When peak berry season arrives, you have no other option but to make proper use of them—and what better way to showcase the prized jewels than a bright, ripe fruit crisp. The only problem? A proper crisp takes about an hour to bake, and leaving the oven on during the dog days of summer is a hard pass. The solve? Making the crisp entirely on the stovetop so your air conditioner can get some much-needed rest.
The trick to making this dessert an oven-free affair is to make a stovetop streusel. You just combine butter, flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla, then—instead of baking them—you’ll fry them up in a skillet until crunchy. And for the filling, an array of any berries of your choosing can be tossed together. Blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries are ideal candidates, retaining their pristine shape as they cook down. Just avoid using raspberries, which have a tendency to turn to soup as soon as they hit the warm pan. And if you want to use frozen, just increase the amount of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons to account for their slightly more watery texture.
