What's the Difference Between a Crisp, Crumble, Cobbler, Slump, and Buckle? (2024)

They're all delicious, but they're not all the same.

Published on February 3, 2023

What's the Difference Between a Crisp, Crumble, Cobbler, Slump, and Buckle? (2)

Plenty of our favorite summer fruits are in season, meaning there's never been a better time to bake them. Whether you got a great deal on blueberries or just picked a ton of strawberries at your local farm, there's no better way to enjoy them than in a cobbler or crisp.

No matter what they're called, they feature all the appeals of pie, minus the hurdles that come with constructing one. Rather than crossing your fingers with a pie crust, you just place everything in a trusty casserole dish. All you need is a little time and at least one scoop of vanilla ice cream for the perfect piece celebrating the pinnacle of summer baking.

Crisps, cobblers, and the like all encompass baked fruit topped with free-form carbohydrates. These fruity desserts can have all kinds of filling combinations, but their names deviate based on what kind of topping is used and the overall structure of the dish. We'll start with crisps and cobbler, the most popular desserts with the easiest difference to remember.

Crisps

What's the Difference Between a Crisp, Crumble, Cobbler, Slump, and Buckle? (3)

The difference between crisps and cobbler all comes down to what's on top. Crisps typically have a topping comprised of flour, nuts, butter, cereal (usually oatmeal or granola), and sugar, leaving a — you guessed it — crisp texture. The topping can also include streusel — what matters here is the crunch. Thanks to their crumbly nature, crisps are also called crumbles.

Cobbler

Cobbler is usually topped with batter or biscuits in lieu of crust. Cobbler's name comes from its sometimes cobbled texture, which is a result of spooning or dropping the topping over the fruit rather than distributing it equally. This way, the filling can peek through.

Buckles, Slumps, and More

What's the Difference Between a Crisp, Crumble, Cobbler, Slump, and Buckle? (5)

Cobbler and crisps are the mightiest limbs on the baked fruit dessert tree. From there, distinct or hyperlocal treats branch out. Buckles, moist fruit cakes with streusel topping, get their name from their topping's buckled appearance. Sometimes they're called crisps, which only adds to the confusion. Grunts, also known as slumps, are baked or stewed fruit dishes topped with rolled biscuit dough (While cobbler can also include biscuit dough, the technique for topping a grunt is much more systematic than dripping or spooning it over fruit). Finally, sonkers, which are mainly sequestered to Surry County, North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Mountains, have a soupier texture—and much more juice—than a standard cobbler. The sonker is typically paired with a vanilla cream sauce called "dip" that's glazed over the finished dish.

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What's the Difference Between a Crisp, Crumble, Cobbler, Slump, and Buckle? (2024)

FAQs

What's the Difference Between a Crisp, Crumble, Cobbler, Slump, and Buckle? ›

Though crumbles, crisps, and cobblers are more akin to pie, a buckle is a lot like cake. In fact, they look nearly identical to fruit-filled coffee cakes. As the batter rises in the oven, the weight of the fruit causes it to “buckle.”

What's the difference between a crumble and a crisp? ›

So what's a crumble vs. a crisp? A crumble is just a crisp without oats in the streusel. It may feature nuts, but the streusel topping is usually a simple combination of butter, flour, and sugar that is more clumpy than that of a crisp.

What is a buckle in baking? ›

Buckles. A charmingly old-fashioned dessert that deserves a comeback, a buckle is a single-layer cake with berries or cut-up fruit in the batter, giving it a "buckled," or indented, appearance.

What is the difference between apple betty apple crisp and apple crumble? ›

Both are very similar apple desserts, but the difference mainly comes down to the crumble topping: Instead of the flour and oat mixture used in an apple crisp, an apple brown betty uses breadcrumbs for its crumbly, delicious topping.

What is the difference between a slump and a grunt? ›

Fact: The terms “grunt” and “slump” can be used interchangeably, so use whichever one makes you giggle the most. “While it's unclear where the names originated,” Eisler says, “'grunt' likely refers to the sound the dessert makes while cooking, and 'slump' probably describes the appearance of the plated portion.”

What is the difference between crisp and crumble and buckle? ›

Though crumbles, crisps, and cobblers are more akin to pie, a buckle is a lot like cake. In fact, they look nearly identical to fruit-filled coffee cakes. As the batter rises in the oven, the weight of the fruit causes it to “buckle.”

Is a cobbler the same as a crumble? ›

Cobbler: A fruit dessert made with a top crust of pie dough or biscuit dough but no bottom crust. Crisp/crumble: In Alberta, the terms are mostly interchangeable. Both refer to fruit desserts similar to cobbler but made with a brown sugar streusel topping sometimes containing old-fashioned rolled oats.

Why do they call it a buckle? ›

Its medieval French descendant, bouclé, was the word for the boss of a shield, which looks a little like a small cheek on the face of the shield. The use of the word was later extended to belt fasteners.

Why is a cobbler called a cobbler? ›

The origin of the name cobbler, recorded from 1859, is uncertain: it may be related to the archaic word cobeler, meaning "wooden bowl", or the term may be due to the topping having the visual appearance of a 'cobbled' stone pathway.

What is the difference between a cobbler and a betty? ›

Betty. Whereas crisps and cobblers are made up of a layer of fruit with either a streusel or pastry topping, with apple betty and its variations, we start constructing desserts made of alternating layers of fruit and pastry—or in this case crumbs.

What is the difference between apple crumble and apple slump? ›

A 'grunt' is a cobbler cooked on top of the stove and a 'slump' is fruit and biscuit dumplings which is turned upside down after being baked so that the fruit is slumped into the fruit with a fork. Apple crumble is a British pudding similar to the apple crisp that originated during World War II food rationing.

What is a brown betty made of? ›

A Brown Betty is a traditional American dessert made from fruit (usually apple, but also berries or pears) and sweetened crumbs. Similar to a cobbler or apple crisp, the fruit is baked, and, in this case, the sweetened crumbs are placed in layers between the fruit.

Why is my apple crumble not crispy? ›

The main reason your crumble topping isn't crunchy is probably because you haven't used Demerara sugar. Although, it could also be that you've got your topping ingredient quantities wrong: either too much or not enough flour and butter alongside the sugar.

What are the three types of creeps? ›

There are generally three types of creep: (1) seasonal, where movement is within the depth of soil affected by seasonal changes in soil moisture and soil temperature; (2) continuous, where shear stress continuously exceeds the strength of the material; and (3) progressive, where slopes are reaching the point of failure ...

Why is a grunt called a grunt? ›

Others credit WWII for the origin of the term. Back then, the infantry was experiencing high casualty rates and getting replacement Soldiers was important to refill the front-line ranks. A Soldier would be trained in the basics of being in the Army and sent out as a "General Replacement Unit, Not Trained," or GRUNT.

What are the characteristics of a slump? ›

Slump. Slump is a type of slide (movement as a mass) that takes place within thick unconsolidated deposits (typically thicker than 10 m). Slumps involve movement along one or more curved failure surfaces, with downward motion near the top and outward motion toward the bottom (Figure 15.14).

What makes something crumble? ›

A crumble is typically a dessert with a crumbly topping consisting of flour, butter, sugar, and sometimes oats, baked over a fruit filling. Apple and rhubarb are two popular varieties. Savoury fillings such as meat, cheese or vegetables may alternatively be used.

What is the difference between crunch and crisp? ›

Crispy and Crunchy are Not Interchangeable: "Crispy" often refers to a lighter, more delicate texture that shatters easily upon biting, commonly found in foods like fried chicken or thin cookies. In contrast, "crunchy" signifies a harder, more substantial texture, as seen in foods like raw carrots and hard-baked bread.

What makes a crisp a crisp? ›

In conclusion, the term “crisps” was invented in the United Kingdom in the 1920s to differentiate between thin-sliced fried potatoes and thicker-cut fries. The name accurately describes the texture of the snack, which is crispy and crunchy.

What's the difference between a blueberry crumble and a blueberry crisp? ›

A crisp is extremely similar to a crumble in that it is a baked dessert made with fresh fruit and a crumbly streusel-esque topping. Originally, the difference between a crumble and a crisp, however, was an ingredient used in the topping: crisps would contain oats and crumbles would not.

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