A sweet melody of blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries baked to sweet perfection underneath a buttery brown sugar oat topping!
May has officially arrived, and so has berry season! Well, technically most berries aren’t in season until June, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy this summer fruit a little earlier!
This is especially true when you utilize frozen berries, which is what I used to make this HEAVEN-ON-EARTH Triple Berry Crisp.
Because if you’re going to cook them up in a bunch of sugar anyway, you might as well go with the convenience AND inexpensiveness of frozen berries, right? Besides, they taste just as delicious as fresh berries when they’re baked up with a crispy topping of oats, brown sugar, and butter!
Oh! And before I forget, I must mention that I added a special ingredient to the crisp topping…
No, it’s not weed–it’s crushed up Biscoff cookies! My mom used to add crushed up graham crackers to her apple crisp topping whenever she didn’t have enough flour, so I thought I’d follow suit with crushed Biscoff cookies. Because of their butteriness, and cinnamon-spiced caramel flavor, I knew that they would be perfect in a crisp. They also add a little extra “oomph” and depth of flavor, making this Triple Berry Crisp even more divine.
The rest of the crisp ingredients are pretty standard–flour, brown sugar, chopped pecans, cinnamon, butter, and oats. While most recipes call for old-fashioned/whole oats, I usually opt for quick cook oats in my fruit crisps. I prefer crisp toppings to be more delicately crisp, rather than hearty and chewy.
As I mentioned earlier, I used frozen berries instead of fresh. You definitely have the option of using fresh berries, if you prefer. I just didn’t feel like spending a literal arm and a leg for berries since they’re not quite in season yet. I also have an especially hard time spending anything over a $1 on a pint of blackberries when they’re free to pick in my backyard once August comes around, am I right?
Anywho…when it comes to the berry filling, I prefer to cook my berries BEFORE baking them in the oven. The main reason why I pre-cook the berries is that I like to have the reassurance that my berry filling is thick enough. Oftentimes, when I simply toss the berries with the sugar and thickener (cornstarch or flour) and bake it in the oven, I’m crossing my fingers (AND toes) as I scoop into the finished crisp, hoping to DEAR God that it’s not a runny mess. The other advantage of pre-cooking your berries is that it requires less time in the oven since it’s more about making sure the crisp topping is baked through.
To reduce the amount of clean-up, I cooked the berry filling in my cast iron skillet, which also doubles as a baking dish. If you haven’t gotten yourself a good cast iron skillet, I highly recommend getting one immediately. It took me SEVERAL years to finally buy myself one, and it has been a life-changer ever since. Not only can you cook and bake with it, but a cast iron skillet provides a more even cooking temperature to whatever you decide to make in it. Of course, if you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can also just cook the filling in a medium saucepan, then transfer the filling to a 2.5 quart baking dish.
I used plain granulated sugar to sweeten my berries and a few tablespoons of cornstarch to thicken them. I know a lot of recipes use flour, but cornstarch has always been my go-to for berry thickeners. It doesn’t detract from the flavor, and I feel like a lot more flour is needed to achieve the thick results I’m usually aiming for.
To amplify the sweetness, a dash of salt is added to the berry filling, along with a teaspoon of cinnamon. I don’t know about you, but I absolutely ADORE cinnamon in my berry fillings/toppings. It really intensifies the flavor of the berries, and there’s also just something so warm and comforting about this iconic fall spice.
To finish off the filling, a splash of lemon juice is stirred in. Then the whole thing is sprinkled with a crumbly topping of buttery brown sugary oats. After a 30-minute trip to the oven, the crisp should be golden brown and bubbly around the edges.
Obviously, the crisp is going to be extremely hot when you take it out of the oven, so you’ll want to wait at least 30 minutes before you dig into this sucker. The berry filling will also thicken up a little as it cools, so this waiting period is crucial to prevent what could be a souptastic mess.
Of course, the ONLY way to eat a warm crisp of any kind is with a scoop of cool and creamy ice cream on top–VANILLA ice cream, preferably! You could also go with something lighter and fluffier like whipped cream.
No matter how you top your crisp, odds are you’ll sink into your seat in absolute ecstasy after the very first mouthwatering bite of Triple Berry Crisp HEAVEN…
Triple Berry Crisp
Ingredients
Crisp Topping:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ⅓ cup quick cook oats
- ¼ cup Biscoff cookie crumbs (about 5 cookies)*
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup butter softened
Berry Filling:
- 6 cups berries, fresh or frozen (I used a mix of blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
Make the Crisp Topping:
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, pecans, oats, cookie crumbs, and cinnamon. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut the softened butter into the dry ingredients, until a moist crumb forms; set aside.
Make the Berry Filling:
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a 10-inch cast iron skillet, heat the berries over medium heat until they soften and their juices release (about 3-4 minutes).
- In a separate bowl, whisk sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt together. Stir dry mixture into the berries and continue stirring until mixture thickens, and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove skillet from heat and stir in lemon juice.
- Evenly crumble the crisp topping over the berry filling. Bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbly and golden brown on top. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Leftover crisp can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.