Apple Blueberry Crumble
A cast iron skillet is perfect for making this dessert crumble. Caramelised apples, fresh blueberries and oat crumble topping baked in a skillet. Best served with some ice cream or other topping!
Apple crumble or crisp is one of those super easy and quick desserts that can be thrown together on the fly. But, even though it is simple, it tastes amazing! This apple blueberry crumble is so good and perfect to make in a cast iron skillet.
Crumble is one of the most popular desserts in our house, and it might be my top choice. I love the sweet caramelized apples, the hint of cinnamon and the sweet oat crumble topping. YUM!
What Makes This Recipe So Good?
- Easy to make! Honestly, the hardest part of this recipe is coring and peeling the apples.
- Best served warm. Serve this while the dessert is still warm with a scoop of ice cream or marscarpone cream.
- Crumble! My favourite part of these types of desserts is the crumble topping. Sweet and buttery with lots of oats. So good!
- Made in a cast iron skillet – Making it in the cast iron skillet is super easy. The apples are cooked down in the skillet, everything is added into the skillet and then it is thrown in the oven.
Ingredients You Will Need
- Apples – while you can use any apple, some varieties are better than others for apple crumble or crisp. Granny Smith, honey crisp, golden delicious and fuji all work great!
- Fresh blueberries – frozen will also work fine.
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Vanilla pod – if you cannot find a vanilla pod, then vanilla extract will also work.
- Lemon zest
- Cinnamon
- Flour
- Oats
How To Make A Fruit Crumble
- The first step in making this apple blueberry crumble is to core and peel the apples. Cut the apple into chunks that are around 1/2 to 1 inch in size.
- Half of the apples are cooked down in the cast iron skillet (I used a 12 inch skillet) before the crumble is baked in the oven. Make sure you do not skip this step! This creates an amazing caramelized flavor in the crumble that really works.
- As some of the apple chunks are cooking in the skillet, add the cinnamon, lemon zest brown sugar. Split the vanilla pod down the middle lengthwise and scrap the seeds into the skillet.
- Cook for 5 minutes until the apples have softened and then mash with a potato masher. Turn off the heat. Stir in the remaining apples and blueberries
- In a separate bowl, make the crumble topping and sprinkle all over the fruit.
How Long to Bake Apple Blueberry Crumble
Preheat the oven for 350F. Place the skillet in the oven and bake the apple blueberry crumble for 35-45 minutes. The top of the crumble should start to brown and you will likely see bubbling around the edges.
Remove it from the oven and let it cool slightly before serving.
I served this crumble with a Maple Marcarpone Cream. It was the perfect topping to provide something smooth and creamy with the crumble. Other options that work well are vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
The crumble is best when served warm and the cream topping starts to melt into the crumble. Drool factor overload!
Apple Blueberry Crumble
Ingredients
- 8 apples
- 1 cup fresh blueberries (half pint)
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup butter , softened
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup oats
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Core, peel and cut apples into small pieces (1/2 to 1 inch chunks)
- Melt 3 tablespoons of butter In a 12 inch cast iron skillet (10 inch will work also) on medium heat. Add in half the apple chunks and cook them for 5 minutes, stirring often so they do not burn.
- Cut the vanilla pod down the middle and scrape the all the inner seeds out. Stir the vanilla seeds, 3 tbsp brown sugar, lemon zest and cinnamon into the cast iron pan with the apples that are cooking.
- Continue to stir the apple mixture and cook for another 5 minutes. The apples will get soft and tender. Depending on the kind of apples you use, they may break down. That is a good thing! If they do not break down, take a potato masher and mash the cooked apples into a chunky apple sauce texture.
- Remove the cast iron skillet from the heat and stir in the remaining apple pieces and fresh blueberries.
- Make the crumble topping by dumping the 1/3 cup butter, flour and 1/3 cup brown sugar into a bowl. Cut the butter into the flour and brown sugar using a pastry cutter, two knifes or even your fingers. Continue until the mixture has an even consistency and the butter is even throughout. Stir in the oats.
- Sprinkle the crumble topping on top of the apple and blueberry mixture.
- Cook in the oven for 35-45 minutes. The crumble topping should brown and you should see bubbling from the apples along the side of the skillet.
- Let it cool slightly before serving.
Nutrition
Per serving:
