Chef notes
I’ve always been someone who preferred the pie crust over the filling or the crunchy topping on a fruit crisp over the jammy berries that burst beneath the surface. When Emma Laperruque created a sheet-pan cranberry crisp for Food52, she once again wowed me with her ingenuity. Inspired by her fall harvest dessert, I wanted to create a fruit crisp for summer that offered a 50/50 bite of streusel topping to blueberry filling. The result is this sheet-pan recipe, which is easy to execute and serve for a casual summer gathering. I don’t call for vanilla ice cream, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t serve this warm with a big scoop right on top.
To make it, gently toss together plump blueberries, granulated sugar, a bit of vanilla extract and the zest and juice of one lemon. Set that aside to quickly macerate while you make the topping, which consists of oats, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and butter. Once you combine the dry ingredients with the butter, you should be able to press bits and pieces of the mixture together like wet sand. If there’s still a lot of flour sitting at the bottom of the bowl, keep working the ingredients together. Spread the blueberries and their juices out on a small sheet pan and top with the streusel in one even layer.
If you don’t have everything you need on hand, you can easily purchase all of the ingredients (just click the orange button below that says "Get Ingredients"). You can pick and choose exactly what ingredients you need based on what’s in your pantry and they’ll be on your doorstep before you know it.
Swap Option: Use other seasonal fruit such as raspberries or strawberries in place of the blueberries. If using strawberries, quarter or dice them for bite-size pieces.
Ingredients
- 1 quart fresh blueberries
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1/8 + 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
Preparation
1.Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2.In a large bowl, add blueberries, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice and 1/8 teaspoon salt, and toss to combine. Set aside.
3.In a separate large bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon salt, using a fork to break up the sugar. Add cubed butter and, using your fingers, press to combine, breaking up the butter until it has absorbed most of the dry ingredients and you can press the mixture together with your fingers.
4.Transfer the blueberries to a 13-by-9½-inch baking sheet and spread in a neat, single layer. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly over the berries.
5.Bake for about 35 minutes, until the berries are bursting and oats are golden brown. Serve warm.
