The weather’s heating up. No need to heat up your house if you want to make a hot dessert to serve with some cold vanilla ice cream. The slow cooker is your best friend when it comes to keeping you cool in the kitchen and making your cooking simpler. This is an easy, no fuss dessert to make for Mother’s Day, Memorial or Independence Day. Slow cooker Triple Berry Crisp is just right for those occasions. This dessert is a delicious, gooey, sweet berry bliss that is a perfect accompaniment to a simple summer meal or holiday BBQ.
Crisp or Crumble
I must admit for years I put fruit crisps, crumbles and cobblers in the same category till I started finally seeing the differences. So a “crisp” is just slightly different from a “crumble” because it has oats in the topping where as a crumble does not. Then the cousin of these two delicious desserts, the “cobbler” has a biscuit topping. I can’t believe for years I thought these were the same thing, but just made differently per cook. Now you know…like me.
I enjoy them all, but I just have a thing for liking oats in some toppings such as this one.
Frozen Berries for a Crisp
You can absolutely use frozen berries for this berry crisp if that’s all you have on hand. I’ve made it with all fresh berries, all frozen and part frozen, part fresh. The slow cooker cooks them all very well, still making this berry crisp gooey and think and just right to top with your favorite ice cream. These days with prices of fresh berries, sometimes frozen is just more feasible. Costco also has a great frozen bag of berries that will make your life even simpler if you want to use that.
Triple Berry Bliss
I personally like these three berries the most which is why I chose them for this recipe, as do my boys, but don’t be shy about switching it up with your favorite berries to make your own version of a great crisp berry dessert. These berries are just easy for me to come by this time of year and I know I can find them in frozen form at my local Costco if I can’t get fresh.
Berries are also cheap and in great volume in most places this time of year so it’s a great way to enjoy them, especially if you’re not a great pie maker.
Slow Cooker Crisp
The slow cooker is the perfect tool to make this dessert because it won’t heat up your house and your ingredients cook just right with no hassle. When making this crisp in your slow cooker you’ll find if you use all fresh berries, you might get a dryer result in the end. The nice thing about mixing in just one third of your berries with frozen ones is that you’ll get a juicier/gooier result to top on your ice cream. It also saves you a little money and effort which is not a bad deal as well.
The oats and optional nuts in the topping also make for a great topping on this crisp, even in the slow cooker. Your berries will be bubbling underneath the delicious crunchy topping.
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Grab a spoon and enjoy this berry crisp with some vanilla ice cream!
If you like this kind of recipe, you might like these as well!
Easy Triple Berry Crisp (Fresh or Frozen Berries)
Equipment
Ingredients
Berry Mixture
- 2 cups organic blueberries
- 2 cups organic blackberries
- 2 cups organic strawberries I use frozen if I can't find them fresh
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1.5 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup flour
Berry Crisp Topping
- 1 cup flour of choice I normally use all purpose unbleached flour, but almond or other would be fine if necessary
- 2/3 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp cane sugar
- *optional- 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts chopped
- 1/2 cup butter chilled and thinly sliced
Instructions
- Combine all Berry Mixture ingredients together in a big bowl and let sit while you prep your topping
- In another medium sized bowl combine topping ingredients flour through nuts
- Add butter now to dry topping mixture and work butter through whole mixture with hands till you get a slightly crumbly texture. Make sure all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.
- Spray inside of crock pot with olive oil
- Add berry mixture to crock put, spreading it out evenly over the bottom
- Add your topping mixture atop your berry mixture evenly
- Set a timer on your crock pot for 3 hrs on high. (It's best served fresh out of the pot so if you need to kill more time just keep it on warm till it's ready to be served.)
Made it, very easy and yummy!
Thanks for the comment, Melody! Glad you enjoyed it. Easy is always a plus too!