This blueberry crisp with coconut is a fun and delicious twist on plain blueberry crisp – you’ll love the additional layer of crisp and the flavor that the coconut adds. The only question is, will you eat it for breakfast or dessert?
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: This is an easy recipe that everyone always raves about.
How long it takes: a little less than an hour
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowls, baking pan, oven
Servings: 6
I’m so excited to be sharing my dear friend Mary’s latest book with you guys! I met Mary through blogging, similar to many of my now very close friends (the internet is so crazy!) and I’m so grateful that we’ve had the opportunity to spend time together a few times in real life. She’s an absolute gem and inspires me every day by the way she parents her boys and the way she lives her life.
If you love the recipes here on Rachel Cooks, you’re going to love Mary’s style of cooking and recipes too, both on her site Barefeet in the Kitchen and in her books. The recipes are easy, approachable, and perfect for a busy life, but still made from scratch and absolutely delicious. Her most recent book is titled The Weekday Lunches & Breakfasts Cookbook: Easy & Delicious Home-Cooked Meals for Busy Families. Her first book is titled The Weeknight Dinner Cookbook and I own and love that one as well!
About This Crisp
I love her recipe for Blueberry Crisp with Coconut because in general, crisps are my favorite desserts and I love the twist of adding coconut. Mary has this one filed away under the breakfast category in her book and while I don’t oppose eating this for breakfast, you could most definitely serve this as a dessert, preferably with a big ol’ scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. For breakfast, I like it with a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt, but vanilla yogurt would also be fantastic if you like things on the sweeter side.
I like Mary’s method of making blueberry crisp: she layers half of the crisp mixture on the bottom of the pan before the fruit, so you end up with a crust of sorts at the bottom. I love the different textures you end up with using this method. If you’re the type that likes tons of crisp piled on top, you could certainly switch up this recipe and prepare it that way as well.
What You’ll Need
- Blueberries: Fresh or frozen, both work fine.
- Sugar, Cornstarch, Cinnamon: The berries are mixed with this trio to sweeten, thicken, and flavor them.
- Rolled Oats: Use old-fashioned rolled oats. Quick oats are okay, too, but don’t use instant oats or steel-cut oats.
- Coconut: Shredded coconut, either sweetened or unsweetened, adds a unique flavor and texture to this crisp. You’ll love it!
- All-Purpose Flour: Whole wheat flour is a good alternative or use gluten-free brown rice flour.
- Brown Sugar: Light or dark, doesn’t really matter.
- Butter: I usually use unsalted butter but in a pinch, salted butter is fine, too. Melt the butter so it’s easy to stir into the topping mix.
How To Make This Recipe
It’s pretty simple really. Crisps are an unstructured dessert so they are not fussy at all. I find them to be much easier than making a pie. For more fruit crisp recipes, keep reading. I have a list of my favorites at the end of this post.
You’ll need an 8-inch square baking dish or something comparable. A cast iron skillet is a fun alternative. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Begin by lightly tossing together the berries, flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl.
In another bowl, combine the topping ingredients. Use half of the topping to line the bottom of the baking dish. Lightly press it down. Pour the blueberry mixture on top, then cover with the rest of the topping mixture.
Bake for about a half hour. Oh, it smells so good with the fruity blueberries cooking and the coconut toasting! I bet you can’t wait to dig in!
If you’re a fan of everything coconut, be sure to try my coconut macaroons, coconut oatmeal cookies, and coconut custard pie.
A crisp usually has oats and/or nuts in the topping. A crumble has more of a streusel topping.
If you plan on eating the crisp within 24 hours, it’s not necessary to refrigerate it. If it’s going to be much longer than that, I would definitely stick it in the fridge. In either case, cover it tightly with plastic wrap or foil.
I love a bit of cinnamon or a squeeze of lemon with blueberries. You don’t want so much that it overpowers the delicious flavor of the blueberries, just a hint is all you need. Lemon zest or nutmeg are good choices, too.
Crisps are really best eaten shortly after they are baked. The good news is you can prepare the crisp ahead of time but don’t bake it. Cover and refrigerate the unbaked crisp up to one day in advance. Remove it from the fridge while the oven preheats, uncover, and bake as directed. It may take an additional five minutes or so.
If you want to freeze the unbaked crisp, wrap it well, and freeze for up to a month. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bake as directed.
Have a couple scoops of crisp leftover? Stir it into a container of softened vanilla ice cream and refreeze. You’ve just made your own premium flavor of ice cream!
More fruity desserts
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp – the perfect summer recipe!
- Apple Crisp with Ginger
- Apple Spice Cake with Bourbon Glaze
- Peach Crumble (no oats in the topping)
- Peach Blueberry Crisp
- Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake
- Rustic Four Berry Pie
Blueberry Recipes
Blueberry Coconut Crisp Recipe
Ingredients
Filling Ingredients
- 18 oz. fresh blueberries (about 4 cups)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Crisp Ingredients
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup sweetened flaked coconut (I use unsweetened and it turns out great!)
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour (see note for gluten-free alternative)
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Lightly grease an 8-inch square pan or a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with butter. Rinse the berries and place them in a small bowl. Sprinkle with sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. Stir to coat.
- In a separate bowl, combine the oats, coconut, flour, brown sugar, and butter. Stir with a fork to create a streusel-like topping.
- Scoop half the topping into the prepared pan (see note). Lightly press to cover the bottom of the pan. Pour the berries over the crust, spreading them evenly across the pan. Sprinkle with the remaining crisp topping mixture.
- Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool at least 10 minutes before scooping into bowls.
Notes
- To make this recipe gluten-free, use ⅔ cup brown rice flour instead of all-purpose flour.
- Frozen blueberries may be substituted for the fresh berries in this recipe. Blackberries and raspberries work well also. If you are using frozen berries, add two tablespoons of water and an additional 2 tablespoons of sugar to the fruit mixture.
- If desired, put all of the topping mixture on top of the crisp.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
This crisp was a hit with my family. Had strawberries in the freezer that needed to be used so I substituted for half the blueberries. It was great. Definitely a keeper. Thank you for sharing.
So glad you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
Would this work with (thawed) frozen blueberries?
Should work! I don’t think you need to thaw them though, just increase the baking time slightly.
sounds easy and delicious
oh, how I love this blueberry crisp! I’m so glad that you’re enjoying the cookbooks. Your photos are making me crave this all over again!
<3 Thanks Mary! We loved it!
Add orange zest to make extra delicious!
That is a delicious idea! Lemon would be tasty, too!