but omg is it good!! I first made a Blueberry and Apple Crumble and immediately knew I NEEDED to explore adding other delicious fruits. We’re obviously going to need a strawberry version and raspberry version and I’m thinking rhubarb?!
I’ve been verrrryyy much looking forward to fall and adding apples to EVERYTHING. Some of my favorites are my Apple Butter Cinnamon Rolls, Apple Cider Cupcakes, Iced Apple Crisp Macchiato, Apple Cider Donuts, Dutch Apple Pie, Apple Pie with Puff Pastry, or… I can keep going but you get the point lol.
Ingredients
- Apples: I use 4-5 large apples or 7-8 smaller/medium apples. They’ll make your dish feel really full but they shrink as they’re baking.
- I love to use my apple corer to peel, core and slice the apples all in one.
- Flour: I just used all-purpose flour for this recipe however, I always recommend using a digital scale, as over-measuring the flour is the most common baking mistake.
- Sugar: Light or dark brown sugar work well here for the filling and the streusel.
- Lemon: whenever I bake with apples I like to coat them in lemon juice. This prevents them from getting brown super quick and brings out their natural tartness.
- Salt: salt brings out natural flavors and cuts the sweetness a bit. I like to use fine sea salt. If you’re using table salt, I would use half the amount.
- Butter: I like salted butter but unsalted butter works fine too.
- Blackberries: 2 cups of fresh blackberries, halved.
- Graham Crackers: optional, but I feel like I needed to do something unique with this streusel. Most people add oatmeal but honestly I just don’t like the texture of oatmeal in a streusel lol.
- Spices: I just used ground cinnamon for this one.
- Vanilla: I thought vanilla would pair well with the blackberries and apples. I recommend pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Apple Blackberry Filling
Step 1: Peel and slice the apples and place them in a deep pan.
Step 2: Add the lemon, flour, sugar, salt and vanilla and mix until they’re combined.
Step 3: Add the blackberries: use a fork to gently mix them in so they don’t get all smushed.
Graham Cracker Streusel (and assembly)
Step 1: Melt the butter in a separate bowl and then add in all the dry ingredients mixing until the streusel forms pea sized chunks.
Step 2: Spread streusel on top of the apple mixture and bake for about 55 minutes, until the streusel has browned and sides of the apple crisp start bubbling juices.
Step 3: Remove from the oven, let it rest for about 30-60 minutes or longer and then serve with vanilla ice cream! While it’s warm it still be a little liquid-y. Once it cools, the filling thickens a lot.
Pro Tips For Making This Apple Blackberry Crumble
- You can mix the filling ingredients straight in your pie dish but make sure to use your largest deep dish pie dish so you have room to combine the ingredients.
- Reserve a handful of blackberries to place on top of the apples because when you toss all the ingredients in the pie dish, the blackberries tend to fall to the bottom.
- 10/10 recommend an apple corer to make all your fall baking 10x quicker. This apple corer peels, slices and cores the apples all at once. I use it for ALL my apple recipes.
Frequently Asked Questions
I find that most apples work well in desserts except golden apples (those are too mushy). My favorites are honeycrisp, fuji or gala apples. If you want it to be more tart and less sweet, use granny smith apples.
I find the skin a little unpleasant but you don’t HAVE to peel the apples. I do since it’s easy with an apple corer.
I haven’t tested it in this specific recipe, however, it should work fine but it may be a little more liquidy so you increase the flour by 1-2 tablespoons.
Yup! Just swap the butter in the crumble topping for dairy free butter.
I have not tested this recipe specifically but all of my cake recipes work with a 1:1 substitute of gluten-free flour so I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. I recommend King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill.
You can also use this gluten-free streusel topping made with oats.
How To Serve And Store This Crumble
I recommend letting the crumble cool and then serving it on a plate topped with ice cream so the ice cream doesn’t melt all over the crumble that’s not getting eaten.
Store the leftover crumble covered in the refrigerator and then bake for 10 minutes at 325F (or microwave) before serving again.
Thanks so much for reading today’s post, if you have any questions just comment down below.
If you make this apple and blackberry crumble, I would love it if you left a star rating for it in the recipe card.
As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!
Love, B
Can frozen apple pieces and blackberries be used in this recipe?
Hi! Yes that should be fine, frozen berries are a little more wet so probably add a TBSP of flour making it 1/4 cup (30grams)