How to Make the Perfect Gluten Free Apple and Blackberry Crumble
Updated: Feb 28, 2024
A classic winter comfort food gets a gluten free makeover. A vibrantly pink, lightly sweet and saucy filling and a nutty, crisp and golden brown top, this Gluten Free Apple and Blackberry Crumble will never leave you disappointed!
A fruit crumble is a comforting winter dessert that's hard to go past. Easy and economical to make with flavour and texture to die for, there's no wonder it's a dish that's stood the test of time.
Oats are generally considered to be unsafe for people with coeliac disease, so recreating things like the classic crumble or Anzac biscuits is actually quite tricky to do without compromising on flavour or texture. Sure, we have quinoa flakes that can go partway to substituting oats, but in my opinion they don't even come close on flavour. I like to use quinoa flakes alongside flaked almonds in my usually-oaty bakes. The flavour and texture of the almonds boosts the quinoa flakes and the whole thing comes out tasting remarkably like oats!
How to make Gluten Free Apple and Blackberry Crumble
As it should be, this Gluten Free Apple and Blackberry Crumble is very easy to make. Here's what's involved:
Make the Filling: First, we need to give the filling a bit of love on the stove. This is to help the fruit to start releasing it's juices, which then allows us to mix in some cornflour/cornstarch to ensure the perfect juiciness later on. Five minutes is all it takes.
Make the Crumble Mixture: now we need to simply mix all the dry ingredients for the crumble, then add the melted butter. It's a reasonably thick mixture, which we can then scatter over the top of the fruit. I like to leave some of it in little clumps, they bake up crisp and delicious!
Bake the Crumble: This crumble needs about 45 to 50 minutes in the oven to become perfectly juicy and crisp on top. My oven doesn't bake particularly evenly, so I always rotate my bakes partway through baking for even browning. You know your oven a lot better than I do, so do whatever is most appropriate for you.
Cool the Crumble: We do have to cool it before eating, but five minutes will do the trick. The juices will thicken up a touch and it'll be less like eating molten lava!
Ingredient Substitutions
Fruit: I haven't tried this recipe with any other fruit yet, but I imagine you could use just about whatever you want in the same quantities.
Almonds: If you can't have almonds you can use all quinoa flakes instead, just stick to the same weights.
Butter: this recipe will work very nicely with a dairy free butter alternative.
Make Ahead Options
You can definitely make this crumble the day before. Prepare the recipe as written, but don't bake it. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake, it may need a few more minutes in the oven.
Storage
Any leftovers will keep well covered in the fridge for about four days. Reheat portions in an oven-proof dish at 180ºC fan until hot.
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