This rustic Mixed Berry Crisp is the perfect summer dessert. It's easy to make with any combination of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries, and it's topped with a crisp, golden mixture of oats, nuts, and almond flour — gluten-free, vegan, and absolutely delicious!
I love a good berry crisp or crumble in the summer and this is my favorite version. The crunchy pecan and almond flour topping is naturally gluten-free and vegan, making it perfect for entertaining guests with different dietary needs.
And honestly, I think it's even better than the traditional version. I don't miss the flour or the butter.
Why I Love (and Think You'll Love) This Mixed Berry Crisp
It checks off all the boxes:
- Not too sweet: call me odd, but I don't like sweet desserts. I much prefer complex or contrasting flavors like sweet and sour, sweet and tart or sweet and savory. This mixed berry crisp has an exciting thing going on between the delicate sweet and tart berries and the savory pecans and almond flour.
- Toasty Pecan Crunch: There are lots of nuts in this crisp so when it's baked, you get that wonderful nutty crunch and irresistible toasted pecan flavor.
- Great for Entertaining: I've been using this Mixed Berry Crisp recipe for years, as my go-to summertime dessert whenever I have company or when I bring a dessert to a friends' house. It's great to have a dessert recipe in the repertoire that's summery and delicious and simple to make.
- Wholesome Ingredients: Gotta love a dessert made mostly of fresh berries, oats and nuts. It reminds me of my favorite homemade granola, served with fresh berries and yogurt. In fact, if you happen to have any leftover crisp, try it for breakfast with yogurt.
- Naturally Gluten-Free and Vegan: Unlike most berry crisps, this one doesn't rely on wheat flour or butter. Instead, almond flour, oats, pecans, and coconut oil create an incredibly crisp, flavorful topping that everyone loves — not just people who eat gluten-free or vegan.
- The Best Way To Enjoy Summer Berries? Make this crisp!
Want To Save this Recipe?
Enter your email and I'll send this recipe straight to your inbox!
What Makes This Crisp Gluten-Free and Vegan
Unlike traditional berry crisp recipes, which rely on wheat flour and butter, this one gets its crisp, golden topping from almond flour, oats, pecans and coconut oil. The result is a dessert that's naturally gluten-free and vegan — with every bit as much flavor and crunch as the classic version.
How to make Mixed Berry Crisp
Start with 7 cups of berries — use any type you like or whatever's fresh and looking good at the market: blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and/or blackberries.
Prepare the berries in the baking dish you're using for the crisp. Pour the berries in, add maple syrup, lemon juice and a little cornstarch and toss to combine.
In a separate bowl, mix up the topping: rolled oats (gluten-free), pecans (roughly chopped), almond flour, brown sugar, salt and coconut oil.
Mix up the oat, nut and almond flour mixture with your hands so you can distribute the coconut oil evenly throughout. Then spread the topping over the fruit and bake. That's all there is to it.
Why is this called a crisp?
A crisp is topped with oats, which bake into a crunchy golden topping. Since this recipe is made with oats, almond flour, and pecans, "crisp" is the most accurate name— though many people use the terms crisp and crumble interchangeably.
Serving Suggestions
When you take the crisp out of the oven, give it ten minutes or so to cool down before serving. But don't wait too long — it's so delicious served warm — and even better with a scoop of ice cold vanilla ice cream on top. Or dairy-free ice cream, if need be.
If you have any fresh mint or basil, chop or sliver a handful and sprinkle it over each bowl for more fresh summer flavor.
Other delicious topping ideas: whipped cream, vanilla yogurt or a scoop of sorbet.
If you try this Mixed Berry Crisp, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
Print
Mixed Berry Crisp Recipe (Gluten Free and Vegan)
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Description
This Mixed Berry Crisp is everything you want in a summer dessert — juicy berries bubbling beneath a crisp, golden topping made with oats, pecans, and almond flour. Naturally gluten-free and vegan, it's easy to make with any combination of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries.
Ingredients
- 7 cups of berries (any combination of strawberries (sliced in half), blueberries, raspberries and/or blackberries)
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot (makes the juices less watery)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup almond flour (also called almond meal)
- ¾ cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 1 cup roughly-chopped pecans
- ¼ cup brown sugar (white sugar or coconut sugar works well too)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
Want To Save this Recipe?
Enter your email and I'll send this recipe straight to your inbox!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and set an oven rack in the center position
- Add the berries, maple syrup, cornstarch, and lemon juice to a 13 X 9 inch baking dish (or something of similar volume), and mix well.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, oats, nuts, sugar, salt and coconut oil and stir until fully combined.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit, and bake, uncovered, for 40-50 minutes or until the berry juices are bubbly and the topping is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve warm, topped with vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- Chopping the Nuts: I recommend that you barely chop the nuts because big pieces of toasted nuts are heavenly in this dish. At most, slice them into thirds.
- Pecan Substitute: I've also had great success making this dish with almonds in place of pecans. I've used whole almonds and roughly chopped them, but I'm sure store-bought slivered or sliced almonds would work well too.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Loved this recipe! I’m GF and DF, and I made this in an 8 x 8 pan with half the berry mixture and the full topping mixture on top. I used frozen berries, and it was so good! Can’t wait to make it again!
I made this crisp for friends as a last minute potluck dessert. Amazing! It got rave reviews, and I threw it together in 10 minutes with berries from my fridge and had it in the oven in time to deliver it warm to the hostess. Simple, straightforward, not too sweet, and highlighting the season‘s best. This is definitely going into my summer rotation with whatever delicious fruit I find at the farmers market every week! Thank you, Lisa!
Hi Stacie! I'm glad this was a hit and I love that you were able to throw it together quickly!
I made this for a potluck at church. I am always nervous about bringing an untried recipe to share. I have never seen one of my contributions disappear so quickly. I forwarded the link to all of my peeps!!! My only deviation was using plant butter instead of coconut oil (just because I did not have coconut oil). I served it with coconut milk whipped cream & everyone loved it. Thank you!
You are so welcome Brenda! I'm really happy to know that you all enjoyed the crumble!
OMG! Sheryl made this two nights in a row this weekend - once for a large family birthday celebration with vanilla ice cream (choice of regular or vegan) and once for a dinner with close friends in the neighborhood. What a hit!!! Best dessert ever…and leftovers make a great breakfast! YUM ????
Two nights in a row! This makes me SO happy 🙂 Thanks for the great review David. I'm really glad you all enjoyed the crumble.
Is this dish okay to freeze or not? It’s only me so this is too much for 1 person
Yes, you can freeze it. Probably better to freeze it before baking it - make it in two smaller pans. Freeze one and bake the other. Or you can also cut the recipe in half if it's too much for you.
Thanks for the Mixed Berry Crumble recipe.
Perfect summer dessert!! A crowd-pleaser for everyone!
Thanks Jen 🙂
Will frozen mixed berries work ok for this recipe? Thank you
Yes. I've made this with frozen berries and it's delicious. No need to slice the frozen berries because they're very tender already. I hope you enjoy!