Happy Monday!

Summer = cherries. Well, at least in my book.

When I was a kid, Ginny and Papa (my grandparents) had a big cherry tree in their yard. My brother, sisters, cousins, and I would climb the cherry tree and sit there for hours and hours picking cherries right off the tree and eating them. We would just hang out and chat. We would spit the pits as far as we could (or at each other!). It was the best time ever.

Ever since then, cherries hold a special place in my heart…it doesn’t hurt that they are delicious! So, when Michael and I were at the farmer’s market last weekend and found a local farmer selling his last bags of cherries at half price, I couldn’t resist!

Side note: have you guys every gone to the farmer’s market later in the day? Like when it’s almost over? It is a great trick! A lot of the vendors reduce their prices to sell their produce so they don’t have to lug it home so you can get some great deals!

Ok, so I got home with about 5 pounds of cherries! I knew this cherry crumble was in my future.

Making the crumble out of fresh cherries can be a bit of a hassle because you have to seed them, but the extra work is totally worth it. The tart, juicy, sweet, fresh cherry flavor is so summery it makes me want to climb a tree.

The fresh cherries aren’t the only thing that makes this crumble the perfect dessert, the topping is really special too! The slivered almonds work so well with the cherries. The oats make it super crunchy, and with just a hint of brown sugar it’s not too sweet, just sweet enough.

You can make one big crumble or little individual crumbles. They come out of the oven hot and bubbly, smelling nutty and sugary and amazing. So amazing in fact, you just might burn your tongue on that first bite cuz you might not be able to wait!

Need a solution? Top it off with some vanilla ice cream to cool it down :)

Enjoy!

Fresh Cherry Crumble
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Tara
Ingredients
  • 6 cups fresh bing cherries, pitted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • For crumb topping
  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds
  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl, stir gently to combine
  3. Coat the bottom of one large baking dish or 6 smaller ramekins with cooking spray
  4. Spoon cherry mixture into dish(es)
  5. In another bowl, combine next 9 ingredients (all ingredients for crumble topping)
  6. Using a pastry cutter, cut cold butter into the mixture (this with break up the slivered almonds as well)
  7. Spoon crumble topping over cherries
  8. Bake for 35-45 minutes for a large dish or 20-25 min for smaller dishes