I know I know it’s November, but I have been missing my blueberry baking and desserts. I do love pumpkin and all things spiced, but when you start recipe testing for fall desserts in… August, by November you’re ready for a change and a different flavor on your palate. I love baking with blueberries because they are low fodmap and low acid, so for me, I can eat unlimited amounts of blueberry desserts with no digestive aftermath. Whereas if I were to eat too many apple or pumpkin desserts in one sitting… that’s another story.
I also love the flavors in a blueberry pie or blueberry crumble. Warm blueberries served with melted ice cream. For me, this is a dish for cool, crisp weather. This blueberry crumble was created as a lazy version of pie. I wanted to make a pie, but didn’t want to spend the time rolling the dough and braiding the lattice, so I mixed up blueberries with a touch of tapioca flour, and a squeeze of lemon. Topped this with a crumble made from vegan butter, nut flour, oats or whatever else you’d like to add! The more the better imo. And this is decadent, warm, JUST slightly sweetened and perfect with a scoop of ice cream or with your afternoon tea or coffee. It’s so easy and fool proof. If you’re looking for an easy but delicious and pretty paleo dessert, gluten free dessert or even a gut healthy dessert, blueberry crisp is calling your name!
Is this blueberry crisp easy to make?
Yes! It’s so easy. It’s one of the easiest desserts on my website. I made a reel video on instagram recently showcasing how easy this really is! No crusts to worry about. Just mixing up some blueberries, topping with some crumble, putting in the oven and it’s done!
What do I need for this blueberry crisp?
9” round or square baking dish or pie pan. Nothing fancy for this one.
What is in this paleo blueberry crisp?
Blueberries: The hero of the crisp. However you can replace this with any fruit you’d like! Cherries, raspberries, finely sliced or chopped apples
Lemon Juice: A squeeze of fresh lemon helps the acidity in the fruit and preserves the berries
Tapioca Starch: This helps to gel up and bind the blueberry filling. You can replace this with corn starch if you aren’t paleo, or arrowroot starch
Vanilla Extract: To add a bit of vanilla flavor and depth to the blueberry filling
Almond flour: My go-to flour for all paleo baking. If you are intolerant to almonds, gluten free flour should work fine here
Coconut Flour: This helps absorb the moisture from the almonds. If you use an almond flour substitute, you do not need to add the coconut flour
Rolled Oats: These are optional! I just like the depth of oats in the crumble. You can omit if you are paleo
Cinnamon: This gives the crumble a nice sweet and spicy flavor
Caramom: This also gives some spice to your crumble
Vegan Butter: You can substitute this with coconut oil. I like butter for the flavor but either works. I use Earth Balance Sticks or Miyoko’s Butter
Pecans: Also optional for the topping, but I like the taste of the pecans when they’re toasty in the crumble
...So why should I make this blueberry crisp?
This crisp is so easy to make. It takes two steps, a quick mix of blueberries, a mix of the crumble, and a quick bake! It comes out with that warm sweet flavor of blueberries without the hassle of making a full blueberry pie. It’s also grain free/paleo and dairy free with very little sweetener added. And it can be omitted for a completely sugar free dessert! It’s warm, cozy and divine with a big scoop of dairy free vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients:
For the filling:
4 cups blueberries frozen or fresh
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp arrowroot or tapioca starch (to gel it up)
For the crumble topping:
1/2 cup almond flour
1 tbsp coconut flour
2+ tbsp of coconut sugar or maple syrup (more can be added for a sweeter crumble or omitted for less sweet/sugar free option)
1/4 cup GF rolled oats (omit if paleo/grain free)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cardamom
3 tbsp vegan butter, or sub with solid coconut oil or ghee
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease or spray a 9” pie dish or square baking pan and set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, mix together the blueberries with the lemon juice/zest, vanilla and tapioca/arrowroot. If your blueberries are frozen, defrost your blueberries first and drain out the water/liquid! If not, your crisp may become soggy. Set aside.
In another bowl, mix crumble ingredients together until fully mixed and butter is broken down into pea-sized pieces and smaller.
Now take your blueberries and spread them in the bottom of your greased pan evenly. Take your crumble topping and crumble evenly over the top of your blueberries so they’re all covered.
Bake for 28-30 minutes, until top is brown. Scoop some ice cream on top for optimal results (You can use my paleo vanilla ice cream recipe here!)
Recipe notes:
If you use frozen blueberries, make sure you defrost them first and drain the liquid before adding them into your recipe. Otherwise your crisp may become soggy.
You can substitute vegan butter for coconut oil or ghee
You can substitute your almond flour and coconut flour in this recipe with gluten free all purpose flour. Sub for 1/2 cup.
You can adjust your sweetness in your crumble, add more or less to your liking. I’d taste it raw to make sure it’s sweet enough before you bake it. If you really like your desserts sweet, you can add sweetener to your blueberry mixture too. I’d add 2 tbsp, up to 1/4 cup.
If you make this paleo blueberry crisp, make sure to tag me on Instagram @gutsy_baker and #gutsybakes. And leave me a comment or reviews below, it's so helpful and I love to hear from you!
xo Stephanie
If you liked this blueberry crisp, you’ll love these other recipes: