So I brought strawberries and blueberries because we planned a picnic recently but we got rained out and I definitely could not let them go to waste. I could’ve eaten them, and I did but there was so much left I knew I had to turn it into a delicious vegan dessert because The Hubs loves my desserts.
My first option was berry popsicles because it was still pretty warm outside but then I knew he’d love my crimble-crumble. Have you ever seen/heard of Friday Night Dinner? It was a really hilarious British comedy and the mom always called her crisp a “crimble crumble” and we’ve been using it ever since.
But I digress. So yeah I decided to make an autumn dessert dish in the middle of the hottest summer ever.
Crazy, right?
That’s me.
Flour or Oats or Nuts?
One of the most important questions you have to answer when making a vegan fruity baked dish is, how do you want your crust? Do you prefer the basic vegan butter, flour & sugar combo? Or do you like to add a bit of texture with oats and/or nuts?
As you know, I’m always looking for ways to have the things I love without making calorie bombs so I like to play with the ratios to see how little vegan butter I can use without impacting the crust of the crimble crumble.
Sugar
I almost always use brown sugar, dark brown whenever I can find it. End of story.
To Pre-Cook Fruit…or not
Unless it’s apples, I never pre-cook the fruit. I prefer to use a bit of citrus with the sugar to bring out the natural juices from the fruit. And if you want a really thick almost pie-like crisp, use a cornstarch & water slurry to get you there without taking the extra step.
Assemble & Bake
What I love most about this kind of vegan dessert is that it’s really simple and it doesn’t take a lot of time even though it tastes like you’ve been baking in the kitchen with Grandma all day.
Bake on 185C/375F for about 20 minutes or until the top is crispy and the insides are thick and gooey.
The Spicy Spatula 
Whatcha think?