Mixed Berry Galette with Almond Flour Crust

This Loaded Berry Galette skips the pie dish, skips the stress, and fills every inch of a buttery, almond flour crust with a heaping mountain of fresh blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries kissed with lemon and orange zest. No crimping. No perfection required. Just golden, bubbling berries wrapped in the most flavor-packed rustic crust you've ever made.

I love making mixed berry galettes. Rolling out pastry for pie sometimes made me have a nervous breakdown. In complete contrast, rolling out pastry for a galette is fun, meditative and forgiving. Plus strawberries, blackberries and raspberries are the best berries around (love these Berry Cobbler Cookies and Blueberry Cream Cheese Pastries - just like mini galettes!)

A mixed berry galette is everything you love about berry pie - the juicy filling, the golden flaky crust, the warm berry aroma filling your kitchen - without the anxiety. Unlike traditional pie, this loaded berry galette is baked free-form on a sheet pan, which means no pie dish, no blind baking, and no perfectly crimped edges required.

What makes this version stand apart from every other berry galette recipe out there is the almond flour crust (mixed with regular flour): it bakes up tender, slightly rich, and full of nutty depth that a standard crust simply can't match. Plus, the filling gets a flavor boost from both lemon zest and orange zest - a double-citrus combination that brightens the berries in a way you'll notice immediately.

So if you love galettes as much as I do, try Raspberry Galette with Hot Honey and Maple-Cinnamon Peach Frangipane Galette next.

What is Galette

A galette is a type of free-form flat pie that originated in France and is normally made with a simple dough. The word "galette" comes from the French word "galet" - when it was known as a gale - the term simply refers to a 'flat cake'.

Galette is a rustic and slightly imperfectly looking berry pie that is flat of course. Unlike traditional pies with a perfectly shaped crust and limits defined by the pie dish, galettes have a more relaxed and rustic shape.

Why you'll love mixed berry galette

• Less stress: Mixed berry galette is a stress free version of a traditional pie. What? No pie crust skills required in making this berry galette? That's correct, galette to me is a thinner pie without deep and sloped edges, and without a hustle involved in making a pie.
• Pretty: Geometrically this berry galette is such a gorgeous looking dessert! Galette's free form makes it look fresher, more abundant and less formal.
• Berries hold their shape in a galette: Berries are not only more delicious in a loaded galette but they also hold their shape better - that's my opinion and I stand by it! And you can load even more berries per square inch of dough than shown in photos. Yay for loaded berry galette!
• Rustic look: This is kind of a rustic dessert, so when I fold the crust over the berries, it's not perfect. It kind of breaks at natural points and I just go with it.

Ingredients you need and why

• Mixed berries: It's all about strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries to load the galette with the berry goodness!
• Butter: It's a key ingredients in the galette crust for both flavor and structure. It adds rich delicious flavor to the crust.
• Flour: I find that using bot all purpose flour & almond flour makes the galette dough moist and adds additional flavor to the crust.
• Turbinado Sugar: You'll love that this cheesecake isn't overly sweet. Turbinado sugar should be great here, if you have some!
• Lemon zest, orange zest, lemon juice: All of these ideally complement and contrast the sweetness of berries. Lemon zest has a more intense flavor than lemon juice and I recommend that you don't skip it.

Equipment and Tools for the Recipe

• Large mixing bowl
• Baking sheet and parchment paper
• Rolling pin

How to make Mixed Berry Galette

A mixed berry galette is made in stages, so that the process is more manageable. This is an overview of the recipe, the entire recipe with measurements is below in the recipe card.

1. Form and chill the dough

1. The first step is to cut up the butter.
2. Once done, whisk together the all-purpose flour, almond flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3. Stir in vanilla and one tablespoon of ice water and mix. Add in the second tablespoon of water and mix until the dough comes together.
4. Form the dough into a disk shape and wrap in plastic wrap.
5. Chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

2. Make mixed berry filling

1. In the last 10 minutes of the dough chilling, place the berries into a large bowl.
2. Add the sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, orange zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract and cinnamon.
3. Gently toss the berries and set aside.

3. Add berries to the crust

1. Gently transfer the crust onto the parchment lined baking sheet.
2. Load the berry mixture to the middle of the crust going all the way to the 2 inch border.

4. Fold the border dough over the berries

If you see any places the dough split, patch them up so the juices don't flow out. Now that our berry galette is loaded with berries, it's time to decorate it a bit.

5. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar

Brush the dough with the egg wash and immediately sprinkle evenly with the turbinado sugar or coarse sugar over the egg-washed edges of the galette crust.

6. Bake

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F(200°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Flour a clean surface and rollout the dough into an even 12 inch circle.
3. Gently score a 2 inch border (like a crust) around the inner edge.
4. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the berries are bubbling.

Expert tips for this recipe

• Experiment: You can use a combination of berries or just a couple like strawberries and blueberries or blueberries and blackberries.
• Use frozen berries in winter: Berries can be pricey when out of season, so you can use frozen. Just double the amount of cornstarch and do not thaw in advance.
• Sprinkle sugar on top of crust edges: I learned that a big ol' sprinkling of sugar on top of the dough edges before baking the galette covers up any imperfections in the crust and because sugar melts when baking - it contributes to those signature golden brown edges that we often want in the galette.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use refrigerated pie crust?

I've made this using refrigerated pie crust as well. It will cut your labor in half, and nobody will guess it was refrigerated pie crust in the first place. Of course making your own pie crust will definitely take things up a level, but refrigerated crust will do just fine if you are going for easy and effortless

Can I make crust in advance?

You can make the crust up to 2 days in advance and refrigerate until it's time to roll out. This is similar to pie crust, so using cold butter will create a flaky tender crust.

Can I make it gluten free?

Although I did not test this, you can probably sub the all-purpose flour for full almond flour for a gluten free crust.

Substitutions and variations

To enhance the almond taste, sub vanilla extract for almond in the crust and add toasted almond slices as a garnish.

Storage & Serving Suggestions

• Refrigerate: Place leftover berry galette into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
• Chill: You can eat mixed berry galette chilled or allow it to come to room temperature. Serving suggestions: It is best served at room temperature or slightly chilled.

More delicious berry recipes:

• Strawberry lasagna
• Berry Coffee Cake
• Peach and Blueberry Puff Pastry Tart
• Strawberry Crumb Bars
• Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake
• Blueberry Cheesecake