Blueberry Crisp for Grandma

I love making treats for my Grandma.  She's usually not a sweet dessert kind of person, but she enjoys treats and today was the perfect day to make something in her honour.  Every year on mother's day, my Mom is usually away on vacation, so we celebrate mother's day and father's day together when she gets back.  But on mother's day, we also take the time to chill out with our Grandma -- a very special person indeed.  She raised us when we were little and our Dad was working the night shift and our Mom had to go back to work. She picked us up from school, made us breakfast and lunch, and played silly games with us during our summer vacation.

My Grandma has been feeling sick lately, so she didn't feel like going to a restaurant for mother's day brunch.  We brought brunch to her this year, and this fresh blueberry crisp was the perfect way to end it. Truth be told, I really wanted to bake something with rhubarb, but our local markets didn't have any, so I settled for nice pints of sweet, floral blueberries.  I wanted to maintain the freshness of the fruit -- I've tried too many crisps and crumbles where the fruit is jammy and super sweet, not something my Grandma would appreciate.  So I kept everything simple -- no cornstarch or thickeners, just fresh fruit, lemon juice and zest and a sprinkling of sweetness.  The crisp topping baked up in nice lovely crumble chunks with an added nuttiness from the use of spelt flour.  It was a lemony, fresh, just sweet enough crisp, perfect to end mother's day brunch.  It we had a bit of fresh thyme, I'd throw some in for sure, and it were Ontario peach season, I'd definitely consider a peach and blueberry crisp.  But it's perfect as it is, and Grandma loved it, which was the most important part.

Happy Mother's Day!

Lemony Blueberry Crisp
serves 4-6

1 pint of fresh blueberries, washed
juice and zest of 1 lemon, divided
1 tablespoon of natural cane sugar
1/2 cup of spelt flour
3/4 cup of rolled oats
3 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons of canola oil

1.  In a baking dish, combine the blueberries, sugar and half the lemon juice and zest.  Toss lightly.  Set aside.

2.  In a bowl, stir together the flour, oats and the other half of the lemon zest.  Add the lemon juice, oil and honey and mix well.

3.  Crumble the oat mixture over the fruit and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the fruit just starts to bubble and the topping gets nice and golden.

4.  The dessert begs for ice cream or whipped cream, but if you eat it on it's own, you could definitely call it breakfast!