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Free up your oven with this simple no-bake dessert, featuring a bright fruit filling topped with extra-crispy streusel.
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Why It Works
- The fruit is cooked in a skillet and then topped with toasted streusel—no baking required!
- Both the streusel and the fruit can be prepared ahead of time and assembled when ready to serve.
It's November, you're planning your next big holiday meal, and you've just realized you're out of space in the oven for dessert. What do you do?What do you do?
With this streusel-topped fruit dessert—made 100% on the stovetop in a single skillet—in your back pocket, you've got nothing to worry about. Think a fruit crisp needs to be baked in an oven to achieve that delicious crunchy topping? Nope. With just a skillet and a plate you can get the same soft and supple fruit and that hallmark buttery-crisp streusel. Whether you just don't feel like firing up the oven, or your oven is slated for other business (such as that holiday turkey), know that a stovetop version of your favorite crisp is an option.
How do you do it? By cooking the streusel separately. When making a traditional fruit crisp, a crumbly butter, sugar, and flour mix is sprinkled over the fruit before baking. But since a skillet is often used to toast ingredients such as nuts or bread crumbs, why not toast up a streusel? When applying this method, you're aiming to cook the streusel mix through (no raw flour taste), for it to be perfectly crunchy, with a nice golden-brown, not burned, color. To do this properly, there are four keys: use enough butter to enable the flour/sugar mix to brown properly, use a wide enough skillet for the streusel to be in an even layer, toast the streusel over low- to medium-low heat, and stir frequently. Once the pebbles of streusel are golden brown, spread it out on a large plate to cool. The texture becomes even crunchy as it cools.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__images__2014__11__20141103-Stovetop-Fruit-Crisp-Yvonne-Ruperti.4-4a8dad4d06b0494883c4339dbfd48a1c.jpg "Easy Stovetop Fruit Crisp Recipe (3)")
Now it's just a matter of the fruit. I used fresh plums here, but any crisp- or cobbler-friendly fruit will work. In a large skillet, cook the fruit with sugar and a small amount of cornstarch until the fruit is soft and the juices have thickened. Immediately sprinkle the streusel over the hot fruit and serve. Unlike a baked crisp where the bottom of the streusel can be soggy, here, every smidgen of streusel surface area has been crisped up for extra crunch in every bite. And this method is ideal as a make-ahead dessert—toast the streusel ahead of time and store in an airtight container until ready to use.
November 2014
Recipe Details
Easy Stovetop Fruit Crisp Recipe
Active25 mins
Total25 mins
Serves6 servings
Ingredients
For the Streusel:
1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup hazelnuts, finely chopped (see note)
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter
For the Filling:
1/3 cup (2 2/3 ounces) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons (1 ounce)unsalted butter
1 3/4 pounds red plums (about 10 small), pitted and cut into 1/2-inch wedges (see note)
Directions
For the Streusel: Combine flour, nuts, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Melt butter in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in flour mixture until moistened and mixture forms small clumps. Return to low heat and cook, stirring frequently, until streusel is golden brown and well toasted, 6 to 9 minutes. Transfer streusel to a large plate to cool (see note). Streusel can be made up to 5 days ahead. After cooling completely, store in an airtight container at room temperature.
For the Filling: Stir sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Add butter, plums, and sugar mixture to skillet and heat over medium heat, stirring, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute.
Increase heat to medium, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until plums are almost softened, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove lid and cook until plums are cooked through and mixture has thickened slightly, about 5 minutes more.
Immediately top plums with streusel and serve.
Special Equipment
10-inch nonstick skillet with lid
Notes
I used hazelnuts because that's what I had on hand, but any nut such as pecan, almond, or walnut will work.
When toasting the streusel, take care not to burn it. As it cools it will become crisp. Other fruit such as apples, pears, apricots, nectarines, or peaches can be used in place of the plums.
Read More
- The Best Apple Crisp
- Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp
- Bourbon Peach and Raspberry Crisp
- Blueberry-Nectarine Crisp
- Easy Stovetop Cherry Grunt (Stovetop Cobbler)
- Stovetop Fruit
- Plum
- Fall Desserts
- Thanksgiving Desserts
- Christmas Desserts
| Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 499 | Calories |
| 26g | Fat |
| 65g | Carbs |
| 5g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
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| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 6 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 499 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 26g | 34% |
| Saturated Fat 12g | 62% |
| Cholesterol 51mg | 17% |
| Sodium 118mg | 5% |
| Total Carbohydrate 65g | 24% |
| Dietary Fiber 4g | 13% |
| Total Sugars 42g | |
| Protein 5g | |
| Vitamin C 13mg | 65% |
| Calcium 46mg | 4% |
| Iron 2mg | 11% |
| Potassium 341mg | 7% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
