Two of my favorite fruits combine in this easy to make Apple Blackberry Crumble dessert! It's a wonderful use of your fall apples as the texture of the apple chunks contrast perfectly with your fresh or frozen blackberries!! Plus, this a great St. Patrick's Day treat as the Apple Blackberry Crumble is a popular dessert in Ireland! For more Irish Recipes and Irish Desserts, check out our links below! OR view all of our Irish recipes plus some fun St. Paddy's Day themed recipes!
The perfect combination of sweet apples and plump blackberries for a delicious baked dessert with a touch of tartness and a buttery crumble topping!
Apple Blackberry Crumble Recipe
This super tasty dessert is a wonderful balance of flavors! I like to combine a sweet but firm variety for my apple baking, so I suggest using either Gala, Fuji, or Honeycrisp apples.
If you want a semi-tart variety with firm texture choose either Granny Smith, Braeburn or Jonagold.
Depending on your chosen variety, and how perfectly ripe and plump your blackberries are, you may choose to omit any additional sugar. This is my preference for the fruit filling, for this recipe, with a sweet variety apple.
This option also helps to avoid the issues of having filling that gets too soggy. Sugar combines with your fresh fruit and draws moisture out, so using an apple variety that is sweet enough on its own is a best practice to prevent runny fillings.
What's The Difference Between A Crisp and A Crumble?
The difference is based largely upon where you live. In the UK, crisp and crumble are, generally speaking, used interchangeably. I think that holds true with the US as well.
Most people I know have always referred to a dessert with a crumb or crumble topping containing things like oats, nuts or seeds as a crisp. My blackberry crisp ( similar to this crumble ) is a perfect example of what is considered a 'crisp' dessert.
Things with a streusel type topping ( like Dutch Apple Pie ) usually have their own name or will be called so-and-so with streusel topping, like my banana bread with streusel. The exception to that is coffee cake, most varieties have either a sugar or brown sugar streusel.
Other desserts in the same family but made with a batter topping are called cobblers, like my nectarine cobbler.
Should I Peel The Apples?
I've seen quite a few recipes and recommendations to remove apple peels before baking in crisps, crumbles, pies, etc. I don't agree with that but feel that it is a personal preference.
I'm usually one of those people that is super sensitive to weird texture combinations, and I have to say that the stray apple peel has never ruined a dish for me. Shrug. Call me crazy!
So by all means, if you feel the need to peel your apples, go right ahead and do it! If you want to save that prep time and need a dessert fast, slice and bake this up in a hurry. You'll love it either way!
I will concede that apple pies may be the exception to whether or not an apple should be peeled. The biggest factor on deciding whether or not to peel my apples would be based on which apple variety I was using. Shiny skinned apples tend to have thicker peels, like McIntosh or Red Delicious.
How To Make Irish Apple Blackberry Crumble
Preheat your oven to 375 ºF ( 190 ºC ) and butter or grease your eight individual ramekins or either a 2 qt baking dish or 9 x 13 baking pan. *The filling should cover the bottom of the flat baking dish adequately but not be deeper than approx 1 ½ inches.
In a large bowl, combine the chopped apples with enough lemon juice to coat the sliced and cut apples ( to prevent browning and add flavor ). Add the lemon zest and sugar, stir to coat thoroughly. Then add the blackberries and stir them in gently.
Portion the filling out into your prepared ramekins or baking dish.
To make the crumble topping, combine the almond flour, quick oats, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and use a fork to coat the dry mixture. Break up any chunks and stir until you have a good crumbly appearance.
Use the fork to help spread the crumble topping over the fruit filling in your individual portions or baking dish. Transfer to the middle rack of your preheated oven and bake at 375 ºF ( 190 ºC ) for approximately 40 - 45 minutes, or until bubbly and golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 - 15 minutes before serving.
Storage & Reheating Apple Blackberry Crumble
Store any unused apple blackberry crumble in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Note that your crispy crumble topping may suffer soggy results when refrigerated.
My special notes on crisps and crumbles are as follows:
When I bake a crisp or crumble, I try to make it either a) just large enough for the right amount of servings desired or b) use individual ramekins for the desired servings.
Otherwise, make your fillings and store them either refrigerated or frozen in an air tight container or freezer storage bag. Mix your crumble topping, minus any butter, and store in a separate storage bag. Assemble, add butter, and bake on demand when desired.
Reheat portions by placing desired portion in an oven safe dish and warm at 350 degrees F ( 175 degrees C ) until heated through. This method can bring the crispness back to your crumble topping in the first few days of being refrigerated!
For quick reheating, microwave in 30 second increments until warmed to your desired temperature.
FAQ's
Q: My crumble isn't crumbly looking, what went wrong?
A: The butter amount can directly affect how your crumble topping turns out with any fruit crumble or crisp recipe.
Alot of crisps and crumbles have you cut in cold butter for your topping mixture, or pour melted butter over the assembled dish. Any which way you made it, sometimes things simply don't turn out quite right...yet.
The biggest thing to avoid is using too much butter. Too much butter makes an oily mess, and is hard to salvage.
Too little butter, and you have a dry topping. Or a patchy topping that results from the butter being concentrated in one area over your dessert.
The general rule to follow, no matter the recipe ( as there are literally as many crisp and crumble recipes as there are moms with kitchens! ) is to use 2 parts flour or dry ingredients for 1 part fat or butter.
More Irish Recipes!
- Irish Lamb Stew
- Irish Nachos
- Corned Beef and Cabbage
- Irish Oatmeal Cake with Caramel Pecan Frosting
- Irish Apple Cake
- Traditional Irish Soda Bread
- Irish Soda Bread Pudding
- Irish Barmbrack
- Potato Leek Soup
- Apple Blackberry Crumble (this page)
Apple Blackberry Crumble
Ingredients
Apple Blackberry Filling
- 8 medium apples (Gala, Fuji, or Honeycrisp are recommended - cored, thinly sliced, and cut)
- 2 cups blackberries (fresh or frozen, rinsed)
- 1 large lemon (zest and juice)
- 2 Tbsp sugar
Crumble Topping
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ cup quick oats
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ¾ cup butter (salted, melted)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F ( 190 degrees C ) and butter or grease your eight individual ramekins or either a 2 qt baking dish or 9 x 13 baking pan. *The filling should cover the bottom of the flat baking dish adequately but not be deeper than approx 1 ½ inches.
- In a large bowl, combine the chopped apples with enough lemon juice to coat the sliced and cut apples ( to prevent browning and add flavor ). Add the lemon zest and sugar, stir to coat thoroughly. Then add the blackberries and stir them in gently.
- Portion the filling out into your prepared ramekins or baking dish.
- To make the crumble topping, combine the almond flour, quick oats, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and use a fork to coat the dry mixture. Break up any chunks and stir until you have a good crumbly appearance.
- Use the fork to help spread the crumble topping over the fruit filling in your individual portions or baking dish. Transfer to the middle rack of your preheated oven and bake at 375 degrees F ( 190 degrees C ) for approximately 40 – 45 minutes, or until bubbly and golden.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 – 15 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
My crumble is a soup. I followed the instructions exactly. Maybe the butter should be softened but not melted?
Hello Michelle, this is most likely to do with the fruit filling. I know (and will add notes) that when using frozen berries in my crumbles or crisps, that it is important to coat them with flour. Anytime a fruit filling looks too wet when mixed, it will almost undoubtedly add more moisture during the baking process. If your fruit looks very wet, sprinkle some all-purpose flour into the mix to help prevent the 'soupy' result. Hope that helps! ~ Angela