One thing I remember from my grandma’s kitchen was having this blueberry crumble. We would eat it as an afternoon snack or in the morning with our coffee.
Now I keep this blueberry crumble on demand in my freezer. When I need a fresh and healthy dessert and I don’t have time to prepare it, this ready-to-go blueberry crumble comes in handy. Plus my guests always enjoy eating this wild blueberry dessert.
While you can use a variety of fruits for this ready-to-go blueberry crumble, we use wild blueberries.
Let’s talk about the difference between wild blueberries and regular blueberries. I will start with wild blueberries. You can use either type of blueberry in our ready-to-go blueberry crumble.
- Smaller in size
- Have a sweet, tangy flavor
- Are easier to cook with, mainly because of their small size and less water content.
Regular blueberries:
- Are planted
- Bigger in size, which means they have more water and can make baking difficult
- Potential for pesticide use in cultivating farmed blueberries
Health Benefits of Blueberries
Now let’s look at the health benefits of blueberries. Most likely you have heard that blueberries have high levels of antioxidants, and that is true.
The antioxidants support heart health and the fiber content helps reduce cholesterol in your blood. The vitamin K is important in helping your blood to clot.
Here is a list of vitamins and nutrients found in one cup of blueberries according to the US Department of Agriculture :
- Potassium 114 mg
- Folate 8 µg
- Vitamin C 14 mg
- Vitamin K 114 mg
- Manganese 0.497 mg
- Calcium 8 mg
- Iron 0.4 mg
- Calories 84.4
- Protein 1.1grams
- Fat less than 1 gram
- Carbohydrates 21.5 grams
- Fiber 3.55 grams
- Sugar 14.7 grams
Blueberries are one of the best natural sources of antioxidants, especially wild blueberries.
One particular antioxidant or phytonutrient, anthocyanin, contributes to the blueberries’ blue-ish, purple color. Concentrated in the skins, the anthocyanins help protect the blueberry from sun and other environmental factors.
Free radicals and how antioxidants help protect us.
For our bodies to function properly we need a balance between free radicals and antioxidants.
If free radicals overpower the body’s ability to regulate them, a condition known as oxidative stress happens.
Free radicals will then adversely alter lipids (fats), proteins, and DNA, and can trigger a number of human diseases.
In other words, your cells produce free radicals as waste products, but these particles can go on to hurt other cells. Eating blueberries regularly can help reduce damage to your cells.
Eating Blueberries can help with cholesterol.
The cholesterol that builds up eventually gets oxidized, and this damages your body if it happens in large amounts. Antioxidants in blueberries help prevent cholesterol in your blood from being oxidized and may even help keep cholesterol from building up in the first place.
Since wild blueberries are smaller, it means more blueberry skins per cup or serving. And now that we know all the antioxidants are in the skins, we want to eat as much blueberry skin as possible.
Make a dessert sweet, but healthy!
The next time you want to make a sweet but healthy dessert, think about making this ready to go blueberry crumble. Use fresh blueberries when they are in season or try frozen wild blueberries.
To make this blueberry crumble dairy free and or gluten free follow these instructions. We also added 1/4 cup ground flaxseed for a healthier version.
- Instead of using quick-cooking oats, buy old fashioned whole rolled oats (We use organic). Pop them in the food processor for about 15-30 seconds to get a smaller grain.
- Substitute almond flour for the all-purpose flour. Also you can try oat flour or gluten-free flour.
- Add a 1/4 cup of ground flaxseed. We buy whole flaxseeds and grind them in our food processor.
- To make this blueberry crumble dairy free, substitute 2/3 cup of grapeseed oil for the butter. You can use olive oil if you don’t have grapeseed oil, but I prefer the taste profile of grapeseed oil in my desserts and other sweet treats.
Do you need a dessert on demand?
We prepare this ready-to-go blueberry crumble and pop it in the freezer for when we need a dessert on demand. We make it up to the baking stage, freeze it, and then thaw it out and bake it when you need it.
Need more ideas for desserts? Try our simple white chocolate mousse topped with fresh blueberries and raspberries. When available we add kiwi fruit to the fresh berry mixture. Kiwi adds a lovely pop of color and a wonderful tart flavor.