Blueberry Nut Crunch

We hosted Thanksgiving for the first time this year! Usually we go to Tennessee for Thanksgiving to see my husband’s family, but it was just too much for us to travel with a new baby, so we decided to invite family to us for Thanksgiving. My in-laws came down for the weekend and it was such a fun time. Everybody pitched in and helped with cooking and cleaning, and Kermit had a blast with his cousin, Winston.

My mother-in-law is a great cook, and she’s the one who’s been introducing me to southern foods (fried okra is now one of my favorite dishes!). One thing that she’s made almost every time we’ve visited is a delicious dessert called Blueberry Nut Crunch. I think there are many different recipes and variations on this dessert, but the one she makes is the very best. It’s also super easy! This is the perfect dessert to make if you’re hosting family and friends, or to bring to the party. It’s simple but delicious and everyone will be impressed with your sweet baking skillz.

Ingredients:

frozen blueberries

20-oz. can of crushed pineapple

1 box of yellow cake mix (can also use gluten free for the gluten-challenged among us, I recommend the Betty Crocker kind.)

1 stick of butter

The amount you need really depends on the size of the pan you’re using. I used a 2.5 quart Corningware dish.

Also, I’m sure you could use fresh fruit as well and it would be just as good if not better, but the frozen kind is super easy and quick and still tastes delicious.

Steps:

1. Cover the bottom of the dish with the canned pineapple.
2. Cover the pineapple with blueberries. I’m honestly not 100% sure how much I used (This was hard for me, I love exact recipes!) but I just made sure to cover all of the pineapple and fill the dish almost to the top.
3. Use the whole box of yellow cake mix and shake it out to cover the blueberries.
4. Now you have three layers: pineapple, blueberries, cake mix. Next, melt the stick of butter.
5. Pour the butter all over the cake mix. You don’t need to completely drench it, but do cover it completely-may need more or less than 1 full stick.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.
7. Top with vanilla ice cream and serve warm. Or serve cold with cool whip, or just dig into the leftovers straight from the fridge for a sweet breakfast.

There you have it. Now it’s called Blueberry Nut Crunch, but we don’t actually add nuts (personal preference). But you could probably thrown in some pecans for extra crunch.

I was super intimidated to make this at first because it was so good and I thought surely it must be complicated. But nope! Try it out this holiday season. What are some of your favorite desserts?