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.

Another day, another high-protein cottage cheese recipe over here on Fit Foodie Finds! These cottage cheese strawberry shortcakes use my easy cottage cheese dough (with no rise time!) for the biscuits. While the cute biscuits are baking, all you need to do is toss some fresh strawberries in brown sugar and make a batch of homemade whipped cream. Cut the biscuits in half and sandwich in the strawberries. Top with the whip, fresh mint and a drizzle of honey. Name a better summer dessert .

Ingredient Highlights

• Cottage Cheese: the protein powerhouse and base of my easy to find ingredient dough you’ll use for the biscuits. It’s truly such a versatile dough for both sweet and savory recipes (like these protein breakfast biscuits that are omg so so good).
• Strawberries: can’t have strawberry shortcakes without the strawberries! But really, any fresh berry would be quite delicious in this recipe.
• Turbinado Sugar: you’ll press turbinado sugar into both sides of the biscuits before baking to give them a little extra sweetness and sparkle.
• Homemade Whipped Cream: don’t worry! I’ve got you covered here — it’s super quick and easy to make homemade whip.

Find the list of full ingredients in the recipe card below. 

Tips for Making These Strawberry Shortcakes

• The cottage cheese you use will affect how much flour you need: I prefer using 2% or 4% cottage cheese for this recipe because it contains less water. If your dough is too wet, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough doesn’t stick to your fingers. 
• Make sure to measure the cottage cheese after blending it: This will yield a more accurate measurement than measuring when the cottage cheese curds are still in tact.

Serve and Enjoy!

To serve, slice the biscuits in half. Tope one half with sliced strawberries and then top with the other biscuit half. Top with a dollop of fresh whipped cream, and enjoy! I like to add a sprig of fresh mint and a drizzle of honey to fancy these up when serving family and friends. My toddler recommends topping with rainbow sprinkles .

What to Do With Leftovers

Have leftovers? Wait to assemble the remaining shortcakes until you’re ready to serve. Store the biscuits in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Store the strawberries and whip separately in air-tight containers also in the fridge.

More High-Protein Desserts

Have you tried the classic French dessert called clafoutis? (It’s pronounced klah-foo-tee.) If not, please let me introduce you to this delightful and simple treat. Clafoutis is a delicious cross between a cake and a custard with a crackled top and luscious, fruit-studded interior. It’s sweet but not too sweet, making it the perfect ending to a lovely summer supper.

Clafoutis is typically baked with cherries, but you’ll see that I used berries here, and you’ll find more options below. My three-year-0ld loves clafoutis. She’s been asking for more “cherry cake” since last summer, and it’s about time we made more.

I made clafoutis over and over again last summer until I got the proportions of this recipe just right (nine times, to be exact). Each attempt was tasty, but the recipe I’m sharing today is perfection. I had to find the right balance between the amounts of flour, sugar, liquid and eggs to yield a silky interior that’s full of flavor but not too eggy or wet. Here it is!

How to Make Clafoutis

Clafoutis is so easy and fun to make. The batter reminds me of crepes or my Blender Oatmeal Pancakes because it comes together in 30 seconds in the blender.

You’ll find the full recipe below, but here’s a preview:

1. Melt butter in a cast iron skillet or pie pan.
2. Arrange fruit on top of the melted butter.
3. In a blender, combine some basic ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, salt, and flour.
4. Pour the batter over the fruit, then sprinkle the top with a little extra sugar for a fun crackly effect.
5. Bake, then serve.

Watch How to Make Clafoutis

Fruity Clafoutis Variations

Change up your clafoutis with the seasons. Use berries in the spring. Choose cherries, berries, peaches or plums during the summer. In the fall and winter, try pears or apples.

Technically, a clafoutis made with any fruit other than dark cherries is called a flaugnarde, but if Julia Child can use berries and call it a clafoutis, I think we can, too.

Cherry Clafoutis

Dark cherry clafoutis is the most classic option, and it’s lovely. Some recipes suggest leaving the pits in the cherries for some natural almond extract flavor, but I would worry about my guests biting into a pit. I preferred the cherries pitted and halved, so I got some cherries in every bite.

Berry Clafoutis: Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or blueberries

My personal favorite! Use one type of berry or a mix of two or more. For these photos, I used a beautiful combination of raspberries, blueberries and sliced strawberries. If you’re using strawberries or particularly large blackberries, slice them into bite-sized pieces before using.

Peach or Plum Clafoutis

Ripe, thinly sliced peaches or plums would be stellar in clafoutis (or a combination—I can’t wait to try it this summer). You could also use nectarines or apricots in place of peaches. You’ll need about 1 pound of fruit (before pitting) or 3/4 pound once sliced.

Apple or Pear Clafoutis

Slice your apples very thinly, about 1/8-inch wide, so they can bake with the cake. Ripe pears will work nicely as well. Arrange them in a fan-like pattern (carefully, watch out for the hot butter) for a beautiful effect. You could add a handful of fresh cranberries for a festive treat.

More Simple Desserts to Make

If you enjoy this clafoutis, check out a few more of my favorite desserts:

Please let me know how your clafoutis turns out in the comments! I hope it becomes your go-to summertime dessert, too.

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