This post may include affiliate links; see our disclosure policy.
This cherry crisp recipe is the dessert of your dreams! The pan of sweet, tangy cherries is topped with cinnamon-spiced buttery crumbles.
Welcome to the dessert of your dreams: this old-fashioned cherry crisp recipe! Most summers, I go cherry picking in Michigan and bring back a mound of the dark, sweet fruit. One of the best ways to use it? Bake up a crisp, of course!
This one is perfect in my book, with sweet tart, juicy red fruit covered in cinnamon-spiced butter crumbles. (I also like to add a hint of ground cardamom for some intrigue!) Either way, served with homemade whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, it’s next-level good.
5 Star Reader Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Delicious! I don’t want to tell anyone that I made it, so I can have it all to myself!! 😜” – Jennifer D.
Cherry Crisp Ingredients
Cherry crisp is the perfect dessert to highlight the sweetness of cherries! It pleases everyone and is very simple to make, with basic ingredients you likely already have on hand. It’s also versatile for different types of diets!
Here are the ingredients for a basic cherry crisp:
- Sweet cherries, fresh, frozen or canned
- Granulated and brown sugar
- Cornstarch
- Lemon zest
- Vanilla extract
- Old Fashioned rolled oats
- All purpose flour (or almond flour, for gluten-free)
- Cinnamon
- Salted butter (or vegan butter or coconut oil, for vegan)
- Salt
Types of Cherries to Use
This cherry crisp is best made when cherries are in season, which is the summer here in the Midwest! I love cherry-picking in Michigan and nabbing a huge bowl of cherries for a fraction of what you’d pay at the store!
But this recipe is also great with fresh grocery-store cherries, frozen cherries, or canned cherries! Here are a few types of cherries you can use in this cherry crisp:
- Sweet cherries: The most popular types are Bing (dark red) and Rainier (golden and red). Bing cherries are easy to find at the grocery store, and often you can find them fresh or frozen. They are very sweet, firm, and juicy.
- Tart cherries: Montmorency cherries are sour cherries grown in Michigan. They’re more fragile to transport, so most often you’ll find them dried or sometimes frozen. You can use them here if you can find them fresh, but add about 2 tablespoons extra sugar to the filling (then taste and add more as desired).
- Frozen cherries: Frozen cherries work well in a crisp! Keep in mind the note above about adding more sugar to tart cherries.
Can You Use Canned Cherries?
Canned cherries also work; it’s best if they are packed in water and unsweetened. Avoid cherry pie filling because it has an artificial sweetener. One 15-ounce can of cherries has about 2 cups, so you’ll need 2 ½ cans here.
Tips for How to Pit Cherries
The most time-consuming part of a cherry crisp recipe is pitting the sweet cherries! There are a few methods for doing it, but I’ve found it’s easiest to pit cherries with a straw. Make sure it is a metal or a strong plastic straw (not a disposable one, which is too flimsy).
Here’s what to do:
- Remove the cherry stem.
- Place the straw where the stem was and hold the cherry with one hand.
- Press the straw into the fruit firmly but gently, and the pit will pop out the other side.
- Keep in mind, this is a messy process! Wear an apron, and you may want to wear plastic gloves to keep the cherry juice from staining your hands.
Flavor Adders
This cherry crisp recipe tastes incredible as written, but I like to add one additional ingredient to take the flavor over the top: ground cardamom! It adds floral notes that bring a hint of complexity. Here are a few more flavor adders:
- Ground cardamom: Use ¼ teaspoon in the topping, or simply sprinkle a hint over when serving.
- Orange zest: Substitute the lemon zest with orange zest for an even more citrusy zing.
- Amaretto: Why not? Stir in 1 tablespoon of amaretto for a cherry amaretto crisp.
- Walnuts, pecans, or almonds: For an added crunch, stir in ¼ to ½ cup chopped nuts to the crisp topping.
Diet Variations
This recipe is versatile and works for many types of diets! Here are a few ways to modify the recipe for diet preferences:
- Vegan: Use vegan butter or refined coconut oil (unrefined also works; it just tastes more like coconut!).
- Gluten Free: Use almond flour instead of all-purpose. Its crunchy texture works perfectly in a crisp.
Storage Info
For leftovers, you can store this crisp in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat to room temperature when serving if preferred.
This crumble also freezes well for several months in a sealed container. To reheat, pop it in the oven at 350 degrees until bubbly, and the topping is crisp.
Dietary Notes
This recipe is vegetarian. For vegan, use coconut oil or vegan butter. For gluten-free, use almond flour.
Cherry Crisp
This cherry crisp recipe is the fruit dessert of your dreams! The pan of sweet, tangy cherries is topped with cinnamon-spiced buttery crumbles.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 5 cups pitted sweet cherries (1 3/4 pounds)*
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- Zest of 1/2 lemon (or ¼ teaspoon orange zest)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup Old Fashioned rolled oats**
- ¾ cup all purpose flour (or almond flour for gluten-free)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Optional: ground cardamom (¼ teaspoon in the crisp or for serving)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons cold salted butter (or coconut oil or vegan butter for vegan)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Pit the cherries. In a medium bowl, mix them with the granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a bowl, then pour the filling into a round 9-inch pie pan, 9 x 9 inch baking dish or 7 x 11 baking dish.
- In another medium bowl, mix together the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and kosher salt. Cut the butter into small pieces, then use your hands to mix it into the oats until fully distributed and there are no more dry crumbs. It may take a while, so be patient; you can also use a fork or pastry cutter if you prefer. (If using coconut oil, it can be room temperature; use the same method to add it.) Break the dough into crumbles with your fingers and place them in an even layer on top of the cherries.
- Bake: Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the top is evenly golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Cool for 30 minutes to 1 hour, then serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers up to 3 days (reheat to room temperature if desired). This crumble also freezes well for several months in a sealed container; reheat it in a 350-degree oven until bubbly and the topping is crisp.
Notes
*Frozen cherries work too. If using tart cherries instead of sweet, add a few more tablespoons of sugar to the filling, to taste. Canned cherries also work; it’s best if they are packed in water and unsweetened. I don’t recommend using cherry pie filling here because it has an artificial sweetener. One 15-ounce can of cherries yields about 2 cups, so you’ll need 2 ½ cans for this recipe.
**If desired, you can add ¼ to ½ cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds to the topping.
Delicious! I don’t want to tell anyone that I made it so I can have it all to myself!! 😜
I went cherry picking in Michigan this summer too! Just love it. This recipe looks really good – is it best to measure using weight of the cherries than use a measuring cup?
This recipe is forgiving either way, but weighing will be a bit more precise.
I weighted and froze in portions since I wasn’t going to use all of it before it was too late. I thawed some out recently and decided to make this. It’s delicious! The filling was a little dry but maybe my fault. Should I have mixed the filling ingredients while the cherries were frozen, would that have been better?