This Strawberry Crumble recipe is mouth-wateringly delicious and incredibly easy. Plus, it's both gluten-free and dairy-free, making it a perfect dessert when entertaining friends or family with dietary restrictions. It's bursting with juicy strawberry flavor and a has a sweet crispy topping. Follow along a few simple steps and you'll be able to enjoy this crumble in no time.
Crumbles and crisps are perfect desserts for anyone who doesn't consider themselves a baker. Simply stir together fruit with sugar and a thickener (like cornstarch or arrowroot), add some spices or flavorings and then top with a simple streusel and bake until bubbly and golden brown. There is plenty room for error, too, so even if you are prone to dessert fails, you'll probably be just fine with this recipe!
Ingredients that Matter
This recipe has just a handful of simple ingredients as we want the strawberries to really take center stage. Here's what you'll need and why they are important for the recipe:
- Strawberries. When it comes to strawberries, fresh is best. You can use frozen in a pinch, but this recipe won't be quite as special compared to fresh. And, of course, ripe strawberries will make for a sweeter and more delicious dessert. If you happen to pick your own strawberries (in your garden or at a local pick-your-own farm), note that you'll want to use them within a couple days or else they'll go bad. a couple pounds of strawberries for this recipe is a great way to use up those (almost) over-ripe berries.
- Brown Sugar. Even if you are using super ripe strawberries, you'll want to add at least a little sugar to the strawberry filling. Plus you'll need some sugar in the streusel topping. You could use granulated sugar, but we like the complexity of the molasses from the brown sugar.
- Rolled Oats. The streusel topping is made (mostly) from regular rolled oats. When mixed with the oil and ground almonds, the streusel takes on a crispy, flaky topping.
- Ground Almonds (Almond Meal). A typical streusel topping could have flour mixed with butter and oats, but here we use almonds to keep it gluten-free. You can grind your own by placing about ¾ cup in a food processor and processing until finely ground, or buy almond meal. If you don't have almond meal or don't want to use it, try ground pecans or walnuts instead. Nutt allergy? You could leave it out all together and double the oats instead.
- Vegetable Oil or Coconut Oil. Instead of using butter, we use oil in our streusel topping. We admit oil doesn't create that same buttery topping as, well, butter, but we still love this topping! Use whatever light oil you typically use, like vegetable, canola, peanut, coconut, etc.
- Cornstarch. Use a bit of cornstarch to help thicken the strawberry filling. We typically like our crumbles and crisps more syrupy than jammy, so we err on the side of less thickener. We add a range in case your strawberries are super juicy and need that extra thickener or you like a more jammy texture.
- Lemon. This recipe doesn't have a lot of extra ingredients, but we do like the addition of lemon zest and juice to the filling. It rounds out the flavor and cuts through the sweetness nicely.
How to make strawberry crumble
This recipe is super simple. Toss together the filling ingredients, add to a baking dish then top with the streusel and bake. Here's how it all comes together.
Stir together the oats, ground almonds, brown sugar and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
Add the oil to the oats mixture and toss until well coated.
Add sliced strawberries to a mixing bowl and add lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and brown sugar.
Toss until the sugar dissolves into the strawberries.
Add strawberries to an 8-inch baking pan then cover with the streusel topping.
Bake in a 350°F oven until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Serving and Storage
This strawberry crumble is perfect warm or even cold. We don't recommend eating it hot out of the oven as the filling may be too loose. Plus the sugary filling will be like napalm!
The crumble is perfect all by itself, but you can top with a dairy-free whipped cream (or regular whipped cream), a scoop of dairy-free ice cream (or regular ice cream) and plain even yogurt.
You can other fruit to the crumble, as well. Just be sure to leave out an equal amount of the strawberries if adding different fruit. Try adding raspberries, blueberries, black berries or apples. You could also add some rhubarb, just be sure to up the sugar slightly as rhubarb is incredibly sour. And try our Rhubarb Galette if you are looking for more rhubarb recipes.
To store, transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can eat cold out of the refrigerator or rewarm in a 350°F oven for about 10 minutes. What about freezing? You could freeze this strawberry crumble (simply store in a freezer save container and freeze for about 1 month). just note it'll likely lose a bit of its strawberry flavor.
More Spring Recipes
Recipe
Easy Strawberry Crumble (Gluten and Dairy-Free)
- Total Time: 50 min.
- Yield: 8-inch baking pan 1x
Description
This Strawberry Crumble recipe is mouth-wateringly delicious and incredibly easy. Plus, it's both gluten-free and dairy-free, making it a perfect dessert when entertaining friends or family with dietary restrictions. It's bursting with juicy strawberry flavor and a has a sweet crispy topping. Follow along a few simple steps and you'll be able to enjoy this crumble in no time.
Ingredients
Crumble Topping
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- ¾ cup ground almonds (or almond meal) (see note)
- ½ cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- ¼ tsp. table salt
- 6 Tbsp. vegetable or coconut oil
Strawberry Filling
- 2 lbs. strawberries, stems removed and quartered
- ¼ cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- 2-3 Tbsp. cornstarch or arrowroot (see note)
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 pinch of table salt
Instructions
Crumble Topping
- To make the crumble topping, stir together the oats, ground almonds, brown sugar and salt until well combined. Drizzle with oil and stir gently until the mixture is well coated in oil. Set aside.
Strawberry Filling
- Preheat oven to 350°F and spray an 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Stir together strawberries, brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice and table salt until well coated. Continue to gently stir until the sugar dissolves into the strawberries. Transfer the mixture to the baking pan, using a spoon to add any liquid left behind from the bowl. Sprinkle evenly with the crumble topping then bake until the filling is bubbly and the toping is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- You can buy almond meal or make your own by adding about ¾ up whole almonds to the base of a food processor and processing until finely chopped.
- If you don't want to use almonds, try making your own pecan or walnut meal. You can also substitute for regular an equal part ground oats.
- If using very ripe and sweet strawberries, feel free to cut back some of the sugar mixed into the filling.
- If you like a jam-like strawberry filling, add the full 3 tablespoons of cornstarch or arrowroot. Or, if your strawberries are particularly ripe and juicy, add all 3 tablespoons.
- Serve this strawberry crumble warm.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Prep Time: 10 min.
- Cook Time: 30 min.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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