Healthy Vegan Plum Crumble with Oats

This vegan plum crumble is made with oats and contains a moderate amount of sugar. Easy to make, perfect as a delicious autumnal breakfast, brunch or dessert. 

Another autumnal dessert you might like is easy plum cake.

This vegan plum crumble is a delicious way to serve plums, both as breakfast as well as healthier dessert. It consists of a lightly spiced and moderately sweet plum filling topped with a fibre-and-protein-rich, crispy crumble made with oats and whole wheat flour for an added nutritional boost.

This healthy plum crumble is easy to make and comes together in a few simple steps. I used a food processor to combine the crumble ingredients, which saves time and produces great results.

Vegan plum crumble ingredients and substitutions

• Plums: use your favourite.
• Sugar: both demerara and light brown sugar work well. You can also use maple syrup in the plum filling mixture instead if preferred.
• Vegan butter: you can use in combination with coconut oil for added flavour.
• Oats: I recommend using old-fashioned rolled oats (jumbo oats) rather than instant oats for better texture and higher nutritional value.
• Flour: I used white whole wheat flour, but you can use all-purpose/plain flour instead if preferred. I also used and a small amount of cornstarch/cornflour for the plum filling. You can also add 1-2 tablespoons of wheatgerm for more goodness.
• Lemon: I used a small amount of lemon juice to help the plums retain their colour, as well as lemon zest for a citrussy twist. I do not recommend adding too much lemon juice as your plum crumble filling mixture can become too sour.
• Flaxseed: these add extra crunch, but you can use sesame or sunflower seeds instead if preferred.
• Water: helps produce a delicious syrupy mixture in the filling.
• Cinnamon: this can be replaced by pumpkin spice for a more autumnal feel.

How to make vegan plum crisp: step-by-step

1. Preheat the oven to 375F/190C/170 fan/gas mark 5. Grease your crumble dish using about 1 teaspoon of vegan butter and set aside.

2. Prepare plums: Rinse and wipe the plums thoroughly then cut into bite-size pieces (for example, quarters) and discard the stones.

3. Prepare plum crumble filling: To a large mixing bowl add the plums, lemon juice and zest, water, cornstarch, cinnamon and sugar. Stir until thoroughly combined. Place the mixture (including the juices) in your crumble dish and set aside.

4. Make crumble topping: Place the crumble topping ingredients in a food processor and blend until the dry ingredients are no longer visible and the mixture becomes sticky.

TIP: Using a food processor is quick and easy but you can mix the ingredients by hand instead if you prefer.

5. Assemble and bake: Take handfuls of the mixture and crumble over the plums. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 35-40 minutes until lightly browned and the plums are soft (check with a fork).

6. Cool: Remove from the oven and set aside for 10 minutes (or cool completely) before serving.

Serving suggestions

This plum crumble with oats is versatile and can be served on its own or with added ingredients either for:

• Breakfast/brunch: with a dollop of yogurt, Skyr or cottage cheese for added protein.
• Dessert: with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a little custard.

TIP: If serving this crumble for breakfast consider adding a little less sugar to the crumble topping.

What dish to use

I made my vegan plum crisp in an oval ceramic dish (20/30cm-8/12"), but you can use a 22-23cm/9" square or round pan instead if preferred. Ideally it should be about 6cm/2.5" deep.

You can also use an aluminium dish instead of ceramic, but if you do you may want to reduce cooking time (by about 5 minutes) as metal and ceramic pans conduct heat differently.

Top tips

• If your plums are quite sweet you can use 1 tablespoon of sugar instead of 2.
• You can add a handful of chopped nuts to the crumble topping mixture for extra crunch.
• You can prepare the entire dish ahead, refrigerate overnight and bake the following morning.
• Serve warm or cold. Leftover vegan plum crumble can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 3 days.
• Freeze for up to 3 months.

More crumble recipes to try next

If you like this easy plum crisp recipe you may also like gluten free cherry crumble with almonds and whole wheat blackberry crumble. See also apple ginger crumble with walnuts as well as this simple peach blueberry crumble.

You might also like these other easy breakfast/brunch as well as dessert recipes.

Recipe

Keep in touch!

If you make this vegan plum crumble I'd love to know how it turned out for you. Let me know in the comments below, thanks!

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