Blueberry Crisp Recipe with Coconut

I’m so excited to be sharing my dear friend Mary’s latest book with you! 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!

Homemade Blueberry Crisp

Dessert or breakfast? 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 blueberry crisp for breakfast, you could most definitely serve it 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.

Unique layering. 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 get 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.

Ingredient Notes

• Blueberries: You can use fresh or frozen blueberries; both work fine for crisps.
• 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, just use what you have in your pantry.
• 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 Blueberry Crisp

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.

FAQs

Make-Ahead & Storage

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.

For leftover baked crisp, it’s not necessary to refrigerate it if you plan on eating the crisp within 24 hours. 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.

Leftover Love

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
• Berry Galette – the easiest way to make pie!