Individual Blueberry Grunts

Individual Blueberry Grunt

Yeah, I’d never heard of a blueberry grunt, either. Until I became friends with Sandy. Every since we became friends, I couldn’t use the word “blueberry” without her saying “Mmmm, blueberry grunt…” eyes half-closed and smiling. I knew it was one of her favorite desserts, but I couldn’t bring myself to make something called a grunt.

Until, that is, I had four cups freshly picked blueberries.

A grunt is in the cobbler family, and it’s a traditional East Coast maritime dessert. It’s perfect for people who might want something like a pie, but are too lazy make an actual pie. So that means it’s perfect for me!

Grunts out of the oven

Blueberry is a popular flavor for grunts, but I imagine you can use pretty much any berry or fruit. They’re a great way to use up bountiful–but fleeting–summer fruit. The most common way to make a grunt is to boil berries with water, sugar, and lemon juice, then add biscuit dough to the top, cover with a tight lid, and steam. It’s a one-pan, stove-top operation. I chose to bake mine because I had these ridiculously cute gratin dishes that I’d been dying to use for a blog post. I’ll give directions for both methods of cooking.

Recipes for grunts are all pretty standard, I adapted and veganized this simple recipe.

Individual Blueberry Grunts

Blueberry Grunts
Makes four individual grunts, or one large

Blueberry Filling
Four Cups Fresh Blueberries (or frozen)
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tbs Lemon Juice
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 tsp Each Cinnamon and Nutmeg, optional (I left them out)

Simple Biscuits
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine, or veg. shortening
3/4-1 Cup Soymilk

Add all of the ingredients for the blueberry filling into a large skillet.  If you’re going to be making one large grunt and steaming the biscuits, make sure this skillet has a tight fitting lid. If you’re going to be baking the grunt, preheat the oven to 400º F.

Blueberry Filling

Boil the berries for 10-15 minutes until the mixture has thickened a little.

Blueberry Filling

Meanwhile, combine all the dry ingredients for the biscuits. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the margarine/shortening into the dry ingredients. If you’re berries aren’t done yet, go ahead and stick the dry mixture in the fridge or freezer to keep the margarine cold until you’re ready for it.

When the berries are ready, add the soymilk to the dry mixture to form a soft biscuit dough. The consistency is pretty forgiving, a slightly too-soft or too-firm dough won’t make a difference in the final product. As long as it holds together, but is soft enough to break apart into clumps, you’re good to go. Don’t over-mix the dough, or the biscuits will be tough. But you knew that!

Grunt Biscuit Dough

For one large, steamed grunt:
Break the biscuit dough up into small, bite-sized pieces.  Place the pieces on top of the hot, still-cooking berries, spread evenly across the top.  Cover the skillet with a tight fitting lid, reduce the heat slightly, and steam for 15 minutes without peeking.  The biscuits should be puffed up and cooked all the way through.  Serve warm.

For one large baked grunt:
Follow the instructions for a steamed grunt, but place in the oven to bake at 400º F (without a lid) for 20 minutes.  You can sand the biscuits sugar before baking if you like! Serve warm.

For individual baked grunts:
Transfer berry mixture to individual ramekins or gratin dishes, filling only half-full.  Add biscuit mixture on top.  Sand with sugar and place all the grunts on a baking sheet (this will help you take them out of the oven with burning yourself).  Bake for 20 minutes, serve warm.

Here’s what my individual grunts looked like before baking:

Grunts before baking

These are great just as they are, but you can also serve them with some ice cream if you want. I invited Sandy over to try them, and she said that not only were they delicious, but they “taste exactly like a non-vegan grunt.” So if you’re looking for a simple, but elegant dessert to use up summer berries, I highly recommend this one.

I won’t blame you if you call it a cobbler, though.

Individual Blueberry Grunts

68 comments

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  2. Shona

    This looks like it would go great with some raw vegan ice cream:)
    Check out free recipes by clicking:)
    Beautiful pictures – can really see the care that goes into this.
    Thanks
    love Shona x

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  4. adrienne

    made these with diced strawberries tonight. my friend and I loved it, and when my roommate came home with her boyfriend first thing she said was “I SMELLS *REALLY* GOOD IN HERE!” so of course I had to offer some to them…
    looks like I won’t have much left for very long!
    thanks for this recipe!!

  5. Christina

    Just made this tasty treat – my boyfriend and I aren’t really big blueberry fans but we loved it. I was worried about how much liquid was in the blueberry mixture but the biscuit top really soaks it up – absolutely fantastic.

  6. Meilani

    Blueberries went on sale and I jumped at the chance to try my first YumYum recipe. They turned out absurdly delicious and were the easiest thing to make. I ended up using mini bundt cake pans cause that’s all I had and aside from the oozing over onto the baking sheet, there were no problems with them. This recipe made me feel confident about trying other recipes from this blog, starting with the Sweet Chili Lime Tofu! :D

  7. Adam

    Nothing stopped Carol Burnett dvd from achieving what she wanted and because of that, she is admired everywhere in this world and lots of comedians have her as an icon, a person they want to be like.

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  9. Nicole L.

    This looks oh so good! Simple question, can soy milk be substituted for rice milk? I think I have a slight soy allergy so am considering substituting soy milk for rice milk, at least in dessert recipes. Any thoughts on this?

  10. Alana S

    I have grown up with this recipe in Nova Scotia, the recipe I use is basically the same except:
    I reduce the heat to low and cover, do not add any water (the berries have enough moisture and create their own juices) stirring occasionally. The lemon juice is not a must. Also a little (not too much) grated orange rind or lemon rind added to the biscuit topping is nice.
    Cheers!

  11. Rebecca

    Thanks so much for this – it has become a favorite in our household!

    To the person who was asking about using Rice Milk – I always use it, and the grunts have tasted just fine. If you want it to be creamier, maybe you could experiment with pureeing a tiny amount of cashew and adding it to the rice milk. The flavor would probably compliment the blueberries quite nicely. I haven’t tried this though, so again, it would be an experiment!
    :)

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