Every baker needs a foolproof oatmeal crumble topping recipe in their back pockets. With this recipe in hand, you can instantly whip up a delicious summer treat.
Fruit Flavor Combinations
While the classic British crumble has stewed apples on the bottom, we’ve found that just about any fruit variety tastes good when topped with an oatmeal streusel and a scoop of ice cream. Some favorites include:
- Fresh peaches
- Fresh or frozen berries
- Fresh plums
- Fresh pears
A Short History of Crumbles
There are quite a lot of blogs attributing the invention of the classic British apple crisp (close relative of the crumble) to WWII-era rationing. We found, however, that similar recipes had been first published much earlier in the century. Furthermore, and unsurprisingly, given the presence of copious amounts of butter and sugar, we could find no reference to crumbles in WWII-era British ration cook books. We could also find no consistent distinction between a crisp topping and a crumble topping. Hence, the history of crumbles is short and incomplete, but do not let that stop you from making this quick and easy classic dessert. A good crisp recipe will ensure permanent popularity in your friend group.
More Fruit Recipes
Love a fruit dessert? Look no further!
Useful Tools For Making this Crumble
This recipe is really just an excuse to upgrade your 9 x 13 inch pan selection. Here are some pretty ones:
Oatmeal Crumble Topping Recipe
Equipment
- 9 x 13 baking pan
Ingredients
For the fruit filling:
- 4 1/2 pounds of fresh fruit cleaned, cored, and sliced
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp corn starch
- Flavors to match fruit: 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon lemon or orange zest, maple syrup, or vanilla extract
Topping ingredients:
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 9 tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Grease a 9 x 13 or large oval baking dish.
- In a large bowl, combine the fruit, sugar, corn starch, and flavor agent.
- Pour the fruit into the prepared baking pan.
For the crumb topping:
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, rolled oats, and brown sugar.
- Cut the cold butter into half-inch cubes.
- Use your finger tips to mash the butter into the dry ingredients until clumps begin to form and no more butter streaks are visible.
Bake and serve:
- Pour the oat crumb mixture over the top of the fruit. Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until juices are bubbling and streusel topping is golden, 45 minutes to 1 hour. If your crumble begins to get too brown before your fruit is bubbly, cover with aluminum foil to keep it from burning while your cook finishes cooking.
- Let cool on a wire rack until just warm. Serve warm or at room temperature topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
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