Blueberry Oat Crumble Tart + Video
It's already mid-May! In a little over a month, it'll officially be summer.
My point being, it's time for some berries. In a dessert. Specifically, blueberries. In a tart. With crumble on top. It's time for a blueberry oat crumble tart. With a video too. Because why not?
Here's the video, to start with:
Or, watch it on Youtube.
Before you say anything - I know. I know the crumble looks measly and stingy on this tart. But that's only because I baked my tart in an 11-inch tart pan instead of a 9-inch tart pan like I was supposed to. So I had to use a lot of my mixture to fill the bottom and sides of that tart pan, leaving me with a sad amount of crumble left to sprinkle over the fruit.
I won't be making this mistake again. EVER.
Because when I make a dessert with crumble, that crumble needs to be very generous and liberally sprinkled over the fruit and be equal to (or greater than - I don't object to that) the amount of fruit in the pie. Just a rule I set for myself, because I'm principled and morally sound like that.
Guess what? You don't have to make a separate mixture for the crust and the crumble. They're the same thing. You just take off like half a cup of the crust mixture and reserve it for the crumble.
And the crust/crumble mixture is deeeeelicious. There's more oats than flour in it, which makes the crumble really tasty and crunchy and hearty.
Also, the crumble is dairy-free! Coconut oil is used in place of butter. Not that you can't use butter if you want to. But you don't have to. Aren't options nice?
As for the center of the tart, the blueberries. A minimal amount of sugar is used in the fruit mixture, because the crust/crumble is sweet, and because blueberries have that convenient, natural sweetness that fruits generally tend to have.
Blueberries also have a wonderful tartness, which in our recipe here, is amplified with some freshly squeezed lemon juice and grated lemon zest. I wanted to go more tart than sweet with the filling for this blueberry tart, and let the sweetness mostly shine in the crust and crumble part of the tart.
Oh, and let's not forget that splash of vanilla in both the crust and filling, because more flavor is always appreciated.
Use fresh or frozen blueberries for this tart - whichever you prefer or have on hand. Pies and tarts are easy that way, unlike say blueberry muffins, which get a little trickier with the frozen stuff (ugly bleeding and the like).
One-bowl for the crust and crumble, and one more bowl to stir together the blueberry mixture. A two-bowl recipe. Not too shabby. Plus a 9-inch tart pan (you can use a pie plate or any other medium pan, but you just won't get neat, pretty slices like you will with the tart pan). And a stirring utensil. And six minutes. And the simple ingredients. And you're all set.
End-of-spring blueberry oat crumble tart goodness right here.
blueberry oat crumble tart
Yield: 9" tart
Crust and crumble:
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil,* solid (butter may be substituted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Blueberry Filling:
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch (or 2 tablespoons flour)
Zest and juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a 9" tart pan with removable bottom.
In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Add in coconut oil and vanilla extract and mix until mixture is crumbly and sticks together when pressed between fingers. Remove 1/2 cup of the mixture to use for crumble.
In another large bowl, stir together all filling ingredients until blueberries are evenly coated.
Press the crumble mixture firmly into bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Top with the blueberry mixture, leaving all the liquid inside the bowl. Sprinkle reserved crumble over the blueberries.
Bake tart for 30-40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling. Let cool before removing from tart pan and slicing.
*Note: use refined coconut oil if you don't want any coconut flavor in your tart.
