I really like pie. A lot. I’ve been in a season of life where I bake a lot of them- salted caramel apple pies, peach and cherry galettes, maple and cinnamon apple hand pies and mushroom pesto pop tarts, all recipes that I’ll share with you one day. A lot of times when I think about pie baking, I picture a pie cooling on the windowsill, fresh from the oven, with a fall breeze and a fluttering curtain. It’s a homey, comforting, old fashioned picture. And the fall breeze thing is mostly because I’m sweating to DEATH right now in Mississippi and I’ve been “forced” to eat lots of these. Send help.

But this is not about pie. Its about crumbles, and I really like crumbles too (crisp? same thing to me, but I’m sure there are nuances I’m not adhering to). Sometimes I feel like crumbles get a bad reputation as being the ugly stepsister of pie. Who would want a crumble, if they could have pie instead? Because: Crust, duh. But! Crumbles have streusel topping! With oats and crunchy bursts of sweetness! And if you have an over abundance of summer fruit and no butter on hand (gasp!), you can still make a crumble.

This particular crumble is gluten and dairy free. I’d like to say it’s very trendy and chic and I did this on purpose because of all my gluten and dairy averse friends, but that’s not really how it happened. I didn’t have any butter and I didn’t have any flour on hand, but I did have almond meal, and I did have coconut oil, and I wanted a fruity dessert. Necessity, meet invention. Because dessert = always necessary.

But I would like to clear the air about gluten: me and gluten are bros. I like bread. Nay, I LOVE bread. Bread is delicious. It’s warm and buttery and you can toast it! It can be a sandwich or a crouton or an accessory to a really healthy salad. I’m not posting a gluten free crumble because I have jumped on the gluten avoidance train. But, I do have friends, and some of those friends aren’t so chummy with gluten like I am, either through personal choice or health related concerns. So it’s nice to have options, and ways to share dessert with people and still be friends. And while we’re on the subject, me and lactose are bros, too (Gilmore Girls, season 7, anybody?).

This is really, really easy. Chop the fruit, toss in pan, spread oat mixture. Our peaches were almost too ripe, so they were perfect and juicy and smelled earthy and fresh. The blueberries were also really sweet, so I’ll dial down the sugar in the topping next time. It feels fresh, and the topping adds a nice crunch. This is a great way to use the last bits of summer fruit that’s about to be past it’s prime. It’s delicious by itself, but you would absolutely not be wrong to serve it with vanilla ice cream. And yes, of course you can have this for breakfast, served over plain Greek yogurt, like I did today.

Peach Blueberry Crumble

I’ve made this with pitted cherries and blackberries too. Any mixture of fresh summer berries are delicious here.

Makes enough to fill a 9-inch square baking dish to the brim

7-8 small peaches, pitted and chopped small

2-3 cups of fresh blueberries

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2/3 cup of oats

2/3 cup of almond meal

1/3 cup of coconut oil

1/3 cup of brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of allspice

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, freshly grated

pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit.

Toss the fruit and the lemon juice together in the baking dish. In a medium bowl, toss the remaining ingredients together, except for the coconut oil, till well combined, breaking up any chunks. Add in the coconut oil and  mash with a fork to distribute it evenly. Spread over the fruit mixture and press down for even distribution. Place your baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly and browned on top. Let cool slightly before devouring.