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 contrasts perfectly with your fresh or frozen blackberries!! Plus, this is a great St. Patrick's Day treat as the Apple Blackberry Crumble is a popular dessert in Ireland!
This super tasty dessert is a wonderful balance of flavors!
Perfectly baked fruit combines with a delightfully tasty crumb topping to make this tasty dish! While it may not look like a traditional Irish recipe, you'd be likely to find apple blackberry crumble on menus across the country!
It's a wonderful combination of fall fruits that's also a quick and easy dessert to make any time of the year!
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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!
🤔 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 are 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 in 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.
🥘 Ingredients
It really doesn't take many ingredients to make this tasty dessert! Grab some fresh fruit and your pantry staples to get started!
Apple Blackberry Filling
- 8 medium Apples (Gala, Fuji, Ambrosia, or Honeycrisp are recommended - cored, thinly sliced, and cut)
- 2 cups Blackberries (fresh or frozen, rinsed)
- 1 large Lemon (zest and juice)
- 2 tablespoon Sugar
Crumble Topping
- 1 cup Almond Flour
- ½ cup Quick Oats
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar
- ¾ cup Butter (salted, melted)
*Be sure to see the recipe card below for ingredients, amounts & instructions!*
🔪 Step-By-Step Instructions
Like any fruit crisp or crumble, this apple blackberry crisp is a super easy dessert to make with minimal prep time! Dice and combine your fruit and you're almost done!
- Prep. Preheat your oven to 375ºF (190ºC) and butter or grease your eight individual ramekins or either a 2 quart 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.
- Combine fruit. 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.
- Transfer. Portion the filling out into your prepared ramekins or baking dish.
- Mix the crumble. 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.
- Sprinkle. Use the fork to help spread the crumble topping over the fruit filling in your individual portions or baking dish.
- Bake. Transfer to the middle rack of your preheated oven and bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for approximately 40-45 minutes, or until bubbly and golden.
- Cool. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Serve your baked apple blackberry crumble with a scoop of ice cream or my chantilly whipped cream for an amazing combo that everyone will love!
💭 Angela's Tips & Recipe Notes
- 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 a firm texture you should 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 of apple.
- This option also helps to avoid the issues of having a 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.
My crumble isn't crumbly looking, what went wrong?
- The butter amount can directly affect how your crumble topping turns out with any fruit to crumble or crisp recipe.
- A lot of crisps and crumbles have you cut in cold butter for your topping mixture, or pour melted butter over the assembled dish. Anyway, 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.
🥡 Storing & Reheating
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.
Reheating Apple Blackberry Crumble
Reheat portions by placing the desired portion in an oven-safe dish and warm at 350°F (175°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.
☘️ More Tasty Irish Recipes!
📋 Recipe
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 tablespoon 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°F (190°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.8 medium apples, 1 large lemon, 2 tablespoon sugar, 2 cups blackberries
- 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.1 cup almond flour, ½ cup quick oats, ½ cup light brown sugar, ¾ cup butter
- 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° F (190°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!
Angela says
I don't have any almond flour on hand. can I substitute with white flour?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Yes, you can easily swap the almond flour for all-purpose flour with no modifications needed.
Michelle says
My crumble is a soup. I followed the instructions exactly. Maybe the butter should be softened but not melted?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
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