Rustic Raspberry Crumble

Made from simple ingredients, Rustic Raspberry Crumble is an impressive dessert with very little effort! For added pizzazz, prepare the mixture in individually portioned dessert ramekins; they’re much more impressive that way! And, of course, no matter how delicious a crumble might be, it always needs a scoop of good vanilla ice cream!

John.e and I most certainly have a long list of differences between the two of us! Personally, I think a couple with too many similar likes and dislikes are going to have a very boring relationship ahead of them! This Rustic Raspberry Crumble has made me think of a few of our differences. I could easily list a hundred of them, but I’ll limit it to just a few.

He’s a vegetarian; I am not, because pork rules! He drinks regular coke and I drink diet only! You won’t find him doing much cooking or baking, while I love to do both. For him, it’s Star Trek Wars, but for me, it’s dramatic period pieces all the way! When it comes to smells, he prefers unscented and I prefer scented. Lastly, he has never smoked a cigarette in his life and I miss the hell out of it!

He’s a Mac and I’m a PC. Musically, he’s into jazz, while I’m a country man at heart. (Right now, my playlist if full of Taylor Swift, Luke Coombs, Carrie Underwood, and Miranda Lambert. Kree Harrison is creeping in ther too!) He was raised on a farm; I was raised on the water. He’s the strong, quite type; I’m the speak-my-mind, dramatic type. He craves sweets; I crave salts. #missvickies

That last one is what brings us to this recipe.  I like to surprise John.e from time to time by baking up a little something to satisfy his sweet tooth. This Rustic Raspberry Crumble is one such recipe. Now, even though I prefer salty treats, I couldn’t help myself in this case. I mean, really, who could turn down this beauty!?

NOT INTO RASPBERRIES? OTHER BERRIES WILL WORK PERFECTLY!

I don’t prepare crumbles often, but whenever I do, I use this same crumble recipe over and over again.  I basically just change up the fruit and use whatever I have on hand.  At this particular time, the grocery store had a great sale on raspberries, so this crumble pretty much made itself.

If raspberries aren’t your thing, you can certainly use blueberries, strawberries, diced apple, or even rhubarb is awesome in this recipe!  And in late summer, don’t forget to make this crumble again with all of those gorgeous summer peaches!

INDIVIDUAL PORTIONS

This Rustic Raspberry Crumble went over really well; John.e loved it!  Rather than prepare the crumble in a regular pie plate, I decided to split the ingredients evenly among miniature pie plates.  I ate one.  John.e ate the remaining three.  Like I said, I crave salt.  🙂

If you prefer to make this crumble in one larger pie plate, you can! In fact, you can prepare this crumble in a 9×13 inch baking dish too, but keep in mind that the larger the surface area of the pan, the thinner the crumble will be.

No matter what baking vessle you decide to use, it’s always a good idea to place the pie plate, baking dish, or individually portioned ramekins onto a rimmed baking sheet. Sometimes, like in the case of my fresh raspberries, the juice will bubble up and run over the side of the dish. It’s much easier to clean the baking sheet than it will be the bottom of your oven!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post. 

Crumble Topping:

• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Oats – Use quick oats.
• Sugar – Sugar will caramelize when baked, which will help to brown the crumble.
• Brown Sugar – First of all, it has way more flavour than regular white sugar! And, in this recipe, brown sugar keeps that crumb topping tasting deliciously homemade!
• Ground Cinnamon – This adds a little hint of warmth of the crumb topping.
• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature! You can use unsalted butter, but these cookies most certainly taste better with salted butter.

Crumble Filling:

• Raspberries – Please use fresh raspberries! You can use frozen, but once baked, the crumble will be more wet on the bottom rather than syrupy.
• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Sugar – Sugar will caramelize when baked, which will help to brown the crumble.
• Ground Cinnamon – This is optional. There’s cinnamon in the crumb topping, but I add a bit to filling too, because we love the taste and smell of cinnamon!

HOW TO MAKE RASPBERRY CRUMBLE

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, add the crumble topping ingredients, and use your fingers to massage the butter into the dry ingredients.  The mixture should come together like a cookie dough and you should be able to crumble it, like wet sand! Set that aside and prepare the fruit mixture.

In another large mixing bowl, add all of the filling ingredients except the raspberries.  Toss these ingredients together and blend.  Add 4 cups of the raspberries to the filling ingredients.  (Save 1 cup of raspberries for later.) Gently toss with your hands to coat the raspberries in the flour and sugar mixture.  

Portion the raspberry mixture evenly among the 4 mini pie plates, or pile it all into one regular sized pie plate. Evenly distribute 3/4 of the crumble mixture over top of each mini crumble. Dot the top of each mini crumble with the remaining 1 cup of raspberries.  Then, use the remaining crumble topping to fill in some of the gaps.  

Place the mini pie plates onto a baking sheet to catch any spills.  The raspberries will certainly bubble up in the oven and will create a mess if you don’t use a baking sheet to catch the syrup. Bake the crumbles for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for five minutes. Serve warm with ice cream if desired.

STORING LEFTOVER CRUMBLE

Here’s the thing about this Rustic Rasberry Crumble – or any crumble for that matter – they cannot be stored for a long period of time. Crumbles are best when eaten the same day. I have tried to store them in sealed containers, in the fridge, and I’ve even tried freezing them. They are never as good as they are on that first day. That’s not to say that you can’t eat them a day or two later though!

You can safely store them for a day or two well covered in your fridge. When you feel like having some, remove the cover and set it onto a baking sheet. Bake at 200 degrees F for five to seven minutes. It’s already baked, so it’s just a matter of reheating it on a low, steady heat.