Plum Crisp ~ this classic summer dessert is easy and gluten free. If you can slice plums you can make this awesome dessert!
Ripe seasonal stone fruit doesn’t need very much to become an amazing dessert ~ a little sugar, a little butter, some oats, and some heat. You can’t beat it.
I call this a plum crisp, but actually I just mixed plums and plutos from the farmer’s market. Pluots are a plum/apricot hybrid, and they come in all kinds of colors, all fantastic. Grab any variety you can find, they will all be good. One of the hallmarks of both plums and pluots is that they are extra juicy so they work really well in quick baked crisps. This is one fruit you don’t peel, the skin provides lots of extra flavor, and color, too.
I made this small batch crisp for two in a couple of heavy drinking glasses. IÂ like to use glass for fruit crisps because you get the pleasure of seeing all the jewel toned fruit bubbling away. Just be sure your glasses can stand the oven heat. Small wide mouthed mason jars work well, too. I slice the fruit right into the jar, I don’t bother with sugar or thickener, just a splash of lemon to bring out the best in the plums. Then I heap on the topping and they’re ready to bake.
My simple crisp topping is more of a formula than a recipe. You can use the basic proportions to make as much or a little as you need. I usually do it by eye. I mix old fashioned oats, flour, sugar (brown or white) and cold butter together with my fingers until it’s crumbly and there is no dry flour left. That’s it. You can add a touch of cinnamon if you like, I add cardamom. You can add chopped nuts, too. I pile it on as high as I can because the whole thing shrinks as the fruit bakes down.
Other summer fruit desserts to try ~
- Roasted Plums with Ice Cream
- Peach Cobbler with Cinnamon Swirl Biscuits
- Bourbon Fried Peaches with Ice Cream
Plum Crisp
Equipment
- 2 individual serving dishes, oven safe
Ingredients
- 4 ripe plums, washed and sliced. No need to peel.
- a squeeze of lemon juice
crisp topping
- 2 Tbsp old fashioned oats
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp cold butter, cut in small pieces
- 4 Tbsp flour or almond flour
- a pinch of cinnamon or cardamom
- 2 Tbsp sliced almonds or chopped nuts, optional
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F
- Toss the sliced plums with a little lemon juice and load them into your glasses or jars. Fill them not quite to the top.
- Mix the crisp topping ingredients with your fingers, breaking apart the butter and getting everything incorporated until there is no dry flour left.
- Pile the topping onto the fruit and bake until it is golden browned on top and the fruit is bubbling away, about 20 - 30 minutes. Set the glasses on a baking sheet to catch any possible juice overflow.
- Eat hot, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
Nutrition
Make it your own ~
- This can easily be made gluten free, just replace the flour with almond flour, or leave it out entirely.
- Use whatever fresh ripe stone fruit you can get your hands on…apricots or peaches would be wonderful.
- Make a plum apple crisp by using equal amounts of sliced apple with the plums.
don’t forget to pin this plum crisp!
Thanks for the recipe. I didn’t get it sweet enough. My fault, I used organic sugar and almond flour. But I didn’t get enough cinnamon either. Definitely could have used ice cream! L