Breakfast fruit crisp combines juicy fresh fruit with a nutty, crumbly oat topping that’s healthy enough to start your day off right. Dessert for breakfast? Heck yeah!
a breakfast crisp makes perfect sense
The combination of fresh fruit, oats, and nuts is a wonderful way to start the day. Right now I’m gorging on fresh summer berries and stone fruit, but come fall I’ll be making this with apples, pears, and even fresh cranberries! A fruit crisp for breakfast makes the morning meal a lot more interesting. Try it out on overnight guests, or kids who insist on skipping breakfast.
what makes this crisp healthy enough for the most important meal of the day?
I love a great fruit crisp for dessert as much as anybody, and I can’t deny that I’ve eaten leftover crisp for breakfast more times than I can count. But this recipe is formulated to be a little more breakfast-appropriate, here’s how I did it:
- I’ve cut down the butter and sugar to a reasonable amount. Note: the fresh apricots provide most of the sugar in this recipe.
- I doubled down on healthy oats and nuts.
You can think of it kind of like warm fruit with a granola-esque topping. I also left my fruit unsweetened, which I think works just perfectly for most berries, peaches, and other fruits, but if you have fruit that’s quite tart (rhubarb or cranberries) you can toss it with just a little bit of sugar or honey to sweeten it up.
what you’ll need
- fruit! I used fresh apricots here, but any other stone fruit will work, and fresh or frozen berries work well, too.
- vanilla extract and cornstarch get tossed with the fruit to amp up the flavor and help thicken the juices
- flour – try whole wheat for an even healthier twist.
- butter – just a mere 2 tablespoons for 4 servings. You can substitute any alternative butter or coconut oil if you like.
- brown sugar – again, just a couple of tablespoons sweetens everything just enough without going over the top.
- rolled oats give great texture to the crisp.
- sliced almonds, or substitute chopped walnuts, pecans, or any other nut you like.
- cinnamon gives the crisp topping a cozy flavor.
- salt
prep ahead for a breakfast crisp
Pushing the button on my coffee maker is about all I can manage in the early am, so prepping ahead is key!
- The crisp topping can be made the night before and stored separately in the fridge. We’re not going to top the fruit ahead of time because it can soak up too much liquid and get soggy.
- When ready to bake, simply preheat your oven, toss together your fruit, and sprinkle on your crisp topping.
- In about half and hour you’ve got a warm, comforting breakfast.
a crisp for all seasons…
Feel free to play with the other ingredients as the seasons change. Here are some combo’s I’m dying to try:
- late summer blackberries tossed with almond extract, sliced almonds, and a touch of cinnamon
- sliced apples or pears, chopped walnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg in the fall
- fresh or frozen cranberries tossed with sugar and almond extract, chopped pecans, cinnamon and a pinch of allspice or clove in the winter.
- I can’t wait for spring to try a strawberry rhubarb combo!
more healthy ways to start the day
- Paleo Fruit and Nut Bread
- Cranberry Cleanse Smoothie
- Bircher Muesli
- Cranberry Walnut Wild Rice Porridge
- Baked Eggs Florentine
- Baked Breakfast Apples
Breakfast Fruit Crisp
Ingredients
- 6 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- 6-7 medium apricots, pitted and sliced (or other fruit of your choice)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Using your hands, blend together the flour, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt until the mixture is crumbly and sandy in texture. Then mix in the oats and sliced almonds. Set aside.
- Toss together the sliced fruit, vanilla extract, and cornstarch, and place it into your 9-inch pie plate.
- Top with the crisp mixture, and bake for about 35-45 minutes until just starting to turn golden on top and the fruit is bubbling.
- Serve warm with a dollop of whipped cream, yogurt, or a drizzle of maple syrup.
Nutrition
I used to make this with home made apricot preserves or even a little pie filling. It was always a hit.
Hi Sue, if I were to use fresh blueberries or raspberries, do you know how much I would use? (Measurement in cups or weight??)
Hi Lola ~ I’d use a heaping cup per person, so for this recipe, about 5 cups.
I, too, have often eaten crisp, especially apple, for breakfast – thinking oats and fruit – how bad can that be? Right!! I’m wondering about how much fruit in cups, if we want to change up the fruit from Apricots.
And is that a Greek yogurt dollop on top – what a great way to get a bit of dairy!
Thanks so much
I’d say about 5 cups of other fruit, Cathy. And I used whipped cream 🙂 but yogurt would be even better!
You referenced using frozen fruit in the post – and I have both frozen peaches and cranberries in my freezer. Would you suggest thawing the fruit first, or baking it from frozen? I don’t often use frozen fruit for more than smoothies and frozen drinks, so I’m never sure what to do. Thank you!
Usually when I’m baking with frozen fruit I use it straight from frozen. You just have to make sure to bake long enough to get it really hot and bubbly.