Baked Fruit with Granola Crisp Topping

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My homemade granola and frozen fruit leftovers from last summer’s bounty put me on the road to these single serving ramekins. But you don’t need leftovers to find this Baked Fruit with Granola Crisp Topping Dessert irresistible. 

There is debate as to what makes a crisp versus a crumble.  In the “old days”, a crisp contained oats, while a crumble did not. However, both Bon Appetit and the Kitchn, say these terms are now interchangeable. 

Most “authorities” expect that the fruit in either a crisp or a crumble will be fresh, but I often use good quality frozen fruit in mine. Especially these days, you use what you have – or can easily get – and don’t worry about the niceties of what a recipe specifies. 

I’m a huge fan of streusel. In my book, the more topping the merrier, whether we’re talking about cake, muffins, or streusel as a topping for baked fruit.  Typically the butter is room temperature. But I was impatient and remembered that I had a streusel recipe that used melted butter. That’s how I got to this Baked Fruit with Granola Crisp Topping Dessert. 

Making single servings in small (4 ounce) ramekins allowed me to easily share this dessert with neighbors. The single serving portions also make it simple to scale the recipe up or down.

Consider this recipe a template for a fruit crisp or crumble with a streusel topping. If you want to change up the fruit or add more streusel, go ahead. In the Fall, you could pair apples and cranberries. In the summer, fresh blueberries and peaches or apricots would be divine. Let your imagination, food preferences, and what’s available be your guide.  

Want to dress it up? Add some whipped cream or ice cream. 

Need to make it ahead of time? No problem. Just keep them at room temperature for a few hours, or refrigerated for longer, then warm them up just before serving. Or eat them at room temperature or even cold.  And as to whether you can make more and eat one for breakfast? I won’t judge.

The ingredients and steps are simple. 

For ingredients, the granola substitutes for what would traditionally be raw oats in a crisp or crumble. For fruit, use several if you like. My photo includes only my flash frozen fresh peaches and fresh blackberries, but I later added frozen cranberries.

You can make the topping first and let it sit while you make the fruit – or vice versa.

In any event, the topping is just 2 steps – mixing the dry ingredients.

And then adding in the melted butter and mixing it in until the flour is no longer visible. the consistency is large crumbles, which bake up nice and crunchy.

The fruit may be even easier, if that’s possible. Just mix everything together and let it sit for a few minutes to give the liquid time to absorb the flour and sugar. 

Finally, put the fruit in the ramekins and top them with the granola streusel. 

Bake them until the fruit bubbles and the topping looks honey brown. 

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Baked Fruit with Granola Crisp Topping

This simple recipe, made in individual ramekins, is actually a template for a fruit crisp or crumble with a granola streusel topping. It's simple, scrumptious, and easily scalable for a single serving or a crowd. Enough said.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword berry, blackberry, cranberry, crisp, crumble, fruit, peach, streusel

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Servings 8 servings (4 ounces each)

Author Laura

Ingredients

Granola Streusel Topping

• 1 & 1/4 cups All-purpose flour 150 g/5.3 oz
• 1/2 cup Brown sugar, firmly packed 106 g/3.75 oz. Either light or dark brown sugar. For difference between them, see note below
• 3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 cup Granola, homemade or storebought 57 g/2 oz
• 1/2 cup Unsalted butter, melted 113 g/2 oz (8 tablespoons or 1 stick)

Fruit Filling

• 2 & 1/2 cups Berries of any type or mixture Amount is approximate depending on type of berry. About 300 g/10 oz.
• 1 pound Peaches, fresh or frozen, cut into slices, then cubes 460 g/ 16 oz
• 1/4 cup Granulated sugar 50 g/1.75 oz
• 2 tablespoons All-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon Fresh lemon juice
• 1 pinch Salt

Instructions

Granola Streusel Topping

1. Combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and granola. Mix well.

2. Pour melted butter over the dry mixture and toss with a silicone spatula to form large crumbs. Little or no flour should be visible. Set aside.

Fruit Filling

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Set aside for a few minutes to allow the fruit to macerate and juices to mix with the flour and lemon juice.

Combining Fruit and Filling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/ 180 C. butter 8 small ramekins. (For how-to on measuring the size of ramekins, see note below.)

2. Pour the fruit into the ramekins. Add the granola streusel topping. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet (to catch any drips while baking) and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the streusel is golden brown.

Recipe Notes

Light and dark brown sugar are both made from cane sugar and molasses. The difference between them is the amount of molasses, with dark brown having more molasses than light brown sugar. There is no exact proportion of molasses to granulated sugar and different brands may have different amounts of molasses. 

In order to calculate the size of a ramekin, pour water into it and see how much water it holds. Most ramekins have a lip at the top. A 4 ounce ramekin will take the water just up to the bottom lip of the ramekin.