Buttery Blackberry Crumble

Enjoy fresh, summertime blackberries in this buttery blackberry crumble! If you’re like me and have a ton laying around, this dessert is perfect for using them up. This recipe uses 5 cups!

Blackberries are peaking in East Tennessee

Although we don’t have wild blackberry bushes at home, my in-laws do. They were kind enough to let us come and pick from theirs over the weekend. Eric and I left with 3 gallons of sweet wild blackberries and a desire to have property like that of our own one day!

Let’s talk about the crumble topping…

The crumble on top is perfectly sweet and adds just the right amount of crunch! Using a pastry cutter or a fork, combine chilled butter with flour, old-fashioned oats, white granulated sugar, and brown sugar. The topping should have some pea-sized crumbles after combining.

Okay, let’s get to baking!

Ingredients 

For the berry layer:

• 5 cups wild blackberries

• 1 tablespoon orange or clementine juice

• 1 teaspoon orange or clementine zest

• ½ cup white granulated sugar

• ¼ cup water

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon almond extract

For the crumble topping:

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour

• ½ old-fashioned oats

• ⅓ cup white granulated sugar

• ¼ cup packed brown sugar

• ½ cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½” cubes

Instructions

For the berry layer

1. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the water, then the blackberries. Gently stir in the clementine juice, zest, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract.

2. Cook the berry mixture until warm and bubbly, and then stir in the cornstarch. Set aside.

   For the crumble topping:

3. In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, oats, and sugars together. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the chilled butter cubes into the flour mixture until crumbly.

4. Pour the berry layer into a shallow 9x13” baking dish. Next, evenly sprinkle the crumble topping on top.

   Assemble:

5. Bake in the oven at 350°F for 30 minutes until the crumble topping is melty and golden brown. Remove from the oven, cool for about 1 hour, and enjoy with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!