Cheaters Handbook: Crumble or Crisp in a Pinch

Don't you hate those nights when you have a major craving for dessert, yet there is nothing in the house to satisfy your craving? Well say goodbye to those nasty unfulfilled cravings because I have got just the trick for you!  Fruit crumbles and crisps are one of my favourite desserts, as you may know from my previous post on my Strawberry Blueberry Apple Crumble.  So when I get a craving for dessert, a delicious crumble or crisp does just the trick!  After a particularly unfortunate unfulfilled craving night, (I may have attacked a pint of freezer burned chocolate ice cream) I decided to be proactive about things.  The next time a dessert craving came along I wanted to be armed and ready! This lead me to make up a batch of crumble and crisp topping that I could keep on hand in the fridge.  The topping keeps in an airtight container for 4 weeks, allowing you to be prepared for a whole month!  So when that craving comes along, you simply chop up some fruit (or use frozen fruit), top with your readymade topping, and bake!  Only you in the house and you don't want to make an entire crumble or crisp for just yourself?  This is also perfect for individual desserts!  Just place fruit and topping in a ramekin or small dish to bake and place the remaining topping back in the fridge for another time. 

Tip: If you don't have a food processor to pulse topping ingredients, you may use a bowl and 2 knives to combine.  

Ingredients:

Crumble Topping

1/2 cup cold  butter, cut in chunks

1 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 tsp cinnamon

Crisp Topping

1/2 cup cold butter, cut in chunks

1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup oatmeal or graham wafer crumbs

1 tsp cinnamon

Additional Optional Add-Ins

shredded or flaked coconut

chopped toasted nuts (such as almonds, pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts)

granola

raisins

other dried fruit (such as dried cranberries, apricots, dates, prunes, cherries)

Filling

any fruit you like to fit your dish (in the one pictured above, I used peaches, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries)

several shakes of cinnamon 

Directions:

Crumble Topping

1.  In a food processor, pulse topping ingredients of your choice until crumbly.  

Fruit Crumble or Crisp

1.  Grease a baking dish of whichever size you like (no bigger than 10 inches large).  

2.  Peel, pit, and slice fruit (if needed).  Combine fruit in a bowl and mix in cinnamon. Empty fruit into baking dish, making sure to spread fruit evenly. 

3.  Bake at 375 º for 40 minutes. Serve hot or cold (I prefer hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!).  If using an individual dish, bake for 20-25 minutes.