Grain Free Strawberry Crumble

When it comes to accessing fresh produce, I am incredibly lucky. Every Friday and Saturday a farmer’s market pops up right outside of my front door. Literally, less than 100 feet from our building, I can find fruits, vegetables, fresh baked bread, meat, seafood and all of the market things. But, during spring time, the thing I look forward to most are the berries.

Farmer’s market strawberries in England are on another level.

Last weekend, I stopped by the market on my way home from my early morning gym session – my FAVORITE way to start a Saturday. And I kid you not, as I approached the market, I could smell the strawberries from across the street. They were sweet + fragrant + insisting that I buy them.

I loaded up my basket with a few bushels because I absolutely could not resist the glowing red gems of goodness. As soon as I got home I ate to my heart’s content. I saved a few handfuls for oatmeal toppings throughout the week, and then I started brainstorming. I wanted to create a recipe that really showcased the glory of the summer strawberry.

And so, my Grain Free Strawberry Crumble was born.

Creating the Perfect Filling

To be completely honest, fresh, ripe strawberries really don’t need much help to taste incredible. All of the ingredients of this filling are meant to ENHANCE the flavour of the berries, not to overwhelm, overshadow or change it.

After you’ve washed and dried your precious berries, feel free to prepare them in whatever shape you want for your filling. Traditionally, a strawberry crumble would be made with sliced, diced or cubed strawberries. For mine, I used a combination of whole and halved strawberries. It looks gorgeous, but in hindsight, I think that sliced strawberries allows for a better distribution of fruit in the pie dish. But, follow your heart, choose whatever shape you’d like!

Toss the berries into a bowl and dust them with a bit of coconut sugar. To be honest, my berries were so ripe and sweet, I only added 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar. However, if your berries are a bit more tart, I’d suggest adding a bit more – up to 4 tablespoons total. It is a dessert, after all.

To ensure that the filling of this crumble isn’t too full of liquid, we need to add something to absorb a bit of the extra juice. I chose to use arrowroot starch because its what I had on hand, but tapioca flour (another paleo option) or corn starch also work really well. If you’re using frozen berries, you may need to add an extra tablespoon of whatever thickener you choose.

Finally, lemon juice. Now, I know this seems like a trivial, nonessential addition, but it’s a critical piece of this pie. The lemon juice doesn’t make the filling taste tart or lemony, it just wakes up all of the other ingredients. It honestly makes the strawberries taste more like strawberry, which is exactly what we want. Please, please, please don’t leave it out!

To make the filling, simply throw everything into a large bowl and toss until combined. Once it’s evenly mixed, just pour it into your pie dish or baking dish. It’ll sit there nicely while you make its cozy crumble blanket topping.

Crumble, Crisp or Cobbler

One thing I learned about fruit desserts when I moved to England is that there IS a difference between crumble, crisp and cobbler. (If you’re curious, please have actually written articles on it, ha!) English people are very serious about their crumbles, and are slightly offended by it being referred to as a “crisp”. They’re different, people!

So, to ensure that this grain free strawberry crumble holds to the crumble classic, we needed to use a flour as the base rather than something like oats. I chose almond flour to keep it paleo and grain free. Almond flour is full of healthy fats and delicious flavour. However, almond flour on its own wont crisp the way that we want it to, so that’s where the chopped nuts and shredded coconut come in. Adding some elements with a bit of texture ensure that the topping of this crumble isn’t just…crumbly and soft. We want a bit of crunch!

Cinnamon and salt are added sparingly to enhance the nutty topping and the strawberry filling.

The last important ingredient in the crumble is some sort of fat. Adding a fat allows not only for our crumble topping to toast to a beautiful golden brown in the oven, but it also hold everything together. I prefer using melted ghee or butter, for the lovely flavor it brings to the table, but melted coconut oil works too.

Simply stir all of the ingredients together + sprinkle generously all over your glowing strawberries!

Put This Grain Free Strawberry Crumble All Together

To make this grain free strawberry crumble, it literally requires a bowl + a bit of stirring. It’s so simple. Sprinkle the crumble over your filling + chuck it into the oven! It takes 40 minutes or so to bake, but it’s so worth the wait! However, if you’re in a bit of a rush or have some sort of event, you can absolutely prep this crumble in advance. You can bake it off in advance + reheat it for 15 minutes before serving!

May I suggest vanilla ice cream for topping? My English husband prefers his doused in heavy whipping cream (not whipped, though, ha!) or drenched in English custard (which to me, as an American, tasted exactly like vanilla pudding). But, feel free to top is as you choose! Some extra chopped nuts? Throw them on! Some whipped coconut cream? Sounds delish. Vanilla yogurt? Done deal. It’s also great on its own, plain Jane style.

This crumble is the perfect spring and summertime dessert. It’s full of fresh fruit + healthy fats, but your friends and family won’t care. They’ll be too focused on how delicious it tastes!

If you make this crumble, I’d love to know what you think! Find me on instagram and tag me in your photos or leave me a comment down below. It hugely helps the blog for other people to know what you think!

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