When you consider the panoply of rustic fruit desserts in the cannon of American home cooking, from cobblers to slumps, I’ll go for a crisp every time. Sliced fruit baked until its juices bubble with a crunchy oatmeal-flecked topping? It gets me every time. Plus, it’s quick to make and easy to give a healthy spin. Case in point is this homey and healthy Fruit Crisp.

The recipe starts with a topping that’s built on a base of Medjool dates, which get whirled in a food processor with olive oil. Then, in goes whole-grain flour, oats, walnuts, and a bit of brown sugar. Scatter that over berries mixed with stone fruit and you’ve got a real winner on your hands. It’s wholesome, sure, but it’s still very much dessert. The dates in the topping add an appealing chew that pairs deliciously with peaches or whatever happens to be at the farm stand.

A Flexible Fruit Crisp Recipe

Like so many rustic desserts, this fruit crisp is primed for tinkering. Here are a few suggestions that may come in handy:

Use peaches, nectarines, plums, and apricots interchangeably, depending on what’s in season and available.
In the fall, use apples or pears.
Stir in blackberries or blueberries or a combination of the two. If fresh isn’t available, add frozen berries straight from the freezer.
Make the topping with white whole-wheat, whole-wheat, all-purpose, or gluten-free all purpose instead whole-wheat pastry flour if that’s what you have on hand.
Leave the nuts out entirely if you have a nut allergy in your house. Alternatively, substitute chopped pecans, hazelnuts, or almonds for the walnuts.

What Makes this Recipe Healthy?

Before I get into the healthy (ish) upsides to this recipe, let’s get something straight: It’s still dessert. If you didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes, you’d likely never guess it was full of nutrition upgrades. It’s plainly delicious and also…

Full of fiber, with 7 grams per serving. That’s thanks in part to its whole-grains, both whole-wheat pastry flour and rolled oats. The dates, fruit, and walnuts also add fiber to the mix.
Subbing in olive oil for some of the butter and adding walnuts makes this a source of healthy fats.
Not a lot of added sugar. The entire recipe has 6 to 7 tablespoons. That, along with the fiber and fats, means you’re less likely to get a sugar spike and crash than after eating a typical slice of crisp.

Summer fruit crisp with ice cream container

If you like this Wholesome Fruit Crisp, you might like:

The Fruit Crisps in Little Jars in my cookbook PREP

Wild Blueberry Tart with GF Crust

Rustic Apple Tart

Upside Down Plum Cake

Roasted Apricots with Crème Fraîche

Rustic Strawberry Galette by Marcia Smart

Fruit Crisp with Date, Walnut, Olive Oil Topping

This wholesome fruit crisp is one to add to the archives, since you'll want to return to it again and again. It's full of healthy upgrades, including whole-grain flour, oats, dates, and olive oil. It's still very much dessert and entirely delicious. Use any strone fruit if making this during the summer and apples or pears during the off-season.

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 350 kcal

Author Katie Morford

Ingredients

Crisp Topping

5 pitted Medjool dates (6 if they’re not very big)
⅓ cup walnuts,
½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour (or GF all-purpose flour)
1/4 cup rolled oats
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons mild/fruity extra-virgin olive oil (don't use a grassy/peppery oil)
2 tablespoons melted butter
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Fruit Filling

7 cups cut fruit (3/4-inch cubes or 1/3-inch wedges), such as apples, peaches, nectarines, apricots, pears, or plums
1 heaping cup blueberries/wild blueberries or blackberries (use frozen, not defrosted, if needed)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Put the dates In a food processor with a metal blade. Plus about 25 times to break the dates into smaller pieces. Add the walnuts and run the food processor until the dates are in tiny pieces. You want the walnuts to be in pieces, not processed into crumbs.
Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Stir well. Drizzle the olive oil and butter over the mix and stir again to thoroughly moisten the ingredients. Add a drizzle more olive oil if it seems dry.
In a large bowl, put the fruit, lemon juice, brown sugar, and arrowroot and toss until the fruit is evenly coated. Taste and add a little more brown sugar if the fruit is fairly tart. Transfer to an 8×8 or 7×9-inch baking pan or similar sized an oval dish. Sprinkle the Crisp Topping over the fruit.
Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until deeply browned on top with tender fruit and bubbling juices on the inside. Figure another 15 to 30 minutes.
Serve as is or with a scoop of ice cream or dollop of my Yogurt Whipped Cream or Crème Fraîche Whipped Cream (see notes).

Recipe Notes

You’ll find these by dropping the recipe name in the search box.

Seasonal Fruit Crisp with Walnut Date Topping