Crispy crumbly

I bought a 2lb thing of blueberries, guess I'm short on antioxidants?  Well I needed to bring dessert to Adam's parents cottage thing this past weekend, so I thought - good, I love dessert and I can use these berries.  Adam's idea to make a crisp, actually.



finished product - yum

Probably the first dessert I ever made by myself is apple crisp.  Now, it's come a long way, and it's kind of one of those things that's a bit different every time I make it.  The thing is, it's such a basic dessert and you can do so many different things with it - sugars and their proportions, butter melted or softened, how many oats? What about using coconut, or almonds, or walnuts...or no nuts at all?  Maple syrup? yes please.   Don't even get my STARTED on the fruit.

A good rule though, is if you're using berries in any proportion, flour or some starch in with the fruit is an absolute non-negotiable must. (you can't negotiate, seriously)

Inspired by pretty much any crisp and crumble recipe out there.   Noteworthy is joyofbaking.com and canadianliving.com (for the apple/blueberry combo idea)

APPLE BLUBERRY CRISP 

INGREDIENTS

Filling:

4C of cooking apples, peeled and chopped or thinly sliced (about 4 large)

2C of fresh blueberries, picked over and rinsed

1/4t of cinnamon

2T sugar

2T flour

juice of half a lemon

Topping:

Fruits and topping

1/4C brown sugar

1/4C white sugar

1/2C flour

1/3 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup oats

1/2t cinnamon

1/8t nutmeg

Handful of chopped pecans

pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375


Prepare your fruit.

Combine your apples and blueberries in bowl and add the lemon juice, toss with sugar, flour and cinnamon.

Place in an 8x8 or 9x9 pan sprayed with cooking spray.  (don't worry if it seems kinda full)

Topping:

Combine sugar(s), flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg -  whisk together.  Add butter and with your hands or pastry blender, combine until pea sized lumps form up.  Add oats, nuts and gently combine.



heaping over, but it's OK!



Put topping on fruit, use your hands to distribute evenly.  Pat down slightly if it seems too full (although this is OK since the juices will release in the fruit, bind with the flour, and shrink the volume of the crisp)



Bake for 35-40 minutes until crisp and bubbly, allow to cool.

If I made this again: use 1/4C of sugar and flour in with the fruit to balance out the tart apples and berries a bit better.  Otherwise, it was good, not too sweet and fruit took centre stage (sometimes I make this and it's like 2/3 crisp with almost no fruit) :)