June 2010

With berry season coming into full swing around here, I found myself with some blackberries that needed to be used this weekend or thrown away.

Yes, I know I could freeze them, but our freezer is tiny, I have no room for them…and I just wanted to make something we could eat now.

I’m always surprised when we’re left with berries that need to be used; we normally go through them so fast that we’re completely out of any kind of fruit before I buy groceries at the end of the week.

The same goes for peaches! When they’re ripe, you have to eat them. There’s no getting around that.

But I somehow found myself with extra blackberries and peaches this weekend.

And peaches and berries – especially blackberries and raspberries – are meant to be together in cobblers, crisps, and crumbles.

Peach Blackberry Crisp

• 2-3 cups blackberries
• 3 peaches, peeled and diced
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 2/3 cups oats
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 canola oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Toss fruit with 1 Tbsp sugar and 1 Tbsp flour and pour into greased 8×8 baking dish.
3. In separate bowl, mix the oats, flour, sugar, oil, salt, and cinnamon together until combined.
4. Spread crisp topping over the fruit.
5. Bake 35-45 minutes or until the topping is browned and fruit is bubbling around the edges.
6. Serve. Preferably with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I love the mixture of textures in fruit crisps. The baked fruits soften down to a silky sweet syrupy mess, letting the chewy brown-sugar crisped oat topping shine.

Crisps are so easy to make, too. As long as you have fruit, flour, oats, and a little sugar, you’re set. No need for fancy ingredients or strange spices or crazy kitchen appliances.

They’re the perfect summer dessert because you can make them with any fruit you have on hand.

Maybe I’ll finally show enough restraint to save some raspberries for a dessert this summer…

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