Mixed Berry Crisp
The Barefoot Contessa has a recipe similar to this consisting of small ramekins filled with a fresh peach and blueberry mixture topped with a cookie crumble. This recipe was equally inspired by Ina’s recipe and my favorite ice cream, Jeni’s Brambleberry Crisp. This is the perfect recipe if you’re cooking out for Memorial Day because it’s super easy (perfect for little hands if you have helpers around!) and feeds a crowd. You can use whatever fruit you like here— I used a quart of fresh strawberries and half a bag of frozen mixed berries because that’s what I had on hand. (Note: If you’re using frozen fruit, your cooking time will be closer to an hour, unless you let it thaw first.) The topping is the best parts of an oatmeal cookie— a little bit sweet, crisp, and buttery. Don’t forget to top your serving with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
MIXED BERRY CRISP
For the filling:
1 quart of strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters
1 pint of blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour
For the cookie topping:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 stick of butter, diced
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease your pan (I used an 8x8 Le Creuset casserole dish) with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, combine the fruit, sugar, and flour, and gently combine. Pour this mixture into your baking dish.
In another small bowl, combined all the ingredients for the cookie topping. Using a fork (or your hands, if you’re me) mix these together until the mixture is loosely combined and the butter is the size of small pearls. [Note: you could do this in a stand mixer, but I prefer the more crumbly, imperfect texture that you get from doing it with your hands.]
Top the fruit mixture in the baking dish with crumbles of the cookie topping until the fruit is totally covered. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the cookie mixture is golden and the fruit is bubbly.
Serve warm, preferably with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.