breakfast crisp

I love a good crisp. Or is it a crumble? Honestly, the differences are quite minor and I don’t care so long as it is delicious.  

But if you really care about precise definitions… 

A cobbler is fruit baked in the oven with some form of dough.

A crisp is fruit baked with a streusel-like topping that contains oats.

A crumble is essentially a crisp but traditionally without oats.

Warm, juicy fruit on the bottom, and crunchy buttery pieces on top. Typically served for dessert, but I swapped the sugar in the topping for honey, which sounds slightly more virtuous and makes this more justifiable for breakfast. Who am I kidding? Sugar is sugar. But these are the things I tell myself. 

I used a mix of peaches and pluots (~1/2 pound of each), but you can use any stone fruit like nectarines, apricots, or plums. If you use cherries, have fun removing the pits!

If there are more than two in your household, I recommend doubling the recipe. This only last two days and there are two of us, so if you want more leftovers (yes, you do!) use 2 pounds of fruit and bake in a 9 x 13″ pan.

This is a perfectly acceptable meal for breakfast. If you think about it, it’s almost the same ingredients as granola but with the addition of cooked fruit. I serve with a large spoonful of Strauss Whole Plain European Style Yogurt but you can use whatever yogurt (or ice cream!) you prefer.

Ingredients

1 lemon

1 pound mixed stone fruit, pits removed and cut into quarters (or smaller)

1 tablespoon of sugar

¼ cup of honey

½ cup + 1 tablespoon of rice flour (all purpose would work)

¾ cup of old-fashioned rolled oats

⅓ cup of tahini

¼ cup of salted butter

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Finely grate zest from lemon into a large bowl and set aside. Cut the lemon in half and juice one half.

In an 8” X 8” baking dish, add the stone fruit, juice from ½ of the lemon, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and ½ tablespoon of flour. Stir to combine. If the mixture easily absorbs the flour (depends on how “juicy” your fruit is), add ½ tablespoon more. Stir again. Let this sit for 20 minutes. 

Melt butter in the microwave, and then add in a large bowl with tahini, lemon zest, honey, and cinnamon. Whisk together until smooth.

Add the oatmeal, flour, salt, and stir until well combined. It will be somewhat wet because of the tahini and honey. 

Drop the topping over the fruit and use a small spatula to cover the fruit completely with the topping. I try to smooth out the topping, but it doesnt have to be perfect.

Bake until the crumble topping is golden brown, about 35 minutes.

Let cool before serving. Serve with yogurt (or ice cream). If eating for breakfast, you can either warm it back up or eat it cold – either way is delicious!

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