Recipe Post: Berry Crumble

Oh, my, it's a recipe post!

We had a very busy weekend. I'll be posting about the rest of it later in the week, but Sunday we had my family's Thanksgiving celebration early since my dad will be out of the country on actual Thanksgiving. I made this as a dessert. This was done in Mom's kitchen--hence all the pretty, colorful bowls I don't usually have.

The first time I made a blackberry crumble, it was based on a recipe out of my Kitchen Seasons cookbook (I think!) and I went into my backyard and picked enough blackberries for it, and it was marvelous. I had tons of scratches on my legs because I dove into those blackberry bushes like I was wearing pants and not wearing shorts and did not have delicate skin, and none of those things were true. The crumble was still delicious. Worth it.

I no longer live in that house and unfortunately neither do my parents, so I can't go pick them at their house, anymore.

One of the first things I am going to do once Hubby and I have a house and not an apartment is plant blackberry bushes if our new house does not already have them.

The original blackberry crumble of mine is modified from the cookbook, and this one further so because I decided to add strawberries this time around. Yum!

This is one of those recipes where my mouth is watering as I write this, and I wish I had some on hand at this very moment. Alas, it is at home in my fridge.

Let's get down to it:

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30-35 minutes

Serves: ~9

Ingredients:

For the filling:
1 bag frozen blackberries
1 bag frozen strawberries
2/3-1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp flour
1/4 tsp-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 stick butter (or 1/4 cup)

Directions:

For the filling:

1) If you're using frozen berries, thaw them in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes on medium power. If you're using fresh, ignore that step!

Slice the strawberries that are too large. For frozen berries, this actually isn't too many.

Add the blackberries. Sometimes an enormous blackberry will slip in there and will need to be cut in half, so just keep an eye out. Mostly they're an okay size.

Stir those up.

P.S., Feel free to use a mix with more types of berries. These are just what I had on hand.

2) Add in the sugar.

And the flour (for thickening) and the vanilla.

Enjoy the extra little bit of dog butt I added in that shot for you.

Here's another one (face this time!):

My pup, miss Stella Artois--2-year-old female half Australian cattle dog, half miniature pinscher. She likes long walks on the beach (or would if we had beaches) and only the finest of Blue Buffalo brand dog-food (or anything else that she can get in her mouth).

And now back to our regularly scheduled blog!

You just mixed the berries, remember?

Set aside.

For the topping:

1) Start with your flour.

Add in your brown sugar.

And the cinnamon.

Slice up a stick of butter (or half a stick if you don't need the rest of the butter for rolls like we did.)

With your fingers, gently press the flour and the butter together. This is the longest part of the recipe. You are more than welcome to use some newfangled kitchen appliance of some kind instead.

By the end, you should have a very crumbly crust.

2) Pour your berries into a baking dish. I used 9x9 I believe.

Top with the flour mixture.

Feel free to halve the topping mixture if you want it to be thinner. This layer of crumble was a tad thicker than the berries!

3) Bake for 30-35 minutes in a 375-degree oven, until the top is getting crispy.

It may or may not boil over like mine did.

Still tasty!

Here we have a berry crumble in its natural habitat. See the broken crumble on the top, a signature quality that inspired its namesake?

(I'm feeling weird today, can you tell?)

Enjoy!