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Perfect berry crisp is loaded with simply sugared strawberries topped with crunchy oat streusel with a hint of nutmeg. My Mom has been making simple fruit crisps like this perfect berry crisp since I was a kid.

It’s so smart, really: take the best fruit you can get your hands on when it’s super ripe. Toss it with a little bit of sugar and starch or flour to soak up the juices. Then cover it with a blanket of cold streusel.

Shoot, you don’t even have to turn on the oven. I regularly bake these in my toaster oven. If you have one, you know how amazing even the simplest toaster oven can be for making simple fruit desserts like this when it’s too hot.

Today, I’m using some gorgeous strawberries, but you can use any kind of berry. Whatever you do, serve your berry crisp with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of cream. It doesn’t get better than this!

Perfect Berry Crisp

What you’ll love about this recipe

Mix and match: you can mix and match any berry combination you have on hand. Frozen berries also work wonderfully, though I’d skip frozen strawberries as I do not care for the texture of them when they bake.
Crunchy streusel, soft berries: Crisp is a study in textures and flavors. The crispy sweet oat streusel is like a crushed oatmeal cookie while the soft berries are perfectly tart and refreshing. Pour on some cream, and it’s the coziest dessert ever.
So so easy: if you can slice up berries, you can make this. If baking intimidates you at all, this is an amazing recipe to start with.
No eggs!: There’s not too many desserts that don’t have any eggs, but strawberry crisp is one of them. If you have sensitive stomachs in your house that can’t handle eggs or gluten, just sub in a gluten-free all-purpose for the flour, and you’re good to go.

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closeup of a serving of strawberry crisp in a dish with text overlay

Ingredients for berry crisp

Oat Streusel

Flour: all-purpose
Oats: old-fashioned for good texture
Brown sugar: helps make a crumble topping that clumps well.
Nutmeg: just a little flavor that blends well with berries. Grated fresh, nutmeg has a hard to define floral flavor that makes berries really shine.
Salt: to balance the sweetness.

Berries

Strawberries, preferably fresh
Sugar: granulated just to sweeten up the berries a little.
Starch: I like potato here as it has a neutral flavor, though arrowroot or corn also work well. A lot of people will also use flour instead to absorb the juices of the berries as they cook.

Things to keep in mind as you make your berry crisp

Feel free to sub all frozen berries, just not strawberries: I use frozen berries throughout the year for convenience. In this case, all frozen berries work, though the strawberries bake up kind of mushy in my opinion. My theory is that because strawberries are so much bigger and watery in comparison to other berries, their cellular structure is more affected by freezing. I save frozen strawberries for homemade strawberry jam.
Use COLD streusel: Make the streusel first, then let it sit in the freezer as you prep your berries. Cold streusel bakes more evenly and tends to give you that perfect big crumb crumble look. If the butter in the streusel is at room temperature, it can melt straight downwards when it hits the heat of the oven, leaving you a sad looking topping.
Chop your berries evenly: chop the berries about the same size as you’re prepping them. If you’re working with blackberries or blueberries, there’s no need to chop them, but strawberries are always of widely varying sizes. Evenly chopped berries means that they will cook at the same rate.
Mix the sugar and starch well: the starch can make icky globules if it’s hanging out by itself. Mixing the starch with the sugar will break up the starch so that it never has a chance to get lumpy.

Ways to mix up your berry crisp

Sub out the nutmeg: cinnamon, allspice, or ginger are all good here.
Add some nuts: I love love strawberries and almonds. Toss in a handful of sliced almonds with the streusel and a 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract.
Use other berries: I’m mentioned it a few times here, but this crisp recipe is really a template. Blackberries, blueberries, or raspberries are all good to use. The raspberries by themselves are pretty delicate, so I like to mix them with something more substantial like peaches. You can also make a mixed berry crisp with blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

Strawberry Crisp

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Author: Elizabeth Farr
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 8 servings

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Description

Tender tart strawberries topped with the sweet crunch of nutmeggy streusel come together to make one of Summer’s simplest and most refreshing desserts.

Ingredients

Scale

Oat Streusel topping

3/4 cup all-purpose flour (97 g)
1/2 cup (106 g) firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup old fashioned oats (24 g)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
4 Tablespoons butter (57 g), melted

Filling

24 oz fresh strawberries
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar (25 g)
2 Tablespoons potato starch (you can also use arrowroot or corn starch) (20 g)

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Instructions

Mix the flour, brown sugar, oats, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl.
Pour over the melted butter, then use a fork to mix into coarse crumbs. Set in the freezer to chill while you prep the berries.
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
Wash and dry the berries. Pull the green tops off, then use a small paring knife to cut out the hard blossom end.
Cut the strawberries into chunks. Cut small berries in half, medium ones in quarters and larger berries in 6 pieces.
Mix the granulated sugar and potato starch in a small bowl. Whisk it well so that the starch is well-distributed and no longer lumpy.
Sprinkle the starch mixture over the cut up berries, then toss thoroughly to mix everything together.
Spread the berries in a shallow baking dish.
Scatter the cold streusel over the top of the berries.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the topping is golden and crunchy and the berries can be easily pierced with a small knife.
Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a healthy drizzle of cream.

Notes

Mixed berry crisp: while I don’t recommend using frozen strawberries as they can get a little mushy when they bake for my taste, other frozen berries like blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries are excellent in this dish. Sub a frozen mix of berries any time of year you want a quick easy fruit dessert.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Additional Time: 0 hours
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Category: Family favorites
Cuisine: American