Easy Blueberry Desserts for Summer: Quick Cobblers, Slumps, and Crisps

You know the phrase easy as pie? Cobblers, slumps, and crisps (like the blueberry slump, pictured here) are even easier than pie, but just as tasty - instead of pie crust, these summer desserts are topped with a sweetened crumb or biscuit topping, meaning much less work for the chef. You can make a crisp or cobbler with almost any kind of fruit, from peaches to apples to blackberries, but at this time of year we're partial to fresh-picked blueberries.

RECIPE: Blueberry Slump
A sticky biscuit dough is dropped onto blueberries in this classic New England dessert, which is called a "slump," "grunt," or "cobbler," depending on who you're asking.

SERVES 8

INGREDIENTS
2 cups flour
1 ¾ cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
4 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1 ¼ cups milk
1 ½ lb. blueberries
1 cup fresh orange juice
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

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INSTRUCTIONS
1. Whisk together flour, ¼ cup sugar, baking powder, and ½ tsp. salt in a large bowl; add butter, and using your fingers, rub butter into flour until pea-size crumbles form. Add milk, and stir just until a moist dough forms; cover and refrigerate dough until ready to use.

2. Heat oven to 400°. Bring remaining sugar and salt along with blueberries and citrus juices to a boil in a 12″ cast-iron or enamelware skillet over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove pan from heat, and using two tablespoons, portion and form chilled dough into 2 to 3″ oval dumplings, and drop them evenly on top of the blueberry mixture. Sprinkle dough dumplings with sugar, and transfer skillet to oven; bake until biscuits are cooked through and blueberry mixture is reduced, about 25 minutes. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream, if you like.

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RECIPE: Blueberry Crisp
If you are lucky enough to find yourself with an overabundance of blueberries, this easy-to-make crisp is delicious way to prepare them. This crisp can also be made with peaches, plums, or other summer berries.

SERVES 4 - 6

INGREDIENTS
6 cups (3 pints) blueberries, washed and stemmed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 ¼cups flour
⅔ cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt
10 tbsp. cold butter

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INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Toss together washed, stemmed blueberries and granulated sugar in a bowl, then transfer to a medium baking dish.

2. Combine flour, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt in another bowl. Using two knives, work cold butter, cut into pieces, into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle mixture evenly over blueberries.

3. Bake until berries are bubbling and topping is golden, about 50 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with heavy cream spooned over top.



Blueberry-Cherry Cobbler

Fluffy biscuits top this quick cobbler, which is flavored with cinnamon and almond extract.

Get the recipe »









Individual Blueberry Crisps

This dessert couldn't be more simple to pull together, and can be made with either fresh or frozen huckleberries or blueberries.

Get the recipe »








Blackberry Slump

While you can use any berry in these individually portioned desserts, this dessert is made with blackberries at the Four Swallows restaurant on Bainbridge Island, Washington.

Get the recipe »




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