Enjoy this gluten-free berry crisp recipe to make the most of your favorite summer berries or frozen berries throughout the year. This recipe is dairy-free and vegan too!
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If you live for eating berries in the summer when they’re fresh, ripe, and sweet, you probably are always looking for ways to enjoy them.
I know I am. When we moved into our house 9 years ago, there were around 20 raspberry plants all along our back fence. The previous owners left us the kindest note when they handed the keys over to the house with two “vital” bits of information they needed to leave us with:
1) what we needed to know about the gutter guards they had installed, and 2) how to take care of the raspberries.
These raspberries were one of the main selling points of the house when we bought it, and I still treat them like my babies with tender loving care throughout the year just like I know they got from the previous owners.
Even so, they become a part-time job for me every summer. Picking the berries, washing them, freezing tray after tray of them (for smoothies and desserts later), turning them into freezer jam and syrup, giving them out to friends, and of course – finding ways to enjoy all of them. Once they come in, they come in fast – and there’s no stopping them once they do!
Other than freezing them, giving them away, and making jam, I love to make raspberry crumble. When it’s too hot to turn the oven on, I make this on our Trager grill outside so I don’t have to heat the oven up. But other times, I’ll make it in the morning before the heat creeps into the house during the day.
If you have any berries on hand this summer from your garden, or you like to go berry picking this time of year, you’ll love to try out this recipe.
It couldn’t be simpler and you can use ANY type of berry for this recipe. With just a few ingredients from your pantry plus some fresh or frozen berries, this dessert comes together super easily. It’s great on its own or with a little dairy-free ice cream or dairy-free whipped cream – yum!
Before we get into the recipe, let’s talk about some basics you’ll want to know before getting started with making this berry crisp. First, we’ll find out how to make the recipe gluten-free, dairy-free, and we’ll also go through all the ingredients you’ll want to have on hand for this.
Finally, I’ll show you step-by-step how this recipe comes together – the hands-on time for this gluten-free berry crisp is extremely quick and then it just bakes up and gets bubbly, warm, and crispy all in the oven for you. Am I selling it yet?
Let’s get into the details and then on to the recipe!
How do you make berry crisp gluten-free?
To make a berry crisp gluten-free, you’ll want to use gluten-free ingredients. In a traditional berry crisp recipe, you’d use flour and oats for the “crisp” part of the topping. However in this recipe, we’re using gluten-free rolled oats and almond flour, a naturally gluten-free food.
Read on: 25 Gluten and dairy-free easy dessert recipes
How do you make berry crisp dairy-free?
To make berry crisp dairy-free, you’ll want to use vegan butter or another butter alternative in place of butter you might use in a traditional berry crisp recipe.
Ingredients for gluten-free berry crisp
You only need four ingredients for the berry mixture, and five ingredients for the crisp topping in this gluten-free berry crisp recipe.
Let’s take a look at what you’ll need to have on hand and what you’ll want to know about these ingredients before you start making this recipe.
Fresh or frozen berries
Any berries work in this recipe, but I chose to use raspberries, because I always have so many of them throughout the summer and I wind up stocking my freezer full of them.
This recipe is also great with blueberries, chopped strawberries, and blackberries too. If you don’t have any four whole cups of any one type of berry, you can definitely mix some of these together (either fresh or frozen) to get a mixed berry crisp.
Maple syrup
The maple syrup is used in this recipe for some added sweetness and a little depth of flavor. I love using maple syrup in my desserts, but you can substitute with honey if you prefer that ingredient or don’t have syrup on hand.
Cornstarch or arrowroot starch
Cornstarch or arrowroot starch will help the mixed berries come together and not turn into one big liquid in the bottom of the pan. With the starch combined with the hot berries while they’re baking, you’ll get a nice berry filling with some texture to it.
Lemon juice
The lemon juice used in this recipe is to help add acidity and brightness to the dish alongside the berries. It will also help them taste less sour after being cooked.
We use the juice of one lemon in this recipe. I prefer fresh lemon juice, but if you don’t have that on hand, bottled lemon juice will work just fine.
Gluten-free rolled oats
While oats are naturally gluten-free, their manufacturing process isn’t always consistently safe for folks on a gluten-free diet. This grain in particular is notorious for having cross contact during manufacturing and cross contamination in their final products.
That’s why it’s important to find a brand that has a gluten-free label when buying oats when you’re sticking with a gluten-free diet. I have been using the One Degree brand of Organic Sprouted Rolled Oats recently, and it works well with this recipe.
We use the rolled oats in this recipe to give the berry crisp some crunchy texture on top to offset the warm berry filling.
Read on: Are oats gluten-free?
Almond flour
Almonds are naturally gluten-free, meaning almond flour is as well. I chose almond flour for this recipe, because it has some decent health benefits like protein, fiber, and healthy fats that are great to add to this dessert. It also provides some added texture to the crisp topping.
While this ingredient is naturally gluten-free, it doesn’t hurt to check the packaging and labels for a gluten-free label. This will show you the brand has paid attention to cross contamination in their facilities and tested to be sure there is less than 20 ppm of gluten in their products.
Brown sugar or coconut sugar
To add some sweetness to the crisp part of this berry crisp, we’re adding a dry sweetener like brown sugar or coconut sugar. Brown sugar is the refined sugar option, where molasses has been added to white sugar.
If you’re looking for a healthier or more natural alternative, you can use coconut sugar which has a lower glycemic index and contains vitamin C, nitrogen, and minerals.
They have a similar flavor and produce the same results, so whatever you choose to use here is fine.
Salt
Salt is a much-needed ingredient in any dessert to balance out the sweetness of the other ingredients. Use what you have on hand, but fine sea salt will be my go-to for this recipe.
Vegan butter
Vegan butter provides the sticky binding and delicious homemade flavor to this gluten-free berry crisp. You’ll want to melt the vegan butter to add it to the topping ingredients so it evenly coats the dry ingredients and forms a nice crumble that you can sprinkle over top of the berry mixture.
How to make gluten-free berry crisp
Making gluten-free berry crisp is actually pretty simple. With just a few ingredients and bowls, you can have this made in just under about an hour. Let’s go through the process step-by-step.
Prep the oven and baking dish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare an 8″ x 8″ glass baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray.
Make the berry filling
In a bowl, combine berries, maple syrup, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Stir to combine.
Make the gluten-free crisp topping
In a separate bowl, combine gluten-free oats, almond flour, brown sugar or coconut sugar, salt, and melted vegan butter. Stir to combine all ingredients well.
Transfer the berry mixture
Add the berry mixture to the prepared glass baking dish.
Top the berry mixture with the topping
Next, top the berries with the oat crumble mixture, using your fingers to break up the mixture and evenly distribute it over top of the berries.
Bake the gluten-free berry crisp
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the berries are bubbling away at the edges.
Remove from the oven and cool
Remove from the oven and cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!
Enjoy like this or with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream or dairy-free whipped cream.
Read on: 101 Gluten and dairy-free dessert recipes
Read on: 25 Gluten-free Easter dessert recipes
Gluten-free Berry Crisp (Dairy-free)
Enjoy this gluten-free berry crisp recipe to make the most of your favorite summer berries or frozen berries throughout the year. This recipe is dairy-free and vegan too!
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh or frozen raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, or blackberries (or a combination of these)
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- ½ cup almond flour
- ⅓ cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare an 8" x 8" glass baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray.
- In a bowl, combine berries, maple syrup, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Stir to combine.
- In a separate bowl, combine gluten-free oats, almond flour, brown sugar or coconut sugar, salt, and melted vegan butter. Stir to combine all ingredients well.
- Add the berry mixture to the prepared glass baking dish.
- Next, top the berries with the oat crumble mixture, using your fingers to break up the mixture and evenly distribute it over top of the berries.
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the berries are bubbling away at the edges.
- Remove from the oven and cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
- Enjoy like this or with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream or dairy-free whipped cream.
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One thing I love about growing my own raspberries every year is how much money I save on the cost of buying fruit at the store.
During the colder months, we stock up on frozen berries from Costco, but I’ll tell you what – free from my own garden is a much better deal AND they taste so much better!
Growing your own food is just one great way to save money on a gluten and dairy-free diet. If you’d like to find out what 33 other ideas are, grab a copy of my 33 Ways to Save Money on a Gluten & Dairy-free Diet right here or by clicking the image below.
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