March 31, 2022

Three Berry Granola Crumble

I invested in a deep freezer years ago and its been an excellent investment. It's allowed me to take advantage of preserving food to enjoy at a later date. I use a professional Vacmaster sealer and it removes the air which is the enemy of frozen foods. I lay the fruit out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once frozen, the berries are packaged into freezer bags which are then refrozen—they maintain their fresh picked flavor and integrity.

In a recent foray into the deep freezer, I uncovered a stash of berries--strawberries, red raspberries and blueberries that were calling me to bake something. The berries were picked last summer at local Ohio farms.

These three berries seemed perfect to combine into a crumble. A crumble is a mixture of flour and butter that is rubbed to the texture of smallish breadcrumbs and cooked as a topping for fruit.

This dish will serve 6-8 people.

Frozen strawberries

I found a recipe for a topping in The Last Course cookbook which worked well with a few modifications.

Combine 1cups all purpose flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted and cooled to room temperature).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars and spices. Slowly drizzle in the butter and combine with a fork until the mixture is crumbly. You can break up any large clumps with your fingers. You're looking for crumbs that are less than an inch in size.

Here's the "recipe" for the fruit filling:

Three cups of berries (defrosted and drained), 1 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, ginger and allspice, dash of salt, 1/2 cup cornstarch, squeeze of fresh lemon juice, 3/4 cup brown sugar. Gently combine all ingredients using a fork. Pour into a lightly buttered baking dish. Sprinkle crumble topping over fruit. I added 1/2 cup Ginger Spiced Pat’s Granola on top. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 50 minutes. Serve warm, if possible.

Three Berry Granola Crumble

Pat Bennett is the founder and President of Pat's Granola, a Cleveland based food and collaborative lifestyle brand. Pat's Granola is sold online at www.patsgranola.com and is also available at select Northeast Ohio businesses including: