This quick and easy recipe highlights the blueberries. A blueberry crisp with cardamom and walnuts is a wonderful dessert and great topped with a big scoop of ice cream. Making this dessert a perfect one for the summer.Â
When it is summer I cannot seem to get enough blueberries. I think part of the reason is when I lived in Washington state for a time there were blueberry bushes in my backyard. They made for great desserts as well in both sweet and savory sauces. What makes this dessert such a great one is that it doesn’t take much work at all to complete. Just a few minutes of mixing and the oven does the rest. How can you go wrong with that?
In this recipe
There are really two parts of the recipe, the blueberry filling and the crisp topping. The blueberry filling is going to be nothing but blueberries, lemon, and sugar with some cornstarch to thicken it a little. That way the blueberries are able to be the star. Then the crisp topping is going to have a little cardamom with oat and walnuts. This will give the dessert a little more texture than just the soft blueberries. Also it is perfect platform for that huge scoop of ice cream you know you want to put on it.Â
Cooking with blueberries
One of the things that I am sure has appeared many in many blueberry recipes is that they call for the blueberries to be cleaned and picked over. This just means you go through the blueberries and remove any stems that you might see so they don’t end up in your dish. This is also something you will want to do if you want to freeze your blueberries. It will make it easier for you when you want to cook with them later. Also if you are going to freeze your blueberries then make sure you freeze them completely dry. You don’t want water on them when you freeze them.Â
Crisp vs Pie vs Cobbler
As the name crisp indicates the fruit will be a bit more crisp than a pie or cobbler. This is due to the shorter baking time than the others since there is a small amount of flour compared to the others. The other difference is that crisp toppings are normally oats and nuts. A cobbler topping will be cake or biscuit like. A pie will use a pastry crust and needs to have a bottom layer. The other two do not need a bottom later only a top. While a pie may not have a top layer many fruit pies will have one.Â
Making a blueberry crisp
One of the things you want to do when making this recipe is the gently mix the ingredients with the blueberries. This will help prevent all of the blueberries from bursting. You can use frozen blueberries if you would like, just make sure you thaw them in a colander. I prefer using fresh but this recipe can work with both.Â
The crumble layer will be a bit dry. Mix the butter with the sugar, cardamom, and salt. Once all of those are combined then mix in the oats, walnuts, and flour. This way to you don’t overmix the topping and it stays crumbly. You are also welcome to use different nuts such as pecan or macadamia or even chestnuts if you make this in the winter.Â
Looking for other crisp recipes?
Blueberry Crisp with Walnuts
Equipment
- 9 x 9 inch baking dish
- Mixing Bowl
- Spatula
Ingredients
Blueberry layer:
- 4 cups blueberries fresh or frozen, picked over
- ¼ cup brown sugar packed
- 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest about 1 lemon
Crisp layer
- ½ cup butter unsalted, softened
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup walnuts chopped
- ¼ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F, 185°C, or gas mark 5. Grease a 9 x 9 inch square baking pan with cooking oil spray and set aside.
- If using frozen blueberries let them thaw in a colander. In a large mixing bowl, combine blueberries, lemon juice, lemon zest, cornstarch, and brown sugar. Toss gently to coat the blueberries. Pour the blueberries pan.
- In another mixing bowl, combine softened butter, brown sugar, salt, and cardamom. Stir together with a rubber spatula until combined. Add the flour, walnuts, and oats and blend until just combined. Evenly distribute the topping on top of the blueberry layer.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Place on a wire cooling rack to cool down for 10 minutes. Can be served warm with ice cream or chilled with a little whipped cream and mint.
Nutrition
