A sweet tangy mix of strawberries + raspberries cooked till jammy then layered between a buttery crust and golden crumble. Vegan, gluten-free, paleo option!
This recipe combines three of my favorite things:
- the best summer fruit (a.k.a. BERRIES)
- streusel-y topping situations
- collabing with one of my favorite fellow recipe creators and humans, Gina from Healthy Little Vittles!
We’ve been trying to make another collab happen for months now. Not leaving the house has made work life more hectic on both sides it seems (there also may have been a cinnamon swirl loaf attempt in there somewhere that I tested like 8 times and then eventually gave up…but we don’t need to mention that), so it took us a minute to make it work.
But all that too-busy-ness has carried us right into berry season and the creation of these beautiful Berry Crumble Bars, so maybe it’s all for the best anyways.
The Crust/Crumble
I’m just gonna go ahead and assume you’re at least a little lazy too (we’ll blame quarantine because we can right now) and don’t want to make a crust and whole separate crumb topping, correct?
Perfect. Thank you. I feel much less alone now.
So our one-and-done crustcrumble is sticky enough to hold as a crust and crumbly enough to grace the top of the bars in the most spectacularly streusel-like way. It is moist and sweet, lightly spiced, and honestly a little TOO tasty straight out of the bowl pre-baking…it’s a problem.
It’s naturally almost grain-free, but I did throw some oats in there for extra texture. If you want to make it grain-free, swap in sliced almonds instead or just skip that part.
The Berry Filling
This is where things get reeeeeeeeal jammy. Not like music “jams” jammy (although if you are not dancing while baking what are you even doing?), but like we’re basically making homemade sweet sticky jam on the stove in less than 10 minutes jammy.
You could make this recipe a dozen different ways with different combinations of berries, but we used strawberries and raspberries. Blueberries would be amazing. A mix of all three would be delish. Throw in some blackberries if ya got em. Maybe even get wild and let cherries join the party. See possibilities = ENDLESS.
The important things are fruit, a little sugar, a little starch to thicken, lemon for some tang, and cooking/stirring till thick. For me it took about 7-8 minutes, but it may take more/less time depending on what level of heat you’re cooking on and if you use fresh vs frozen berries (frozen tend to release more liquid).
I recommend making the filling first so it has time to cool while you make the crust/crumble. Even though I discussed that part first in the post which is mildly confusing. My bad.
There are two ways to go when it comes to serving: warm with a spoon or chilled and sliced. Try to slice them hot and they will just fall apart. So if you don’t want to wait, forget the “bars” part and just scoop that good stuff into a bowl, plop some ice cream on top, and get in there. But if you chill them for a few hours (4 minimum although I recommend overnight), they will slice into sweet little squares. Or split the pan down the middle and do a bit of both!
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A sweet tangy mix of strawberries + raspberries cooked till jammy then layered between a buttery crust and golden crumble. Vegan, gluten-free, paleo option!
Ingredients
Crust/Crumble
- 2 cups (240g) almond flour
- 1/4 cup (30g) coconut flour
- 2/3 cup (110g) coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup (40g) rolled oats (sliced almonds for paleo)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (125g) nut/seed butter
- 1/2 cup (100g) coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Filling
- 4 cups fresh or frozen berries (I used a mix of strawberries and raspberries, but any works)
- 3 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp arrowroot (or cornstarch)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Combine filling ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and stir/cook for 5-7 minutes until thickened. Transfer to a glass dish, and set aside to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Toss together the almond flour, coconut flour, coconut sugar, oats/almonds, baking soda, spices, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, combine the nut/seed butter, coconut oil, vanilla, and lemon juice. Melt and whisk together until smooth.
- Add to the dry ingredients and mix until even coated and crumbly.
- Press half into the bottom of a greased 8×8″ baking dish.
- Top with cooled berry mixture.
- Disperse the remaining on top, pressing in gently.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350ºF until golden brown on top.
- They will be quite fragile and crumbly if you slice them warm, so chill first for really clean squares. If you want to eat them warm, it will be more of a messy (but delicious!) bowl/spoon situation.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 square
- Calories: 270
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 86mg
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 4g
Keywords: streusel, crumble, summer, baking, dessert, gluten free, paleo, strawberry, raspberry, healthy, easy
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I avoid oil. What could I use for a substitution?
You could try just adding more nut/seed butter or applesauce! Might make the crumble more chewy and less golden/crispy 🙂
Can I use chia seed instead of arrowroot?
You can try it, but it doesn’t have quite the thickening power so I worry your filling will be too liquid😕
This looks really good! Is there another four I can use instead of almond flour? And can I use tapioca starch instead of arrowroot?
Tapioca will work, yes! And haven’t tested any other flours, what did you want to use like oat or AP? Either would be drier than almond so you will likely need more coconut oil and/or almond butter if you go with those 🙂
Either works for me. Should I still use 2 cups of flour? Also, should I use 3/4 cups of oil or maybe 1 cup?
It’s hard for me to guess exact amounts without testing it myself, but I’d try 3/4 cup coconut oil and 1.5 cups flour to start and then just adjust slowly until you have a very moist but not too sticky to crumble texture. Good luck, keep me updated 🙂
Any substitute for the coconut oil?
You can try applause, but the texture of the crust/crumble won’t be as rich and moist. You may need more of it too!
Sorry. I know these substitution questions suck because you haven’t tried them, BUT don’t have any granulated sugar on hand. Any recommendations to substitute the 2/3 cup coconut sugar with a liquid sweetener? I’m wondering if I have to add more dry ingredients to the crumble if I use a liquid sweetener instead. Thoughts? Love all your recipes. Thank you!!!
Hmm so I’d recommend swapping the coconut sugar to 2/3 cup liquid sweetener, decreasing the oil to 1/4 cup, and then you still made need an extra 1/2 or so of almond flour and 1-2 tbsp of coconut flour. Just add the flours slowly until you have a clumpy, quite moist/sticky, but still not too sticky to crumble texture. Always a guesstimate of course, but that’s what I’d try!
Thank you so much! Can’t wait to try it.
What a perfect weekend for a berry recipe! Can’t wait to make this. I’m one foot out the door to the market to purchase some berries. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Happy I could inspired so berry weekend baking! Let me know how it turns out, Kimi 🙂
Btw, this is my favorite dessert so far. Made it twice with different seed butters and fillings and all versions are winners. Thank you so much <3
I am so happy you are loving them!! Appreciate your feedback💕
what could i sub for coconut flour?
what could i substitute for coconut flour?
Try adding 1/2 cup more almond flour to replace the 1/4 cup coconut flour!