The Best Plum Crisp Recipe (Sweet and Tart at the Same Time)
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Celebrate summer with this delicious recipe for plum crisp. This recipe takes fresh plums to the next level with a deliciously crisp topping made with rolled oats and brown sugar.
The house we moved into last year has over a dozen fruit trees. It’s a home baker’s heaven. Or a mom’s heaven. Luckily, I’m both. My kids love fruit. My son especially. He can easily eat 3-4 pieces of fruit in one sitting, so it’s really nice to know we will have access to freshly grown fruit in our backyard every year.
One of the trees nestled in the back of our property is a little fruit tree. It must be a dwarf variety because I can actually reach the fruit on the top branches (a huge accomplishment for my 5-foot tall self).
Planning for plums
We discovered it just days after moving in last summer because it was covered in ripe plums. This year, I knew to expect them around our 1-year housiversary, so I planned accordingly.
My kids inhaled about half of the harvest (kids eat so much during summer vacation, ha!) and I set out to experiment with the rest. My favorite thing (so far) to make with fresh plums is a plum crisp.
A plum crisp recipe that is both sweet and tart
Like a peach cobbler, this plum crisp recipe calls for plums to be tossed in sugar and cornstarch. Then, I top the sweetened plums with a crisp topping made of rolled oats, sugar, flour, melted butter, and seasonings.
The resulting plum crisp makes a perfect combination of sweet-tart that is perfect for those hot summer nights.
Plum Crisp
Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped plums with skin
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar divided
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- pinch salt
- 3/4 cup butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a 9x13 baking dish.
- Place chopped plums in the baking dish and toss with granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and cornstarch until coated.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the rolled oats, flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Slowly pour in the melted butter, mixing with a fork until it turns crumbly.
- Pour the topping mixture over the plums. Gently move it around with your hands until it evenly covers the plums. It's okay if the plums are not completely covered.
- Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
- Store any unused portion in the refrigerator.
This is a new friends and family favorite! (I will be freezing more of the plums off our tree now.) I added the juice of 1 lemon, doubled the cornstarch (arrowroot powder), cut out the flour and doubled the topping of oats, butter, brown sugar. Everyone raves about it. Thanks for the recipe!!!
I just made this and it’s fantastic. Thank you so much for such a tasty recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Best tasting & easy crisp! I never thought about using plums in crisps or pies. Now that my tree is bearing unbelievable amounts I’m trying all kinds of things & this was the BEST!
We have a bunch of plums from our tree, do you think I could freeze the chopped plums/sugar mixture to use at a later time?
I have a batch of the plum crisp in the oven now and can’t wait to try it!
Hi Dorothy, sorry for my late reply! Plums are freezer friendly. However, I would recommend chopping them and freezing them plain.
I’m trying your recipe out. It’s baking in the oven. I didn’t have enough plums, so I added blueberries. I mixed a little vanilla in with the fruit. Can’t wait till dessert time!
Amanda, that sounds delicious!
I’m in the middle of making this and realized your brown sugars amounts in the ingredients and in the recipe don’t match. One person commented she “went with the 1/4 cup.” Where? I’m inclined to put 1/4 cup on the plums and 1/2 cup in the topping. If you could revise your recipe, that might help others. Thanks!
Hi David. Thanks for brining this to my attention! I will make sure I update the recipe to make it clearer. 🙂
I used a bit less sugar but this is an excellent recipe.
Alex, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This was delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe. I had some plums that started to get wrinkly so the kids wouldn’t eat them, and I hate to waste food, so this was perfect. I will say your directions and ingredients don’t match up about brown sugar in the fruit- I went with the 1/4 cup and it was plenty sweet enough.
Hi Beth. I am so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for bringing that discrepancy to my attention. I will make sure it is fixed. – Aileen