Cinnamon Blackberry Crumble

***UPDATE: See this post about our new eating habits. (7/10/11)

There are tons of fruit desserts out there…..and they all have different names. Crisp……crumble……cobbler….pandowdy. Well, if you’ve ever wondered, “What the heck is pandowdy?!” then the next few weeks are for you! I’ll uncover several different fruit desserts and tell you what they are…..then you can tell your friends and they’ll think you’re a culinary genius! Today we’re making a Crumble – Cinnamon Blackberry Crumble. A crumble begins with a fruit on the bottom. It’s given a topping that consists of flour, sugar, and butter – a streusel. The three are mixed together until “crumbly” and then sprinkled on top of the fruit. It will give the topping a cookie-like taste. This recipe actually adds cookies in the topping to give it a little extra oomph. “LET’S GET READY TO CRUMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Sorry, I’ve always wanted to say that…..that phrase fits so well with so many things. “Let’s get ready to VACUUUUUUUUUMMMM!!!” “LET’S GET READY TO POOOOOOTTTTTTTYYYYYYYYY!!!!” Anyway, on to the fruit!

You’ll need berries, sugar, cornstarch, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice, nutmeg, salt, crushed vanilla wafers, brown sugar, melted butter…..and maybe ice cream if you like to live dangerously. I used blackberries because they’re Barry’s favorite. I actually hate them. ICK! BLECH! I can’t stand any of those little berries that leave little seeds in my teeth – except strawberries. Yes, I know I’m hard to figure out. You could use any berry you like – raspberry, blueberry, etc.

Grab an 8 inch dish and spray it with cooking spray or rub it down with butter. It will help with cleanup later……I like to make things easy for later because usually “later” I’m pooped out. This is a Corelle dish. I love Corelle!

Put your berries into a large bowl. Add the sugar, cornstarch, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice, nutmeg, and salt. Toss to coat. Don’t stir the heck out of it or you’ll squash all your berries. That would be a travesty.

Pour this mixture into your dish. There’s going to be a lot of floury sugar stuff left, so just pour that right in too. It’s going to make it all nice and juicy later. Yum, yum!

Time to make the streusel! In the same bowl, because we hate dirtying extra dishes, combine your cookie crumbs, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Stir it together a tad to combine. Inhale. Whewwww! Someone needs to create Cinnamon Cologne. I’d totally buy it.

Pour your melted butter over the flour mixture and stir it well. It’s going to be “crumbly.” Bet ya didn’t see that coming, did ya? I’m full of surprises.

Sprinkle this topping evenly over your fruit. No, it’s not too much. Trust me. Now, lick your fingers. Thanks.

Stick it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 40-50 minutes or until it starts to look browned and bubbly like this. Isn’t it pretty? See how the berries popped up on the sides? Aren’t you glad you sprayed it now?  Barry ate all of this, because like I said – blackberries = ickiness. He said it was great! And yes, he used ice cream.

*See below recipe for this week’s giveaway.