Clean Strawberry Poppy Seed Crumble

The summer I turned 10, when we moved across town to a different house, my entire family spent hours exploring the front and backyards. Just under an acre combined (which is huge by suburban California standards!), we found a multitude of greenery, bushes, and flowers. Dad counted at one point, and he reported that there were over 90 trees on the property! I think that’s the correct number anyway… Right Dad?  

The previous owners had planted just about every fruit tree imaginable: three lemons, a grapefruit, an orange, a fig, an avocado, a peach, an apple, and a plum… Plus one wild cherry tree that may have technically sat on the pasture’s property to our left, but since most of the branches tilted over onto our front yard and the neighboring cows definitely weren’t going to pick the fruit, we called it ours.

With most of the trees blooming during the summer, we stayed busy plucking the fruit from the branches in the morning and afternoons, hauling it into the kitchen in big brown paper bags. We canned some one year, but we usually ate most of it plain or gave it away.

Despite the abundance of peaches and plums, my brother and I were still slightly disappointed by one thing: the wild strawberry bushes. They grew in both the front and back in random patches, and the first time we spotted a tiny red berry, we nearly jumped up and down with excitement.

We paid close attention to that spot for the next few weeks, silently willing and urging the fruit to grow bigger, but… Nothing ever happened. The itty bitty strawberries stayed the size of our pinky nails, and when we eventually picked them off of the vine, they tasted mealy and bitter. Definitely not the sweet, juicy berries we had hoped for!

If they ever grew up to be regular sized strawberries, I guarantee we would’ve tried to eat the entire crop in a single day for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. But since that never happened, I buy mine from the grocery store instead to make sweet treats like this Strawberry Poppy Seed Crumble!

My favorite desserts are the ones that double as breakfast. Who wouldn’t want to eat dessert twice a day?? I’ve made crumbles, coffee cakes, parfaits, cupcakes, and even cheesecakes that would start your day off right with a full serving of fruit or a big protein punch, and you can add this recipe to that growing list!

First up, the filling. I prefer frozen strawberries for my crumbles because it’s much easier (and cheaper!) to buy frozen fruit all year round. You can almost always find multiple three-pound bags of mixed berries, strawberries, or blueberries in my freezer at any point during the year. With how many muffins, smoothies, and crumbles I make, those bags disappear really quickly!

Cornstarch does the trick of thickening the filling and holding it together. Because we’re using frozen fruit, which usually has a little more moisture from the ice crystals on the outside, we’ll mix in more cornstarch compared to if we were using fresh fruit.

Next, the crumble. It’s my favorite part! Soft and crunchy at the same time, it reminds me of granola. (See, fruit and granola? That’s definitely breakfast food!) To keep this recipe clean-eating friendly, let’s stick with wholesome ingredients: oats, whole wheat flour, butter, agave, and poppy seeds.

I know what you’re thinking… Poppy seeds in a crumble topping? Has Amy gone crazy? (Hopefully not!) The poppy seeds add a tiny yet fun crunch to the topping, and they look cute too. They aren’t just for lemon muffins!

Now sprinkle it on top of the fruit, and bake until the juices bubble. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool and letting it set in the fridge. Chilling is mandatory! It allows the cornstarch to finish working its magic so the juices completely thicken and aren’t as liquidy when you cut slices.

But if you prefer to serve it warm à la mode (which I highly recommend!), pop individual slices in the microwave for a few seconds after chilling but before scooping the ice cream on top.

Now that’s my kind of breakfast dessert!

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More strawberry crumbles from other food bloggers…

♥   Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp by Well Plated by Erin

♥   Paleo Strawberry Crumble by The Roasted Root

♥   Individual Strawberry Crumbles by Grandbaby Cakes

♥   5 Ingredient Strawberry Crumble by Jessica in the Kitchen