I first came upon the concept of a berry crisp while eating dinner in Atlanta with some pretty notable gluten-free chicks. Andrea, of Rocking Gluten-free, was in town visiting and decided to get a group together. Jennifer Harris, our local Atlantan gluten-free food blogger, was there as well as another familiar face in the Atlanta gfree community, Andrea Harrison (@arbharrisonjr). It's always a good time when a bunch of us get together and I was honored to be invited to the table.
Atlanta has a plethora of gluten-free friendly places and since I lived there for over a decade I thought I knew most of the places around me. However, I had never been to Double Zero Napoletana. It would not have been the first place I picked to eat because I tend to be a picky eater (I'm working on it) and usually stick to what I know. However, I am glad that I have some friends who are so much cooler than I am and have more refined tastes because I would've missed out on my greatest dessert recreation so far! So here it is -
The Sensational Berry Crisp!
Ingredients:
- 2 12 oz packages of frozen mixed berries (I like blackberries and strawberries but will occasionally throw in raspberries and blueberries. If you get strawberries, sliced works better than whole). Do not thaw berries - keep frozen.
- 1/4 cup sugar (I use stevia but organic or regular sugar works well too)
- 1/4 cup gluten-free flour (I have used Gluten Free Pantry or King Arthur All Purpose with equal success)
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (I prefer fresh but it won't hurt if you use bottled)
Topping:
- 3/4 cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (I used Bob's Red Mill gluten-free and they work perfectly)
- 2/3 cup packed brown sugar (if you want to use a stevia version for lower sugar content check out my brown sugar stevia recipe here)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup gluten-free flour (I have used Gluten Free Pantry or King Arthur All Purpose with equal success)
- 7 tablespoons of chilled butter ( I use Earth Balance Soy-free version)
Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine berries, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour and lemon juice in a large bowl - toss well to blend.
2) Transfer the berry mixture to a 9-inch glass dish (can be a pie dish or a square Pyrex)
3) Combine the topping ingredients - 3/4 cup flour, oats, brown sugar, spices, and salt in a medium bowl. Toss to blend evenly
4) Add the butter and dice into small pieces as you add it (make sure it is still chilled) because you are going to rub it into the topping with your fingertips or you can use a fork to mash it together into small clumps. Trust me, it works a lot better with chilled butter than room temp.
5) Once the topping is well-combined, sprinkle/spread over the berry mixture. Don't worry if it isn't coated entirely even because it will spread when baking.
6) Bake the crisp until the berries bubble on the sides of the glass and the topping is golden brown. This will take about one hour. Let it stand about 15-20 minutes at room temp before serving.
If you have any left, it refrigerates well for a few days (it never lasted longer than that in my house) and then you can heat it up later. Just place in a bowl - It will be slightly runny if warmed up in the microwave. but still tasty!
**Side note: I have tried this recipe in 5-6 individual rectangular ramekins (3" long) and it works better if you have 2- 16 oz bags of frozen berries and you make a little extra topping (about 1 1/2 the amount.) Baking time is about 30 minutes or until you see bubbling on the side of the ramekin.
