These two blueberry desserts are comforting and delicious, but the best part is how easy they are to make! Take your pick between the Easy Blueberry Crumble and the Blueberry Chocolate Tart!

It’s quite possible that I’ve entered a U.S. blueberry mania I am not willing to come out of. I’ve been pretty hooked on making stuff with U.S. blueberries, and here I am again with not just one, but two delicious recipes! Previously I focused on breakfast recipes, but now we’re going to meander into dessert territory. Because who doesn’t love dessert? In fact, know a handful of people who skip breakfast but never ever skip dessert! Right now, I am happily embracing my obsession with recipes using beautiful, plump, and juicy U.S. blueberries.

What’s not to love about U.S. blueberries anyway? All things considered, one could call them a dessert on their own. They are easy to prepare since you literally only need to wash them to enjoy them. (They don’t even leave behind any skin or seeds!) Aside from that, blueberries are quite well known for their fabulous health benefits. I read from the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council’s website that a one-cup serving of blueberries can give us up to 16% of our daily Vitamin C requirement. Something we very much need at this time!

I think most of us already know they are a good source of dietary fiber as well, but blueberries are actually also rich in another essential nutrient: Manganese. Manganese helps convert proteins, carbs, and fats into energy, and it also aids in bone development. At only 80 calories per cup, you get all those benefits in a deliciously low fat and sodium free snack or dessert partner. Good deal, right?

Currently, experts continue to study the health benefits of blueberries. The word ‘antioxidant’ has been thrown around quite a lot, but they are also focusing on how blueberries can aid in cardiovascular and brain health. There are also studies on how it may help gut health and insulin response. For their size, blueberries sure pack a punch! And let’s not forget, they taste pretty amazing.

To tell you the truth, these U.S. Blueberries from Rainier Fruit are some of the plumpest and juiciest I’ve ever eaten. I love how some of them have that firm crunchy skin that, once bitten into, highlights the satisfying POP of blueberry juice even more. Whenever I’m baking with them, I have to stop myself from munching on and on and on. It’s hard to resist blueberries as beautiful as these!

I actually find myself treating them like precious little jewels whenever I’m choosing recipes to bake them with. As much as I love the simplicity of snacking on blueberries on their own, there are times when I get the urge to adapt them into desserts that aren’t fussy but still fairly impressive. I’m not talking about Blueberry Muffins this time. I’m talking about something even simpler but which also highlights the flavors of fresh blueberries in a similar fashion. Blueberries are quite versatile, after all!

First up is the super easy Blueberry Crumble. This is quite possibly the simplest and most comforting way to enjoy baked blueberries. Whenever blueberries are heated, they become even riper and tarter than normal, and a Blueberry Crumble is literally juicy, tart, warm, and syrupy blueberries with a tasty topping. The memory of it makes my mouth water!

The second dessert is a heavenly Blueberry Chocolate Tart. ‘Heavenly’ was the description of choice by my taste-testers, and I think it hits the needle on the head quite nicely! You’ll be surprised by how easy these incredible desserts actually are once you read on.

Easy Blueberry Crumble Notes

I don’t actually have too many recipe notes to share with you because this recipe is really straightforward. The most important thing here is to use the freshest and plumpest U.S. blueberries you can get your hands on, since this dessert relies heavily on blueberries. Although you can substitute frozen blueberries in this recipe (thaw and drain before use) I highly recommend using fresh. It’s a completely different and better experience all around.

You can buy fresh U.S. blueberries from S&R Membership Shopping, or have them delivered to your door from Always Fresh PH, Fruit Loot PH, Dizon Farms Delivers, and Prutasan ni Adan. The brand I recommend is Rainier Fruit because it’s the best brand of blueberries I’ve tried so far.

For this recipe, you can use a pie plate or individual ramekins or whatever you like, as long as you can put it into the oven that is. Blueberry Crumble is very forgiving, you see. It’s basically all about prepping your blueberry component, then your crumble component, then putting them together. I recommend using lemon rather than water for the blueberries. I think they add a delightful tartness to the whole thing.

As for the topping, it’s really just a sweet and buttery oatmeal crumble. When you start mixing it together, it’ll be super dry and will look like it won’t come together. Just keep mixing until it starts to resemble a sticky mass of crumbly dough. A fork works really well here. You don’t even need a spatula or a whisk!

To know when the crumble is ready to take out of the oven, aside from a golden brown crust, watch for the bubbling of the blueberries underneath the crumble. The blueberries will break down and become thick and syrupy, much like blueberry pie filling, and they’ll be super delicious especially when warm. If you add a scoop of ice cream on top, you get that beautiful experience reminiscent of eating warm pie with cold ice cream.

Print Pin

Easy Blueberry Crumble

Ridiculously easy but insanely good, this crumble is a must-make whenever blueberry season comes around!

Makes four 3-ounce/90 mL servings; or a 6-inch pan

Ingredients

For the blueberry filling

340 grams about 1 pint fresh blueberries
1 to 2 tablespoons 12 to 24 grams sugar, depending on sweetness of blueberries
1 Tablespoon 8 grams all-purpose flour
½ Tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or just use water
Pinch of sea salt

For the crumble topping

6 Tablespoons 48 grams all-purpose flour
6 Tablespoons 32.5 grams old-fashioned rolled oats
2 Tablespoons 24 grams white sugar
2 Tablespoons 27 grams brown sugar*
Pinch of sea salt
¼ cup 57.5 grams butter, melted (can substitute 1/4 cup melted coconut oil)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
In a large bowl, toss together blueberries, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and salt, until blueberries are evenly and well-coated. Transfer the blueberries to either four 3-ounce/90 mL ramekins, or a 6-inch pie plate. If using ramekins, place all four onto a baking sheet or tray.
In another bowl, combine flour, oats, sugars, and salt. Pour in the melted butter, then stir with a fork until all the dry ingredients are moistened and the topping looks clumped together.
Using your hands, sprinkle the crumble topping over the blueberries. Press some of the crumbs together to create big clumps before placing on top of the blueberries.
Bake the crumble for 20 to 25 minutes, until the berries underneath have popped. The juices will be bubbly and will look to have thickened. The topping will also have turned golden brown.
Cool for 10 minutes, then serve hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Notes

*You can use 4 Tablespoons of just one kind of sugar, preferably brown, but I find the crumble is yummier with a combo of white and brown.
For a 9-inch pan or pie plate, double all the ingredients, then bake for 25 to 35 minutes. Leftovers can be heated in a microwave or oven until the filling is warm and bubbly.

Adapted from Inspired Taste blog

Blueberry Chocolate Tart Notes

For this recipe, while it’s important to source sweet blueberries for the topping of the tart, it’s equally important to use good chocolate for the filling. The heavenly-ness of this tart will really depend on the kind of chocolate, and cream, you use. I suppose it’s okay to substitute all-purpose cream here, but absolutely do not scrimp on the chocolate. I always recommend using Auro Chocolate. And for the blueberries, same as with the Blueberry Crumble, I recommend Rainier Fruit. Any U.S. blueberry should be fine though.

The trick here is to get a nice even chocolate melt for the filling. You want to heat your cream until you see it steaming, but not simmering or boiling. Then you want to pour it over your chocolate in a bowl, letting the hot cream melt the chocolate. I used a combination of 55% and 64% here, and it was just sweet enough and deep enough to complement the tart blueberries. Once the chocolate cream is smooth, pour it over your frozen graham cracker crust.

A note on the graham crust: You can skip the addition of the melted chocolate on the crust, but I think it makes it taste even better. Likewise, you can switch out the graham cracker crumbs for chocolate cookie crumbs to make this extra chocolatey. I personally think the graham crust gives just enough balance to the chocolate filling so that it won’t overwhelm the blueberries. This tart can last 5 days in the fridge, which is longer than most desserts, but it’s so good you’d probably find yourself praying for leftovers. (Like me!)

Print Pin

No-Bake Blueberry Chocolate Tart

This glorious and silky chocolate tart dotted with fresh blueberries is so good you may as well say it's heaven.

Makes one 9-inch tart, or six 3 1/2-inch tartlets