This plum crumble pie has that "upmarket hippie" vibe due to the addition of whole wheat flour. But don't let the wholesome title and ingredient fool you. It's 100% summer food glory!


Plums may be my favorite summer fruit. It's like picking children! I guess I should say these beautiful magenta plums are my stone fruit of the week. I have a hard time not plucking one of these jewels from their wooden bowl on the sunny counter and plopping it into my mouth, juices running down my arm. Good thing the sink is near!

With a whole basket of sweet-tart plums nestled in layers between a shortbread crust and the nubbiest of toppings, this pie crumble hits all the right notes. It's sweet, a touch salty, crusty, soft with a jammy center, and has a bit of pluck and gumption.

I imagine a farmhouse grandma pulling something like this out of her wood-fired oven. I don't have one of those ladies in my life — my grandmas were city broads who used their ovens to store handbags and hot rollers. When us kids clamored for dessert, it was for the chocolate cake straight from the Entenmann's box or ice cream from the musical truck. Both grandmas would have loved a slice of this confection, however. With a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream to top it, to be sure.

Whole Wheat Plum Crumble Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie

For the crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Extra butter for greasing the pan

For the crumble topping:
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
1 pound plums, pitted and sliced into quarters (about 2 cups sliced)
1 tablespoon sugar

Generously grease a 9" pie pan with butter. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients for the crust. In a small bowl, whisk the 1/2 cup butter with vanilla. Stir the butter mixture into the dry with your hands until a semi-uniform dough is formed. Press into the prepared pie pan and freeze for 15-30 minutes while you assemble the rest of the pie.

Preheat the oven to 300°F. To make the crumble topping, use a large bowl to combine the oats, flours, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the melted butter and form clumps, about 1" big or smaller. The topping will barely form together and that's okay!

Blind-bake the crust without filling for 45 minutes. No need to use pie weights or anything else on the crust while baking. Remove crust and increase the oven temperature to 350°F.

Toss the plums in the sugar and arrange over the crust. Lightly press the crumble topping into the plums, leaving little openings for the plums to peek out. Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until topping is golden brown. Cool on a rack and serve with plenty of ice cream.

Related: Plum Crumble

(Images: Leela Cyd Ross)