This Gluten-Free Blueberry Crisp is a celebration of summer, bursting with juicy fresh blueberries topped with a simple oats and pecan crumble. This recipe is also vegan, meaning it’s our go-to dessert when we have company with varying dietary needs.
A simple crisp is the perfect dessert for anyone interested in baking, but perhaps feels a bit intimidated by more complex baking recipes. In fact, learning how to make a crisp, like our Easy Strawberry Crumble (Gluten and Dairy-Free), is an easy way to up your culinary skills.
And while this recipe works best using freshly picked summer blueberries, you can also make it with frozen blueberries, meaning you can enjoy it all year-round. We’ll also show you how to make basic alterations to the recipe based on you or your guests’ dietary needs and restrictions.
Video: Gluten-Free Blueberry Crisp
Jump to:
Ingredients that Matter
This blueberry crisp features a handful of pantry ingredients, plus a couple important fresh ingredients.
- Blueberries. Fresh blueberries work best in this recipe, but you can also use frozen. You’ll need 8 cups of blueberries (about 2 ½ pounds), but we’ll show you how to easily cut the recipe in half so you’ll only need to buy a couple pints of berries.
- Lemon. Blueberries and lemon are a classic combination and this recipe includes lemon zest for floral flavor and the juice for some serious tang.
- Sugar. Use regular granulated sugar in the blueberry filling and the topping. The sugar emphasizes the natural sweetness of the blueberries, while the sugar also sweetens and adds texture to the topping.
- Cornstarch. Use cornstarch or arrowroot to thicken the blueberry filling. We give a range as everyone has their personal preference when it comes to filling thickness, but you’ll want about three to four tablespoons to properly set the filling without making it overly gelatinous.
- Oats. The bulk of the topping is made from old fashioned rolled oats. You can also use quick cooking oats if that’s what you have on hand.
- Gluten-Free Flour. Adding a bit of gluten-free flour to the topping helps make for a flakey crisp. If you don’t need to make it gluten-free, simply swap in regular all-purpose flour.
- Vegetable or Coconut Oil. Instead of using butter, this recipe uses oil to keep it vegan-friendly. Any oil will do just fine. Or you could also use melted vegan butter, instead.
- Pecans. A little chopped pecans provides a delicious nutty flavor to the topping. Swap in walnuts or almonds, if you’d prefer.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
This crisp comes together very quickly. Here’s how you make it:
Stir together the oats, gluten-free flour, chopped pecans, sugar, salt and oil in a mixing bowl until well combined and crumbly.
Place blueberries in a baking dish and toss with sugar, cornstarch and salt.
Sprinkle crumble topping on blueberry mixture and level evenly.
Bake in a 375F oven until the blueberries are bubbly and the topping is lightly browned, about 40 minutes.
Hint: Be sure to let the crisp cool at room temperature for at least 10 minutes, preferably up to 1 hour to allow the filling to set properly.
Substitutions
This recipe is already gluten-free and vegan. There are alterations you could further make for other dietary restrictions.
- Nuts– if you want to make this recipe nut-free, simply omit the pecans and increase the volume of rolled oats by ½ cup
- Low Sugar – cut back the amount of sugar in this recipe by half if you are watching your sugar intake (that means ¼ cup of granulated sugar in the topping and 2 tablespoons in the filling)
- No Dietary Restrictions– if you have no dietary restrictions, congratulations (and stop bragging about it!), you can easily swap in regular all-purpose flour and use 6 tablespoons of melted butter instead of oil
Variations
You can also play around with the flavoring of this dish quite easily:
- Lime – instead of using lemon zest and juice try using an equal amount of lime zest and juice for a slightly unique flavor
- Nuts – most nuts will work well in the topping, including walnuts, almonds and even hazelnuts (just be sure they are well chopped)
- Herbs – you can really impress your guests by adding some fresh herbs to the blueberry filling (try adding about 1 teaspoon of fresh chopped thyme leaves, rosemary, culinary lavender or even basil)
Equipment
It’s best to make this recipe in a 2 to 2 ½-quart baking dish. We love having on hand a quality set of stoneware baking dishes, like this Le Creuset Stoneware Heritage Set or this more affordable CorningWare French White 7 Piece Ceramic Bakeware Set. You want a dish that conducts and holds heat well, is easy to clean and chip resistant.
Storage
This blueberry crisp will last is stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. We love it cold out of the fridge, but you can reheat individual portions in the oven or microwave. We caution against reheating the entire pan as you run the risk of overcooking the filling, making it gummy.
To make ahead: You can easily prep this recipe a day ahead by adding the blueberries, sugar, cornstarch and salt to the baking dish then covering and storing in the refrigerator. You can also make the topping a day ahead then remove from the refrigerator and set on the counter for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.
Top tip
Be sure your blueberries are cleaned well before cooking. Soak them in some cold water with a little baking soda or white vinegar, then rinse well. Be sure to dry the blueberries well after washing.
FAQ
Yes! Frozen blueberries work well for most baking recipes, especially a crisp. You can add them still frozen straight to the baking dish. We recommend adding another tablespoon of cornstarch as frozen berries tend to release more liquids than fresh.
Absolutely! You can either prep out the crisp a day ahead by tossing the blueberries with sugar, cornstarch and salt and adding to the baking dish, then making the topping (be sure to store the topping separately). Store both component covered in the refrigerator and assemble when ready. Or, Bake a day ahead of time and serve cold out of the fridge or reheat in the oven just until warmed through.
Blueberry Recipes
Looking for other blueberry recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are our favorite dishes to serve with this gluten-free blueberry crisp:
PrintRecipe
Gluten-Free Blueberry Crisp
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: About 8 cups 1x
Description
This Gluten-Free Blueberry Crisp is a celebration of summer, bursting with juicy fresh blueberries topped with a simple oats and pecan crumble. This recipe is also vegan, meaning it’s our go-to dessert when we have company with varying dietary needs.
Ingredients
Topping
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup gluten-free flour
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 6 tablespoons vegetable or coconut oil
Filling
- 8 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (about 2 ½ pounds)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 3–4 tablespoons cornstarch (more if you like a firmer filling)
- zest and juice of ½ lemon
- 1 pinch table salt
Instructions
Topping
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- To make the toping, stir together oats, gluten-free flour, pecans, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Drizzle in oil and toss until the mixture is well coated in oil.
Filling
- To assemble the crisp, add blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and juice and salt to a 2 to 2 ½-quart baking dish and toss well to combine. Top evenly with the oats mixture then transfer to preheated oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the topping is slightly browned, about 40 minutes. Cool at room temperature at least 10 minutes, preferably up to 1 hour, before serving.Â
Notes
- To clean blueberries, place in a bowl and cover with cold water and add some baking soda or white vinegar. Sit for 5 minutes, drain, rinse again and dry well before using.
- Frozen blueberries work for this recipe though we recommend upping the amount of cornstarch to at least 4 tablespoons.
- Once cooled, store the blueberry crisp in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Reheat leftovers in the microwave or 350°F oven until warm (be careful not to cook the crisp when reheating).
- To make this recipe NOT gluten-free or vegan, simply swap in regular all-purpose flour for the gluten-free flour and use melted butter instead of oil.
- Swap in walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts for the pecans if preferred.Â
- To make this recipe nut-free, omit the pecans and instead up the rolled oats to 1 ½ cups.
- Prep Time: 10 min.
- Cook Time: 40 min.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Justina and John
We made the blueberry crisp using fresh blueberries. It was so easy to make and tasted great! We used low sugar blueberry jam instead of plain sugar.
Ruth
Love this recipe!! It’s hard to stop at just one serving… so I didn’t! I especially enjoyed the pecans in the topping and thought that this paired so well with the berries. Will definitely save this one as a go to for summer dinner parties.