Brown Sugar Strawberry Crisp - 6 ingredients!

Juicy and sweet, this is the type of strawberry dessert that you want to make as soon as they appear in the market. It's very easy, uses few ingredients, freezes wonderfully, and can be made with frozen berries!

How is a bowl of warm strawberry crisp - or crumble - with a scoop of ice cream sound to you right now?

Follow this recipe and you can be eating it in an hour, maybe less! And you can use frozen strawberries if that's all you have.

I think crisps, crumbles, and cobblers are the pinnacles of easy and delicious desserts that can be whipped up quickly. Or have frozen at all times.

Mi ideal berry crisp has brown sugar, lime juice and develops a syrupy sauce while it bakes that is to die for! In an ideal world, I would eat it all up with a spoon. That's how great it is.

6 ingredients

I could've made it 5, but I think some sort of citrus is very much needed to balance out the sweetness of the crumble and, if we're lucky, the seasonal strawberries.

So I added lime juice because it's freaking amazing with strawberries! I learned that years ago when making the Strawberry Danish Braid.

Though I think lime pairs better with strawberries, you can also use lemons 🍋 which are more readily available.

Crumble topping

There are not enough words to explain how much I love a good, buttery crumble topping.

• Easy: just 3 ingredients that can be mixed by hand or in a processor.
• Freezable: you can make-ahead and have frozen for when you need a last-minute dessert.
• Versatile: use different sugars, a mix of flours, ground nuts, oil as we do in the Lemon Blueberry Crumb Cake, or try a new flavor combination as we did with the Chocolate Apple Crisp.

Saucy filling

For me, it's the star part of this dessert.

Cornstarch - it's a small amount and the results are amazing. This thickener is mixed with the fruit and when the crisp bakes it will mix with the natural juices that the strawberries will release. The result is a sweet syrup that you'll want to eat with a spoon!

Top tips

• Strawberries - use fresh or frozen. Cut them up small so they're easier to eat.
• Lime - you can use more or less juice depending on your palate. Lemon juice is a good substitute if that's all you have.
• Sugar - brown sugar gives it a caramelized undertone, but regular white sugar can be used, same amount.
• Cornstarch - it thickens the sauce, but if you don't have any make this dessert anyway. The filling will be more fluid, that's all.
• Serving - warm with a scoop of ice cream or a spoonful of whipped cream is the best way IMO.

Storing

It keeps well at room t° for a day. After that, wrap it and refrigerate it for up to a week. Warm before eating.

Freezing: this is a fantastic dessert to have frozen. Warm directly in a medium oven for 20 minutes or maybe more. Alternatively, you can freeze the crumble and the strawberries separately. It will take 10 minutes to put together and then baking time.

For other frozen dessert ideas (and baked goods) I put together a simple Freezer Baking & Dessert Guide that you might like to check out.

Other recipes you might like:
Fresh Strawberry Buttermilk Scones
Easy Strawberry Trifle
The Best Strawberry Ice Cream (no-churn!)
Old-fashioned Apple Blackberry Crisp
Pear Cobbler

Let me know if you make this recipe! I’d love to hear what you think about it.Thank you for being here, I appreciate it! Let’s connect via Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Brown Sugar Strawberry Crisp - 6 ingredients!

★★★★★ 5 from 11 reviews

• Author: Paula Montenegro
• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 40
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Category: Desserts
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: International

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Ingredients

For the strawberries:

• 1 pound strawberries, fresh or frozen (if using frozen fruit, use directly from freezer and add 1 extra teaspoon of cornstarch)
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• Juice of 1 lime 
• Zest of 1/2 lime, optional

For the crumble:

• 1 cup (135g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (80g) unsalted butter, cold, in pieces

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. 
2. Have ready a 9-inch round, oval or square glass or ceramic dish.

For the strawberries:

1. Wash, dry, discard stems, and cut them in small pieces. 
2. Put in the prepared dish. 
3. Drizzle with the juice (and zest if using), brown sugar, and cornstarch. Mix lightly in the dish with a spoon.

For the crumble:

1. In a bowl mix flour and sugar. 
2. Add butter in pieces and integrate with your hands until grainy and the butter is the size of peas. You can do this in a food processor. 
3. You can also add the lime zest to the crumble if you want to. 
4. Top the strawberries with the crumble mixture. It will cover the surface irregularly and the edges will not have much. That’s fine. 
5. Bake for about 40 minutes, until dry, golden and the fruit is bubbly. 
6. Let cool on a wire rack until warm and eat with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. 

 

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Notes

• Strawberries - use fresh or frozen. Cut them up small so they're easier to eat.
• Lime - you can use more or less juice depending on your palate. Lemon juice is a good substitute if that's all you have.
• Sugar - brown sugar gives it a caramelized undertone, but regular white sugar can be used, same amount.
• Cornstarch - it thickens the sauce, but if you don't have any make this dessert anyway. The filling will be more fluid, that's all.
• Serving - warm with a scoop of ice cream or a spoonful of whipped cream is the best way IMO.
• Freezing: this is a fantastic dessert to have frozen. Warm directly in a medium oven for 20 minutes or maybe more. Alternatively, you can freeze the crumble and the strawberries separately. It will take 10 minutes to put together and then baking time.

Keywords: strawberry crisp, strawberry crumble

Paula Montenegro

I'm Paula, a baker for more than 30 years and your designated recipe finder, sharing the best ones on this blog, with simple ingredients + easy-to-follow instructions.