Blueberry Crumble

This past Saturday was Paul's birthday, which means I got to bake!  He is not much of a dessert guy which absolutely sucks because I love to bake, so birthdays are basically my only time to really have any fun.  For the celebration with his parents I made his favorite, a homemade funfetti cake, like I do every year.  For Sunday dinner with my parents I pulled out a winner of a recipe, this blueberry crumble never lets me down.  This recipe is super simple, and you most likely have everything on your cupboard right now except the berries, maybe you even have those.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of blueberries*

• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar

• 3 tbsp cornstarch

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1/4 cup flour

• 1/2 cup oatmeal

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

*I highly recommend fresh berries, frozen don't work as well.  I find when the frozen berries are cooked they lose too much of their juice and don't stay as plump as fresh berries will

 Directions:

Wash berries and place in a large saucepan along with the sugar and cornstarch.

Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until the berries become juicy and thicken.  Stir in the lemon juice and pour into a shallow 2 quart baking dish.

* see what I mean?  The berries got juicy, but still stayed plump since I used fresh

In a small bowl combine the rest of the ingredients.  Mix with fork until mixture is crumbly.  I let my butter soften for about 20 minutes, not long enough to fully become room temperature because then you will have a hot mess on your hands.  When preparing the crumble I like to cube my butter before I go to town with the fork.  It does take a bit of time to come together.

 Sprinkle the crumble over the berries and bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes until the top browns.  Serve warm or cold with ice cream.  The ice cream is mandatory.  I'm very ready for blueberry season now!  We have a little local you pick berry farm right around the corner from us, I might just be their best customer this year.

-Meg