Mini blueberry crumble made with a handful of blueberries and topped with a crisp, buttery oat topping. A wonderful single serving dessert! Quick, easy, and so delicious!
Making a warm and bubbly blueberry crumble is one of the easiest and most delicious desserts you can make. It's rustic and elegant at the same time and can be enjoyed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream, but we think this blueberry crumble absolutely perfect as-is, no topping required.
Why I Love This Recipe
- It tastes incredible! This mini blueberry crumble is filled with juicy blueberries and topped with a buttery oat topping. Enjoy as a dessert or as an indulgent breakfast treat.
- It's easy to prepare: A crumble is easier to make than pie. The berries are mixed with a little sugar, flour, and a touch of lemon juice which helps to create the filling. Pour the berries into a small baking dish and spoon over the oat topping - no crust needed!
- Perfect for using a small amount of blueberries: When you find yourself with about ½-pint of blueberries, this single serving dessert is the perfect one to make. If you want to use more blueberries, go right ahead. This crumble recipe doubles well, simply double the ingredient amounts and use a larger baking dish.
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What Is The Difference Between A Crumble And A Crisp?
Deciding whether to call this a blueberry crumble or a blueberry crisp was a bit tricky. Both desserts are similar with very minor differences between them. In the end, I suppose it doesn't really matter what we call it, it only matters that you make it because it's so incredibly delicious and we know you're going to love it too!
Crumbles and crisps are both baked desserts with some kind of topping. The differences can be confusing and depending upon what part of the country you live in, their names can be interchangeable.
Crisps and crumbles are incredibly alike and the differences between them can be argued depending on who you ask. Essentially, with a fruit crisp, the topping that sits on the baked fruit is crispy and crumbly. The topping contains butter and sugar and often flour and/or oats to help bind the ingredients together.
A crumble is essentially a crisp but it can have a slightly different texture. Some will add chopped nuts and warm spices like nutmeg or cinnamon.
Since the topping for our blueberry dessert is crumbly, we chose to call it a blueberry crumble.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Blueberries: My preference is to use fresh blueberries but if you have frozen blueberries, you can definitely make this dessert with those. Just be sure to thaw the blueberries first.
- Sugars: I like using a small amount of granulated sugar in the filling and also in the topping. We also add brown sugar to the crumble topping.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour.
- Lemon juice: Use freshly squeezed or bottled lemon juice. Lemon juice brightens the flavor and cuts the sweetness.
- Butter: Softened butter is used to make the topping. Softened butter should still be cool to the touch but when you press your finger into the butter, your finger will leave an indentation.
- Oats: For best results use old-fashioned oats (also called rolled oats).
- Salt and Vanilla extract: For wonderful flavor
- Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream: Optional, for topping the blueberry crumble.
See below for ways to use leftover ingredients.
How To Make Blueberry Crumble For One Or Two
See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with sugar, flour, lemon juice, and salt. Transfer the berries to a small baking dish.
Pro Tip: I use a 4x6-inch baking dish that has a base area of 24 square inches. See below for other dishes we recommend.
- In a separate small bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, and vanilla. Blend in the butter using a fork and mix until well combined.
- Scatter the topping over the berries in the baking dish.
- Bake the blueberry crumble until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden, about 25-30 minutes.
- Cool for 10 minutes, then enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Make a gluten-free blueberry crumble: If you want to make a gluten-free version of this dessert, use your favorite gluten-free flour blend instead of all-purpose flour.
- Look for plump, smooth-skinned blueberries: Choose berries that are deep purple/blue. You can use fresh or frozen and thawed blueberries in this recipe.
- Consider using mixed berries: This recipe is very versatile, it is delicious with raspberries, blackberries, or a combination of both.
- Reduce the sugar: The amount of sugar needed depends on how tart or sweet your blueberries are. Be sure to taste the berries before using them in this recipe. If they are tart, you might need to add a bit more sugar to balance the flavor. If the berries are sweet, feel free to reduce the amount of sugar you use.
Frequently Asked Questions
The best way to soften your butter for the crumble topping is to put it out on the kitchen counter for a half-hour before you want to use it.
Another way to quickly soften butter is to put the cold butter in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds. If you use this method, be sure to watch carefully - you don't want the butter to melt at all.
For this small blueberry crumble recipe, we use a 4x6-inch baking dish that has a base area of 24 square inches.
Other alternative baking dishes:
5x5-inch dish
6x6-inch dish (this size will yield a thinner blueberry filling, less crumble topping, and it may bake faster).
6-inch round dish
These baking dishes can be viewed on our Store page.
If you would like additional information on the cooking and baking dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit our FAQ page.
You might like to try our blueberry cobbler recipe. The topping is more like a cake or biscuit.
Yes. Blueberry crumble will keep well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and can be frozen for up to 1 month. I prefer to freeze the crumble topping separately and add it as a topping right before baking.
Crumble topping freezes very well and can be kept on hand to make any kind of fruit crumble.
To bake frozen blueberry crumble, simply bake from frozen until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this blueberry crumble recipe, you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
- Blueberries: Blueberry Muffin, Refrigerator Jam, Berry Filled Dutch Baby, Blueberry Cobbler, Mini Blueberry Pie, Blueberry Coffee Cake
- Lemon juice: Lemon Blueberry Muffin, Lemon Bars, Lemon and Garlic Chicken, Lemon Scones, Lemon Curd, Paneer
- Oats: Baked Oatmeal, Oatmeal Cookies, Orange Oatmeal Cake, Oatmeal Butterscotch Skillet Cookie, Overnight Oats
Other Fruit Filled Desserts
- Apple Crisp For One
- Peach Crisp For One
- Strawberry Shortcake For One
- Caramelized Plums
- Strawberry White Chocolate Scones
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If you’ve tried this mini blueberry crumble or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
If you take a picture please tag us on Instagram (@onedishkitchen) we’d love to see it!
RELATED: The Best Cookie Recipes For One
Blueberry Crumble For One
See the post above for expert tips,
FAQs and ways to use leftover ingredients.
Equipment
- 4x6-inch baking dish , or use a 5x5-inch dish, a 6x6-inch dish (this size will yield a thinner blueberry filling, less crumble topping, and it may bake faster), or a 6-inch round dish
Ingredients
- 6 ounces blueberries (about ½ pint)
- 3 to 4 tablespoons sugar (depending on the sweetness of the blueberries)
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
TOPPING
- 6 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ¼ cup old fashioned oats
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons salted butter , softened
- Optional topping: vanilla ice cream or whipped cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with sugar, flour, lemon juice, and salt. Transfer the berries to a small baking dish.
- In a separate small bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, and vanilla. Blend in the butter using a fork and mix until well combined.
- Scatter the topping over the berries.
- Bake the blueberry crumble until the filling is bubbling and the topping is golden, about 25-30 minutes.
- Cool for 10 minutes and top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.
Notes
- Make a gluten-free blueberry crumble: If you want to make a gluten-free version of this dessert, use your favorite gluten-free flour blend instead of all-purpose flour.
- Look for plump, smooth-skinned blueberries: Choose berries that are deep purple/blue. You can use fresh or frozen and thawed blueberries in this recipe.
- Consider using mixed berries: This recipe is very versatile, it is delicious with raspberries, blackberries, or a combination of both.
- Reduce the sugar: The amount of sugar needed depends on how tart or sweet your blueberries are. Be sure to taste the berries before using them in this recipe. If they are tart, you might need to add a bit more sugar to balance the flavor. If the berries are sweet, feel free to reduce the amount of sugar you use.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
TeresaS says
This was so easy to prepare...I made it for the hubby but I was able to get a couple of bites...it brought back memories of when my Mother use to make crumbles...I used blackberries in place of the blueberries...delicious...thanks for sharing your recipe...
Jennifer Warren says
I just finished eating (gobbling) this dish and it is absolute perfection!
J. Hegyi says
Great recipe.
SHELLY says
Yum I followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious!
Muriel manley says
Could you use rhubarb instead of blueberries
Joanie Zisk says
You can, Muriel. You might need to bake the crumble a bit longer though. Check for readiness after 25 minutes and continue baking and checking at about 5 minute intervals until completely done.
Muriel manley says
Thank you
Mary says
I make this once a week. Easy and great when I need something sweet. For me this is two desserts.
Camelot says
I just made this blueberry crumble, and it was amazing. I followed the recipe exactly as written, do Please do NOT substitute butter ! Listen to Joanie, she has perfected these one dish servings.
It was perfectly balanced, not to sweet , right amount of crumbs to berries and delicious crispy top. By the way I just purchased the mini Breville oven for my 16 year old daughter . And that is what I used to bake this in, came out great. Next is the oatmeal cookies.
DML says
Thank you. This was very helpful