
I don’t know about you, but I’ll take a fruit crisp ANY DAY over pie. As the eater, as well as the baker. Fruit crisps are the humble, no-fuss sister to pies, and offer so much more flavor and texture than their counterpart.
Tell me, what pie crust is loaded with cinnamon, cardamom and all the glorious spices? Not a one of ‘em! What pie crust requires no rolling out, no extra chilling, and no being fussy about over mixing?! Zero. What pie can you pile mounds of “crust” on, and it bakes up perfectly and tastes even better? Such a thing doesn’t exist.
Oooh, but a crisp! A crisp offers all of that. Sure, pies have their place. I can’t imagine a pumpkin crisp being better than the classic pie. But even on a Thanksgiving spread, if there’s a fruit crisp and a pumpkin pie sitting there… I’m going for the crisp.
This is the original recipe from Bon Appétit. Below is how I have made it for the past several years.

Ingredients:
Oat Crumble Topping:
- Flour: Any flour will work. If you have interest in grains, and thus, have a variety to choose from, I love to use spelt, einkorn or soft white here. Anything with a lower protein (gluten) is perfect for desserts like this.
- Sugar: Again, use what you have. I’m slowly working through a 50lb bag of Sucanat my dad gave me, so that’s what I’m using. I love that it still has the molasses and all the minerals in it. Maple sugar, coconut sugar, monk fruit or even sugar in the raw would work well here. I don’t use liquid sweetener for the crumble topping.
- Oats: Old fashioned rolled oats or instant oats work.
- Butter: Always choose grass-fed. I never buy unsalted butter— everything requires at least a pinch of salt, so in cases like this where we’re using a 1/2 cup of butter, that will cover the salt the crumble would need.
- Spices: Load them UP! You know me… cinnamon and cardamom are for sure in here. I make my own pumpkin pie spice that is suited to my taste. Nutmeg *barely* shows up in mine, because I don’t love it.

Fruit Filling
- Fruit: use whatever is in season, or you have loaded in your freezer. I typically use the mixed berry bag from Costco. If only I had fresh peaches…
- Sugar: honey, maple syrup or any sweetener works here.
- Cornstarch: thickens the liquid, so bump it up by a tablespoon if you use a liquid sweetener.
- Citrus Zest: My lazy substitution is using a drop of citrus essential oil! Works great if you don’t have citrus on hand, or if what you have isn’t organic.
- Citrus Juice: Any citrus works! Lemon, lime, orange… this keeps the dessert bright.

Make This Crisp!
I love taking this to dinner invitations. If I’m not asked to bring a salad or drinks, I bring this with some vanilla ice cream!
Fruit Crisp

This is sure be your new go-to dessert for sharing with others. It’s ridiculously easy to make, can easily adapt for most diets, and is welcomed any time of year!
Ingredients
- OAT TOPPING:
- 1/3 C flour (any and all flour work here)
- 1/4 C sugar (any and all dry sweeteners work here)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 TBS cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
- 1 C oats
- 1/2 C butter (1 stick) grated with a cheese grater
- FRUIT FILLING:
- 8 C fruit (any and all fruits work here)
- 1/2 C sweetener (any dry or liquid sweetener works here)*
- 3 TBS cornstarch
- 1 tsp citrus zest, or 1 drop of citrus essential oil
- 2 TBS citrus juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix all of the oat topping ingredients. I use a Swedish whisk and leave it powdery/crumbly. Once it is baking, the butter will melt and glue it all together! Set aside. Place in refrigerator if you are doing something like pitting cherries or peaches that take a while.
- In the baking dish you will be using, add all the ingredients for the fruit filling. Mix well.
- Top fruit mixture with oat topping and bake for 60-70 minutes. You want the fruit to be bubbling and the topping to be lightly golden.
Notes
* If using liquid sweetener, add another tablespoon of cornstarch to keep it from being too runny.
If you enjoy more of the crisp topping than fruit mixture, feel free to double the oat mixture! If I’m using a bigger pan than a 9x13, a lot of times I keep the fruit the same, but will double the crisp topping.
Pin this now to save for later. And when you make it, come back and let us know what fruit you made it with!



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