Old-Fashioned Blueberry Nectarine Crisp
How to make the best old-fashioned fruit crisp: one with a thick filling of plump blueberries and sweet nectarines, covered by a warm, buttery oat topping. Grandma would be proud!
Move over, chocolate. Fruit desserts deserve center stage in the late summer – especially a luscious fruit dessert like this blueberry nectarine crisp.
Why all the excitement? For starters, this is seasonal eating at its finest. Yes, you can find blueberries nearly year-round, but they’re at their peak right as summer turns into fall, when it’s easy to find extra plump, juicy berries. The kind that are perfect for snacking, cooking, and baking.
And those juicy, pearlescent nectarines? Like peaches, plums, and other stone fruits, these jewels are only available for a couple of months.
So. Seize the day!
Ingredient List
Here’s what you’ll need to make the fruit filling:
- 4 or 5 ripe medium nectarines. Or sub in peaches. Either way, no need to peel them.
- 1 and 1/2 cups fresh blueberries.
- A bit of sugar.
- Tapioca granules, to thicken things up.
- Vanilla extract.
Tapioca granules* can be found on Amazon or in most major grocery stores, and are usually cheaper in store. Look for a small box located in the baking section, near the spices and extracts, gelatin, etc.
You might be tempted to leave the tapioca out, but this is the key ingredient to thicken the filling and set your fruit crisp apart from the runny masses! You can substitute cornstarch in a pinch.
And for the crisp topping:
- All-purpose or white whole wheat flour.
- Old-fashioned (rolled) oats.
- Brown sugar.
- Spices! Cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Cold unsalted butter.
Gather this good stuff, a mixing bowl or two, and a small baking dish. Before you know it, you’ll be serving the best fruit crisp on the block. 🙂
Process, Tips, and Tricks
This crisp is incredibly easy to make. Here are the steps, plus all the little tips that will help you make it perfectly, each and every time.
Start by prepping the topping. (1) Combine the dry ingredients, then work in the butter until the mixture forms coarse, crumbly bits. You can use a pastry blender*, shown here, or your fingertips!
Now turn to the fruit mixture. Rinse the blueberries, pit and slice the nectarines, and toss both together with the sugar, tapioca, and vanilla extract. (2, 3, 4)
Now just scoop everything out into a baking dish (5) and sprinkle that glorious oat mixture evenly over the top. (6)
A 2-quart baking dish, similar to this*, should hold everything. If the filling rises very close to the edge, slide a sheet pan on a separate rack underneath the baking dish in the oven to catch any drips as the fruit bubbles.
Because, rest assured, that fruit is going to bubble. The berries will burst, the nectarines will practically melt into deep orange pools of sweetness, and the topping will turn a luxurious golden brown.
The hardest part of all? Letting this crisp cool its heels in the baking dish for a few minutes after baking and before serving.
But then–all bets are off. Serve individual portions in small bowls or plates, or just pile a few scoops of ice cream onto the middle of the baking dish and set it in the middle of the table. Watch happy mayhem ensue.
What To Serve With It
Hosting a BBQ or soirée? This menu is sure to impress:
- Blackberry Lime Margaritas
- Honey Chipotle BBQ Chicken
- Greek Chickpea Salad or Chilled Watermelon Tomatillo Salad
- Pesto Pasta with Peas
- … and this crisp for the perfect dessert!
If you make this blueberry nectarine crisp or any other recipe from Nourish and Fete, please rate it and leave a comment below. We love hearing from you, and other readers will benefit from your experience!
Old-Fashioned Blueberry Nectarine Crisp
Ingredients
Topping
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
Fruit Filling
- 4-5 medium nectarines pitted and sliced
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries rinsed
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons tapioca granules
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir until evenly combined. Cut butter into small cubes, then add to the flour mixture. Work the butter in with a pastry blender or with your hands until the mixture comes together into small crumbly clumps. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine nectarines, blueberries, granulated sugar, tapioca, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine. Spread fruit mixture across a 2-quart baking dish, and sprinkle with the topping.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm. With ice cream. Obviously!
I only had 3 nectarines, lots of blueberries. I put in strawberries also. I doubled the recipe. Put it in 2 glass pie pans. I put a cookie sheet on bottom rack so mess hopefully will go on that. They have been in the oven 10 min. I think about another 35 min. Should be good. I used frozen butter & shredded it !! So much easier than the pastry tool. It’ll let you know ow how they turn out.
Making this (again) for a bbq tonight! Love it, thanks so much!
We used blueberries and peaches and this was soo good! I was a little nervous because the peaches were not ripe but it turned out great. We will for sure be making this again this summer. Thanks!
So happy to hear that you liked it, Mary! Yay for summer desserts!