With a juicy layer of fruit and a sweet crispy topping, this is the type of strawberry dessert that you want to make as soon as they appear on the market. It's very easy, uses few ingredients (only 6!), freezes wonderfully, and can be made with frozen berries too.
A great use of seasonal or frozen strawberries
It's that time of year when one of our favorite fruits hits the market! If that's not the case, this dessert works with frozen berries.
How does a bowl of warm strawberry crisp with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream sound to you right now? It's pretty much the best summer dessert around here.
And if you follow this recipe, you can eat it in an hour, maybe less.
It has only 6 ingredients, and I could've made it 5, but I think some citrus is needed to balance the sweetness of the crumble and the juicy strawberries.
Crisps and crumble recipes, and fruit cobblers are the pinnacle of easy desserts that can be whipped up quickly. Or have frozen at all times for when an emergency craving hits.
And during strawberry season, when we are surrounded by pounds of berries everywhere, a fruit crisp recipe (or strawberry crumble if you add oats to the topping) is a good thing to have at arm's length. You can use it with any fresh berries, or a mix, like the strawberry rhubarb crisp, so yes, it's a saver.
My ideal easy strawberry crisp develops an irresistible syrupy sauce while it bakes! In a perfect world, I would eat it all up with a spoon; that's how great it is.
Ingredient Notes
Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- Strawberries: though I will always favor fresh strawberries, this is a phenomenal dessert with frozen ones. Don't refrain from making it just because it's not the season.
- Brown sugar: adds a great caramel note that goes wonderfully with the rest of the flavors. Light or dark brown sugar both work. White sugar can be used for the fruit, especially if the berries are sour.
- Lime or lemon: both work well.
- Cornstarch: It’s used as a thickener.
Strawberry filling
For me, it's the star part of this dessert. It's a saucy, syrupy filling that is fantastic.
- Fresh or frozen strawberries: both work.
- Cornstarch: it's a small amount, but the results are amazing. This thickener is mixed with the fruit, and as the crisp bakes, it will integrate with the natural juices from the strawberries. The result is a sweet syrup that you'll want to eat with a spoon!
- Mixing: I mix the filling ingredients directly in the glass dish I'm using, but you can use a large bowl to mix them separately and then dump the strawberry mixture into the baking dish. But, you know, using a separate bowl means and extra thing to wash later.
The crumb topping
- Easy: just 3 ingredients that can be mixed by hand or in a processor.
- Freezable: you can make it ahead and freeze it for when you need a last-minute dessert.
- Versatile: use different sugars, ground nuts, and oil as we do in the Lemon Blueberry Crumb Cake, or try a new flavor combination as we did with the Chocolate Apple Crisp.
- Mixing: I combine the dry ingredients with the butter by hand (or with a pastry cutter or pastry blender sometimes) in a bowl because it's a small amount. Unless I'm making a large batch to freeze for later; in which case I use a food processor, being careful not to overprocess it and have a paste more than a crumble.
- Butter: I use cold butter in pieces and make streusel the old-fashioned way. But you can use melted butter. The technique is slightly different, and I wrote both options in the recipe card at the end of this post. Both make a crisp topping.
Kitchen Notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Baking time: Keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer (like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Strawberries: cut them up small, so they're easier to eat.
- Frozen berries: Though I always root for using fresh strawberries, you can make a great strawberry crisp with frozen strawberries. However, they tend to be more watery, especially if they've been in the freezer for a while. So add ½ to 1 extra teaspoon of cornstarch. Also, if they have a lot of ice around them, thaw them over a colander before using them.
- Citrus: Depending on your preference, you can use more or less lime juice and/or lime zest. Lemon juice and lemon zest are good substitutes. Orange juice also pairs wonderfully; however, if you use very sweet strawberries, this crisp dessert will reflect that.
- Sugar: Light brown sugar gives it a caramelized undertone, but regular white sugar or less refined cane sugar can be used in the same amount.
- Cornstarch: It thickens the sauce, but if you don't have any, use flour.
- Serving: slightly warm with a scoop of ice cream or a spoonful of whipped cream is the best way, IMO. But still, some of my family members think that plain at room temperature is the way to eat it. They also like a floury crumb topping, not a crispy one, so let's say we disagree about some components of this fresh strawberry crisp.
- Type of dish: Any ceramic or glass baking dish works, as does a cast iron skillet if you want a more outdoorsy, Southern feel.
Storing
- Room temperature: It stays good for a day if the place is cool.
- Refrigerating: cover with plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container and keep it chilled for up to a week. Warm slightly before eating, and top with a scoop of ice cream for the best experience, in my opinion.
- Freezing: this is a fantastic dessert to have frozen after it's fully baked. Warm it 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 you have the 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.
One last thing
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Strawberry Crisp (6-ingredients)
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 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
- zest of ½ lime or ¼ lemon, optional
For the crumble:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, cold, in pieces (for using melted butter, see Notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Have ready a 9-inch round, oval or square glass or ceramic dish.
For the strawberries:
- Wash and dry 1 pound strawberries, discard stems, and cut them into small pieces. Put in the prepared dish. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons brown sugarr.
- Dissolve 2 teaspoons cornstarch in 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice. Drizzle over the fruit and stir lightly in the dish with a spoon. Sprinkle the zest of ½ lime or ¼ lemon over the berries and stir.
For the crumble:
- In a medium bowl, stir 1 cup all-purpose flour and ½ cup brown sugar.
- Scatter ⅓ cup unsalted butter, in pieces, over them and integrate with your hands or a pastry cutter until grainy and the butter is the size of peas. You can also do this in a food processor, but it's a small amount. You can also add a few gratings of lime or lemon zest to the mixture if you want to.
- Top the strawberries with the crumble mixture. It will cover the surface irregularly and the edges will not have much. That’s fine.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, until the topping is dry, golden brown, and the fruit is bubbly.
- Let cool on a wire rack until warm and eat with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Karen says
Where’s the oats? I’m just going to throw a handful into my crumble mix and see how it goes
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Karen! The recipe doesn't include oats. But you can certainly add some. Substitute 1/4 or 1/2 of the flour for them.
lena says
I made this a few months ago and froze it, heated it today and it was fantastic. Thank you!
Paula Montenegro says
So happy to know it worked out so well Lena! Have a great week.
Mary Meyer says
Love strawberries no matter what they are in or how they are made into a dessert.
Caitlin says
I want to make sure I understand the frozen choices. Is the 20 min warm up from freezer option after it has been cooked previously and frozen or frozen after combined and not yet cooked? Thanks!
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Caitlin! It's after it has been baked. It took about 20 minutes when I did the tests. But all ovens are different so it might be a little more. You can also have the crumble frozen on its own. That makes it easier to put the dessert together, whether it's strawberry or any other fruit. But you still have to fully bake it, which takes about 40 minutes. Hope this helps.
Eva says
Glad to read you did include that 6th ingredient: you really want something tart together with the strawberries! I am a sucker for the strawberry-rhubarb combination, but lime must taste wonderful too. We're starting to get the first harvest of local strawberries so I'm definitely gonna try some lime next time!
Karen says
Frozen berries are all we have right now - going to whip this up today!