(Vegan) Mixed Berry Crisp

Okay, so this recipe was based on one from my good ol' standby reference cookbook, Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook. The original recipe is for an apple crisp (which is certainly delicious in its own right!), but I made a few tweaks so that my vegan co-worker would be able to take part in the fruity goodness with everyone else when I brought this to work the other night.

Sorry... no photo to go along with this one. I forgot to snap one before leaving my house and taking it to work, and of course there was NOTHING left when my co-workers were done with it. :)

(Vegan) Mixed Berry Crisp

Ingredients:
(for the filling)
6 cups of mixed berries (I used what was already in my freezer: blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and sliced strawberries)
4 Tbs. sugar
3 Tbs. AP flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt

(for the topping)
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 Tbs. AP flour
2 Tbs. whole wheat flour (or you could omit this and just use 4 Tbs. of AP flour, but I like to split the difference)
3 Tbs. brown sugar
1 Tbs. ground flaxseed
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. spice of choice: cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger are all good here
4 Tbs. of non-dairy butter, chilled
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss the berries (the original recipe says to defrost them first, but I didn't bother) with the sugar and flour, stirring to coat before adding the vanilla and pinch of salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, stir together the oats, flour, brown sugar, flaxseed, spice, and salt. Using a fork (or a pastry cutter) cut in the non-dairy butter until the mixture resembles coarse sand with pea-sized chunks of the butter. Stir in the nuts if using.

Pour the berry mixture into a glass baking dish (I didn't bother to spray or butter mine) and top with the crumb mixture. Place the dish on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet (to catch any juice that may spill over, thus causing a big mess in your oven... duh), and bake at 375 degrees for 35-55 minutes, until the berries are hot and bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Why such a varied cooking time? Well, if you use fresh fruit or frozen that's been defrosted, it only needs about 35-40 minutes. If, however, you're lazy like me and use fruit straight from the freezer, it needs a little more time to cook. I will caution you to keep an eye on the topping if you use frozen fruit with the longer cooking time: you may need to cover the dish with foil to prevent over-browning. Serve hot from the oven or at room temperature, straight up or with a scoop of ice cream or whipped topping. Yummm...

Enjoy!