Blueberry Almond Crisp
This blueberry crisp recipe is the perfect summertime dessert! It's easy to make with blueberries, maple syrup, lemon, oats and almonds. Gluten free, too!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
Here we are in high summer, and it seems to be going just right. Slow. Lazy. Everyone’s out of town. My hot yoga class is empty (because only crazy people like me want to do hot yoga on a hot day). I’m nursing a sunburn and rocking some uneven tan lines. The locusts outside are screeching in unison every evening. Everything is as is should be.
Blueberries won’t be here much longer, so I had to make a blueberry crisp before they go. I found a hefty two-pound container at Trader Joe’s and baked them into a brilliantly purple dessert with a gluten-free almond and oat topping.
I’ll enjoy this crisp for breakfast with yogurt and later, for dessert with ice cream. Repeat every day, all week. It’s summertime!
Gluten-Free Blueberry Crisp
My original concept for the topping included cornmeal, not almond meal, but my medium-grind cornmeal didn’t soften up enough during baking. Hence, the crisp turned out to be a “crunch,” which wasn’t my intention.
My runner-up idea was a blueberry and almond crisp, with both almond meal and sliced almonds, and it turned out just right. Tons of blueberries, some maple syrup, bright lemon flavor, oats and almonds—you can’t go wrong there.
My favorite part about making this crisp? Unlike all my other crisp recipes (and I have more than a few!), this crisp recipe doesn’t require any chopping of the fruit. Just rinse off those blueberries and you’re good to go!
This is simple summer dessert at its finest.
Please let me know how this crisp turns out for you in the comments! If you’re craving more summertime crisp recipes, don’t miss my gluten-free peach crisp, plum crisp or strawberry rhubarb crisp (if you can’t find rhubarb, replace it with an equal amount of additional strawberries). View all desserts here.
Watch How to Make Blueberry Almond Crisp
Blueberry Almond Crisp
This amazing blueberry crisp recipe is the perfect summertime dessert! It’s easy to make with blueberries, maple syrup, lemon, oats and almonds. It’s gluten free, too! Recipe yields 6 to 8 servings (a lot!).
Ingredients
Lemon blueberry filling
- 2 pounds blueberries (that’s 32 ounces, which is about 5 cups or a little less than 3 pints), fresh or frozen*
- ⅓ cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch or 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest (less than 1 small lemon, zested—scale back to ¼ teaspoon zest if you don’t love lemon)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 to 2 lemons)
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Gluten-free oat and almond topping
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats (certified gluten-free for a gluten-free crisp)
- ½ cup packed almond meal or almond flour
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- ⅓ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons plain yogurt (Greek or regular), or additional melted butter
Don’t forget vanilla ice cream, for serving!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Rinse and drain the blueberries and pick through them to remove any stems still attached. In a 9-inch square baking dish, mix together the blueberries, maple syrup or honey, arrowroot or cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice and cinnamon.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the oats, almond meal/flour, sliced almonds, brown sugar and salt. Mix in the butter and yogurt. Stir until all of the flour is incorporated and the mixture is moistened throughout.
- Dollop spoonfuls of the oat mixture over the filling and use your fingers to break up the mixture until it is evenly distributed (no need to pack it down).
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the filling is actively bubbling around the edges and the top is lightly golden. Let the crisp rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream (I insist!).
Notes
Recipe adapted from my pear cranberry crisp.
*How to use frozen blueberries: Defrost the blueberries in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for about 2 hours (no need to drain off excess juices). Or, while the oven is preheating, place the frozen blueberries in your square baker. Warm them up in the oven, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until they have defrosted to the point that they are cool to the touch but no longer frozen. Then add the maple syrup, etc. and proceed with the recipe as written.
Make it nut free: Omit the sliced almonds and use ¾ cup whole wheat flour and ¾ cup oats instead of the almond meal and oats specified above. It will no longer be gluten free. If you want to keep it gluten free, I suspect that you could replace the almond meal with oat flour or more oats (haven’t tried that, please comment if you do!).
Make it vegan: I believe you could use melted coconut oil in place of the browned butter/yogurt (use 4 tablespoons coconut oil and add up to 3 more, until the topping mixture is moistened throughout) and maple syrup instead of the honey. I haven’t tried it, though.
What’s arrowroot starch? Arrowroot starch is a great thickener to use in place of corn starch, which is often genetically modified. It’s gluten free, too. Look for it in the baking section of well-stocked grocery stores or buy it online (affiliate link).
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
My 11 year old has started making a dessert every Friday night. It’s usually something chocolate. I saw this recipe, bought some blueberries and told her this is what she was making. She said, “Uh,ok.” She was very proud of the end result. It was delicious and not too sweet.
Awesome! I love that your little one is baking, too! I’m glad she loved it.
I’ve made several of your recipes but always seem to forget to leave a review! Just made this crisp today and plan to eat throughout the week with yogurt as an afternoon snack at work. It turned out amazing! I loved that it wasn’t too sweet. the only slight issue is that there was excess moisture but that was likely a result of my decision to use half frozen blueberries. I will definitely be making again. Thanks for sharing your excellent recipes!
Thanks, Jessica! Yes, I think the frozen blueberries let go of more liquid while baking than fresh ones–I think that’s the culprit here.
Made this crisp last night and it was a hit! I had picked some wild black raspberries to add to the blueberries (free, organic fruit!) and that was a nice combination. Just ate some left-overs for breakfast (sans ice cream) and it was even better! Thanks for yet another great recipe, Kate!
(BTW–does Cookie enjoy blueberries? Our dog won’t touch them.) :)
Oh, Cookie enjoys *everything*, she doesn’t have the most discerning palate. :) Your version of this crisp sounds absolutely amazing, Kelly. What a gift that you can go outside and pick fresh berries! I’m jealous.
Hi! Do you have the nutritional information for this recipe? Thanks!
Hey, Priscilla! Unfortunately, I don’t have nutritional info available for my recipes just yet. I’m looking for a solution, and will update about it once I find one. In the meantime, here’s a nutrition calculator that might come in handy.
Making the crisp now. Looks scrumptious.
Almond meal is gluten free. No need to take out the almond meal.
The dessert is already gluten free which is great!
Thanks, Susan! That note was actually giving substitutions on how to make the crisp nut free, and nut free *and* gluten-free.
Scrumptious! I made a couple modifications — used 4 cups of frozen mixed berries and substituted the starch with 1/4 cup of tapioca. Followed the recipe as is for the crumble. Pairs so nicely with ice cream!
Perfect! I’m so glad those swaps worked out so well, Elena.
I would lick my plate too! Pity blueberries are ridiculously expensive here in North Queensland!
Oh, that’s too bad, Marcellina!
Can I use gluten free flour in place of the almond flour or almond meal?
I made this before and it’s excellent – I’m with a gluten-free niece and we are out of almond flour!
thank you
I made this for my family. They said it was the best gluten-free dessert I’ve made! It was so delicious! I topped it off with a scoop of soy vanilla ice cream from Trader Joe’s. I love how the top came out crispy, crunchy with the almonds. I used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar and coconut nectar instead of maple syrup.
That sounds absolutely amazing, Ellen! I can see why it was such a hit.
Cookie is so cute! What a good helper!! And the recipe looks easy and tasty!!
Loved it!!! And the wild blueberries are just sooo good this year. Will probably increase topping next time, though. Thanks!
Suzanne in Ottawa
Oh, I’m jealous of your wild blueberries, Suzanne! I’m glad you enjoyed the crisp.
Your recipe makes delicious crisp bars.
On a different topic, I hope you haven’t tried to turn your dog into a vegan! Dogs are carnivores.
Glad you liked the recipe, Wayne! And no, my dog isn’t vegan.
Hi! I’ve made this recipe several times and love it! Do you think you could use frozen berries?
Yes! It should work great. I would not defrost them before using. Use maple syrup, since honey seizes on contact with cold ingredients. The crisp might need a few extra minutes in the oven.
We have a very prolific blueberry bush and my freezer is packed with them. I tried this recipe and it was a total hit with my family.
Fresh blueberries from your own garden! Sounds wonderful. Thank you, for sharing!
I made this today for dessert with friends and it was a big hit! No one could believe it was gluten free! I love crisps, but traditional recipes have always felt too sweet. This one is just right!
I used a frozen triple berry blend instead of fresh blueberries and let them thaw in the fridge overnight. I did use honey, but I combined all the ingredients for the filling except the berries before mixing the two and I didn’t have any problem with the honey sticking to the cold berries. It was the most delicious crisp I have ever had!
Great! I love hearing that. Thank you, Becky for providing a thoughtful comment and star review!
I am making the dark cherry crisp out of your cookbook for a retreat with thawed frozen cherries. Can it be assembled the day before cooked or would you suggest cooking it and warming up to serve?
Hi Cheryl, I’m sorry for the delayed response! I love that crisp and hope it turns out great for you. I think either method would work well. I would probably mix the wet ingredients and dry ingredients the day before, then wait to finish assembling and bake until the day of.
I just saw the answer to my question on one of the posts. Thanks. Love your cookbook btw. Even hosted a cookbook club luncheon at the cottage last summer using your book. It was a huge hit.
Great! Thank you, Cheryl.
Made this tonight and topped it with vanilla ice cream. It was absolutely delicious! Can’t wait for breakfast as I plan to eat leftovers with vanilla yogurt. Thank you for all the wonderful recipes. Yet to try one that I haven’t loved. Always inspired by your blog and now cookbook too. Thank you!
Oh! That’s delicious. Thanks, Carrie for sharing.
Needed a fast recipe for gluten-free, dairy-free blueberry cobbler and tried yours with only two minor amendments — I replaced the dairy butter with vegan butter (Earth Balance) and left out the yogurt entirely. This turned out beautifully, and there was no sense that this was a compromise or settling for second-best, but rather just a very simply, elegant way to make a blueberry cobbler that anyone would love. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I’m really glad you liked it and it worked well vegan! Thanks for sharing, Laura.
Delicious! Looking for a good recipe for all the blueberries in season right now and this was it. Made it exactly as described except I couldn’t find sliced almonds, so I pulsed some in my blender. Taste wonderful!
I’m happy you found it! Yes, fresh berries right now are delicious. Thanks for your review.
Even more delicious than it is easy – and it is SUPER easy!! I will make over and over depending on whatever fruit is in season.
THANK YOU!
Great to hear, Erica! Thanks so much for your review.
I made this recipe exactly as written yesterday for the 4th of July for my gluten-free friends. It was AMAZING!! Not too sweet and the top was crunchy. We all went back for second helpings. What a great recipe – thanks!!
Wonderful, Janet! Thanks so much for sharing.
This recipe is FANTASTIC!!! We are gf and df and the taste of this makes us feel like we are eating a real deal dessert.<3 I subbed Earth Balance butter and used organic apple sauce to sub for the yogurt- the topping came out amazing! I also added extra cinnamon to the filling and a half tsp to the topping as well even though it doesn’t call for it in the recipe – it’s well worth it! I doubled this recipe as it’s summer and we picked 3 pounds of fresh organic blueberries today so I wanted to make a large casserole crisp… my husband and two pre/teen girls are raving about this. Even before we baked it, the crust and the filling tasted divine- lots of MMmmm’s and OMG’s from us four- Thx for posting this!:-)
Great! Thanks for sharing, Heidi.
I made this for office potluck. I received many compliments! Easy if you lay out your measured ingredients ahead of mixing them together. I substituted gluten free flour for the almond flour (what I had on hand) and it tasted great.
Wonderful, Kristen! I’m really glad that combination worked.
This is amazing! The topping is stellar. I had blackberries but did everything else the same. Turned out perfectly and my husband also approved. Will make this many more times!!!
Great to hear, Nancy!
Love this recipe! I added a few nectarines that were starting to cower in the fridge…they were a great addition. I like that it isn’t too sweet. Didn’t have cornstarch or arrowroot so used potato starch and it worked out just fine. Like the lemony contrast to the berries. Thanks!
I’m glad it was still delicious! Thanks for your review, Nancy.
This was very good! At first, I was skeptical about the yoghurt in the topping but it worked very well. Next time, I would omit the honey – the blueberries are plenty sweet for me by themselves, I think. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m glad you were pleasantly surprised. Thanks for your review, Heidi!
The crisp is exceptionally tasty. I made it for a picnic and almost everyone loved the flavor of the crisp.
I made the recipe vegan by substituting dairy free butter for the butter and yogurt in the crisp topping. This substitution worked fairly well and the flavor of the topping wasn’t changed much by the substitution.
I was on the hunt for a good gluten free crumble/crisp recipe to replace the topping from my usual apple crisp recipe when I came across this post. The crisp/crumble topping turned out absolutely delicious and worked perfectly with the apples! Thank you!
I’m glad this was perfect for what you were looking for, Aiman! Thanks for your review.
Fantastic! Delicious!
Thank you, Bev!
Made with frozen blueberries and this was devoured at our dinner party by adults and kids alike. Not a berry or crumb left behind! So delicious.
Thanks for the review, Jen!
SO YUMMY! I had my 12 yo son make it (with supervision) for a family gathering. Everyone loved it (except him, he’s picky). I had the leftovers for breakfast :|
Thank you for sharing, Emily!
My goodness! This was so Simple and Delicious. Everything was available in Organic non GMO except the almond slivers which were just non GMO. I doubled it for a crowd of 10. I was lucky to get a second helping! It was a big Easter Hit. With Blueberries in season, it was especially nice! I plan on using it again and again. Thank You for this wonderful recipe.
Donnette
So. Ca.
Thanks for sharing! I’m glad you loved it.
This turned out really nice. We all loved it. Will definitely make it again.
Great to hear, Lisa!
I used about 2.4 pounds (around 8 cups) of Costco’s Frozen Triple berry mix. I so wanted to experiment with the frozen fruit so it would be easy to have during the winter/easy to throw together.
I then used…as I was worried about it turning into soup due to using frozen berries…1/4 cup tapioca starch and 1/2 cup cornstarch, along with all the other (doubled) proportions written above in the original recipe since I largly doubled the fruit. All of this fit well into a 9×13 pan along with the topping (again…topping ingredients and berry mix-ins same as in original recipe except for the starches, but doubled). I didn’t have lemons for the zest, so I nixed this.
I also used (since I cannot have dairy) Smart Balance Buttery Sticks for the butter, and my homemade (it was thick – like Greek yogurt) plain/unsweetened soy yogurt.
Since the other reviews/the author mentioned that honey seizes when in contact with something cold, I used maple syrup since my blueberries were froze.
Also added a couple small shakes of nutmeg to the topping.
Yummy!!! Got good reviews, the family liked it! The texture was more like a pie, but was moist. If I want more liquid/juice for the future, I may cut back the cornstarch by a tablespoon or two.
Thanks for your detail, Ellen! I appreciate you sharing what you did. Glad you loved it!
OMG SO GOOD with fresh blueberries we picked at local farm. I didn’t add any sweetener to the berries and it was plenty sweet!
I bet this was even better with the berries you picked yourself, Erin!
HI: I made this for the 4th. It was so delicious. I substituted coconut sugar because that was all I had and put more cinnamon in the topping. We went gluten free a couple of years ago because of my husbands diverticulitis. Your cookbook has been so helpful. thank you!
You’re welcome! Thank you for sharing, Naomi
Truly delicious! Followed recipe exactly and it was a crowd pleaser, even for my chocolate loving family. Will make again and again! Great to put in your file for a gluten free option when you are hosting.Made this with the Creamy Cherry Tomato & Summer Squash Pasta which was also a big hit! Thank you, Kate.
Sounds like a great combination! Thank you, Jenny.
I followed this recipe yesterday for the last wild berries of the season. I thought the spice and sugar totals were good, though I did use 1 tablespoon raw sugar instead of the 1/3 cup syrup. Overall it was good, The only thing I would say is I don’t understand the addition of yogurt for the topping. I believe this is why my topping did not get super crispy, which is my favorite part of making crisp. I might try this again but omitting the yogurt.
Hi Poe! The yogurt is to be added once it’s done baking. I’m sorry you didn’t love it.
Oh thanks for letting me know. I followed the instructions for “Mix in the butter and yogurt”. I think the butter total is perfect though, so I defintely feel like this would crisp up without the yogurt. I appreciate the response!
This was delicious! I forgot to add the yogurt and it was still wonderful. It was even better the next day! Thank you for all your recipes!
Thank you for your review, Cara!
OMG—this is one of the best desserts ever. Had some left-over almond flour and sliced almonds, and googled based on these. It’s also gluten-free!
Thank you for your review, Kathleen!
I made this for dinner guests and everybody thought it was fantastic! I sweetened the berries with honey and used mostly butter for the topping with just a tablespoon of yogurt added to the mix. The topping was perfectly crisped and golden though it did take a bit less time in the oven than the recipe suggested.
Thanks for sharing, Linda! Ovens can be vary so I’m happy you were able to adjust accordingly.
I made the crisp topping for a peach crisp that I made! It was fantastic! I added candied ginger to the recipe! The combination of the almond meal, sliced almonds, oatmeal and yogurt gave it a nice depth — this is added to my favorite toppings ever!
Thank you for sharing, Judy!
I made the crisp topping for a peach crisp that I made! It was fantastic! I added candied ginger to the recipe! The combination of the almond meal, sliced almonds, oatmeal and yogurt give it a nice depth — this is added to my favorite toppings ever!
Thank you for sharing, Judy! I appreciate your review.
Hi! Do you have any unrefined sugar alternatives for the brown sugar in this recipe?
Yumm! This is my go-to crisp recipe and so easy too!
This crisp is amazing!! Perfect summer dessert. Thank you as always for your creative, delicious & beautiful recipes! Bringing it tonight to a gathering of appreciative friends. We have a larger version of Cookie, btw :)
The blueberry almond crisp recipe is spectacular; not too sweet or fattening and gluten-free. I used a coconut butter, so it’s perfect/dairy-free for my (vegan) daughter and fiancé’.
Absolutely loved it! Made it for dessert, and both the family and our company loved it. The platter was literally licked clean. Thank you so much :)
We didn’t have vanilla ice cream unfortunately… but it works with greek yogurt as well.
I’m happy you enjoyed it with yogurt! I bet it was delicious.
I made this with blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries and used coconut oil for the butter. My family loved it!
That’s great to hear!