I love apple crumble so I had to put a Christmas twist on it and make an Apple and Cranberry Christmas Crumble with oat crumble topping. Adding cranberries makes the festive crumble extra special and perfect for a winter dessert.
Oat and cranberry crumble is a perfect dessert for winter dinner parties. It is an easy-to-make crumble that can also be made in advance. Plus with the topping being an oat crumble it is a healthy pudding too! I hope you enjoy my Christmas Crumble.
I have found a pack of cranberries in the fridge left over from Christmas and since all the roast dinners I am craving fruity things. Okay, so maybe it’s not the healthiest food, but it’s fruit and oats, so that is positive at least. Until I added custard.
I LOVE CUSTARD.
Anyway back to the decadent apple crumble.
I love the mix of apples and cranberries. Also, if you have cranberries left over and don’t want to make the Christmas cranberry crumble yet, pop them in the freezer. They won’t be the prettiest thing when they come out but they still work really well for dishes like this. Make sure they’re fully thawed when you use them.
Why you’ll love this Christmas Crumble recipe
- I love recipes that use up leftovers and I always have cranberries left over after. the festive period. This mini apple cranberry crumble is the perfect way to use up any of your leftover cranberries after making my Easy Cranberry Sauce Recipe.
- It’s almost a healthy apple crumble, after all the decadence of Christmas it’s nice to enjoy a fruity oat dessert. It’s lighter and the crumbly oat toping is delicious.
- You can make mini crumbles for parties or late night snacks. The Christmas crumble scales up or down easily to make a large family dessert or mini apple cranberry crumbles.
Top Questions
How do I make my crumble topping crisp?
How do you know when crumble is done?
What is crumble mix made of?
What is in a crumble?
Can I make a crumble the night before?
Ingredients
For the full recipe and instructions scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe card.
CRANBERRIES
Christmas is the cranberry’s time to shine! With homemade cranberry sauce, cranberry puff pastry rolls or Christmas cranberry gin cocktail. Fresh and tart or dried and sweet however you like your cranberries I guarantee you will have some left. Making this recipe a perfect call.
APPLE
I love warm spiced apple flavours, the cinnamon and caramelised apple chunks are a perfect addition to this festive crumble. Use a little lemon juice to stop your apple chunks from browning whilst they cook.
OATS
Rolled oats are perfect for making this taste of home apple cranberry crumble. To create the crumble you simply combine your flour, oats, butter and a little sugar and work until it forms that classic crumble texture.
How to make Christmas Crumble– step by step
Put the flour, oats and sugar in a bowl and mix together. Add the butter in and rub them together with your fingers and thumb to create a crumble texture.
Set aside until you’re ready to cook. This can last a few days in the fridge. Or even freeze to use later.
On a low heat soften the apples. Add a tablespoons of lemon juice, 4 of water and 1 tablespoon of sugar As they start to soften add the chunks of the eating apples.
When the apples have softened slightly but not falling apart take off the heat and stir in the cranberries. Allow it to cool.
Spoon your apple and cranberry mix into ramekins and top with rolled oats.
Bake at 180 degrees for about 30-40 minutes until the crumble top is golden brown.
Top Tips
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- When cooking the apple chunks, pour a small amount of lemon juice over them as this will help them not to brown whilst they soften and cook.
- Adding cinnamon and other spices to your Christmas crumble is a great way to up the festive spirit.
- Make ahead of time so you’re not slaving away on Christmas day the fruit and crumble mix can be frozen and then defrosted and baked.
Serving Suggestions
These tasty cranberry Christmas crumbles make for perfect party food. I love bringing out a tray of mini apple crumbles all served in ramekins with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
If you want to make your crumble a decadent apple crumble then dark chocolate chips to your cooled fruity mix. You can even add some crunch by adding chopped walnuts or brazil nuts to your Christmas crumble.
Equipment
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- 8 individual oven proof pots
- saucepan
- Kitchen Scales
- Mixing bowl
Storing / Making Christmas Crumble ahead of time options
Make and freeze the crumble topping and use it from frozen. Simply spoon over your freshly cooked fruit and then bake. It may take a few extra minutes to bake and brown but 5 minutes at most.
Make the whole crumble and store it in a freezer safe box until you’re ready. I prefer keeping the parts separate when freezing as it’s easier to defrost and bake.
Dish the apple and cranberry mix into the oven-proof bowls, top with oat crumble mix and bake until golden brown. Delicious. Make one large crumble or divide the mix into 6 smaller oven-proof dishes for individual portions.
Apple cranberry crumble recipes
There are so many apple cranberry crumble recipes around but for mine, which you can scroll down to find, I have kept it simple.
The fruity part of the crumble is simply apples and fresh cranberries with some lemon juice and sugar. The crumble is plain flour, oats, butter and sugar. You can either rub the flour, sugar and butter together to make bread crumbs and then add the oats in or you can do it all at once. Both work perfectly.
Substitutions and variations for a festive crumble
Wimbledon Crumble
Make this Christmas crumble into a summery dessert by swapping out cranberries and winter spices for strawberries. You can then serve your crumble with cream for those classic Wimbledon flavours.
Recipes for left over cranberries
This is a great recipe for using up that pack of cranberries you have in the fridge you forgot to use over Christmas. Or if you had some and popped them in the freezer to use later. They freeze pretty well especially for something like this as they will be cooked and hidden so don’t need to look their best.
Apple and Cranberry Oat Crumble
This recipe for my Christmas Crumble is beautiful. I love adding oats to the crumble. The oats give the crumble topping a beautiful bite which adds flavour and texture. As they cook in the oven they toast slightly and they really taste wonderful.
Normal crumble is good. Oat crumble is even better.
Healthy Oat Crumble
You don’t even need many to make a difference. If I can I will get the big oats as it’s nice to see them but normal supermarket oats is good too. You make the crumble and then stir in the oats. It is also a great way to add some extra goodness to the dish. Oats are gluten free which makes this dish perfect for coeliacs, plus they are filled with fibre so super a healthy apple crumble here we come.
Gluten Free Crumble Recipe
You can use gluten free flour for this recipe to make it perfect for Coeliacs. For the oats, make sure the oats you use are guaranteed gluten free. Some supermarkets don’t guarantee their oats are 100% GF as they are processed in a factory where gluten is present. Using gluten free flour and assured gluten free oats and you can create this delicious apple and cranberry crumble perfect for gluten intolerant crumble fans and Coeliacs.
Cranberry Christmas Crumble
I love these three C’s. Cranberries, Christmas and Crumbles. United they create something absolutely beautiful and a dish I can’t get enough of. I want more and looking at this I’m already missing it. I need some more cranberries so I can make more.
It’s a lovely way to make a classic winter dish even more special and festive. Cranberries are sharp and they stand out against the soft apple and crisp crumble perfectly. If they are too sharp you can add some more sugar to mix but I think having that combination is what makes this recipe so delicious.
I used these little Le Creuset casseroles to cook them in. They cook really well and perfect for serving too. Look very cute and a good size portion too. It also helped that when we had one left over it was already in it’s own little bowl ready to saved for the next day. Plus we could pop the whole thing straight into the microwave to warm up. Easy peasy delicious Apple and Cranberry Crumble.
Easy cranberry recipes
My Cranberry Bundt Cake with lemon is a delicious show stopper of a cake. It’s also so easy to make and quick to decorate. If you don’t have a bundt tin this recipe can be used for a normal layer cake too.
My cranberry and orange loaf is a delicious, fruity and moist loaf perfect for enjoying freshly baked warm from the oven.
Tis the season to enjoy my delicious white chocolate and cranberry cake. It’s fruity, sweet and creamy. Plus oh so delicious.
FAQS
How do I make my crumble topping crisp?
Your crumble topping will be crispiest when baked at the right temperature. Slow and steady wins the race. This way, your crumble has time to crisp up and your fruit has time to bake and soften.
How do you know when crumble is done?
You know when your crumble is done once the top of your crumble has turned a beautiful shade of golden brown. this is usually after about 30-40 minutes in the oven.
What is crumble mix made of?
Crumble mix is made of oats, flour, butter and sugar. I love adding oats to my crumble mix as the extra fibre is so good for you and they taste amazing! It’s so easy to make a crumble mix.
What is in a crumble?
In a crumble, you have your favourite fruits ( I love a Christmas crumble with apple and cranberries) and then your crumbly topping. Which is made of flour, sugar and butter. I added oats to my crumble mix for that extra wow factor.
Can I make a crumble the night before?
You can make crumble the night before by making your crumble mix and preparing and cooking your fruit. Store them separately and then bake once you’re ready to serve.
Other Recipes you might like
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Recipe
Christmas Crumble with oat topping
Equipment
- 8 individual oven proof pots
Ingredients
- 150 g (1 ⅕ cups) plain flour / all purpose flour
- 80 g (2 ⅚ oz) rolled oats
- 150 g (5 2/7 oz) unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 75 g (2 ⅔ oz) golden caster sugar
- 2 (2) Bramley apples
- 2 (2) eating apples I used Royal Gala
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) lemon juice
- 4 tablespoon (4 tablespoon) water
- 2 tablespoon (2 tablespoon) sugar
- 150 g (1 ½ cups) fresh cranberries or frozen
Instructions
- Put the flour, oats and sugar in a bowl and mix together. Add the butter in and rub them together with your fingers and thumb to create a crumble texture. Set aside until you're ready to cook.
- Peel and core the apples. Chop up the Bramley apples into small chunks and add to a sauce pan. Also add a tablespoons of lemon juice, 4 of water and 1 tablespoon of sugar. On a low heat soften the apples. As they start to soften add the chunks of the eating apples.
- When the apples have softened slightly but not falling apart take off the heat and stir in the cranberries. Allow it to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC fan.
- Divide the apple and cranberry mix among the 8 oven proof dishes. If you want to save them to cook them later, leave the crumble part aside and just add when you're ready to cook.
- Add the crumble topping and pop them in the oven for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Apple crumble is one of my favorite desserts, and I love cranberries so this is absolutely A+ in my book! I can almost taste it with the custard! Will have to try it with the cranberries I froze last month!
I love them so much! I can’t wait to get more fresh cranberries to make it again.
Brilliant! I’ve never thought about adding cranberries to a crumble before – I def will try it next time!
I hope you enjoy it. They are delicious together.
I bet that crumble is delicious Sisley. Cranberries are just brilliant for giving bursts of sourness that counteract the sweetness so well. I’ve just used the last of mine up in some cakes. Happy New Year.
Happy new Year!