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Made with either fresh or frozen cherries, Cherry Crumble is a perfect blend of sweet and tart flavors. Don’t forget the ice cream!
In California, our cherry season is pretty short. Cherries reach their peak season in May and are gone again in June. Up in the northwest, the season is later in the summer. Overall, summer seems to be the time to enjoy fresh cherries!
Fortunately, this recipe for Cherry Crumble can be made with either fresh or frozen cherries. Using frozen fruit usually means there will be more liquid in the dish, so some adjustments are made to the recipe. Be sure to read the details in the recipe card below.
Cherries add a punch of color to popular red, white and blue recipes for summer celebrations. One of my favorite ways to enjoy them is Cherry Banana Bread, but for simplicity, you can’t beat this Cherry Crumble recipe!
What you’ll need for this recipe:
The recipe amounts will vary based on whether you choose to use fresh cherries or frozen cherries. Please scroll down to the recipe card for all the details on both options.
- Cherries
- Sugar
- Flour
- Lemon juice
- Butter
- Oats
- Brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
Place the cherries (pit them first!) in a large bowl and sprinkle with flour. Add the sugar and lemon juice and mix until evenly coated.
Place the coated cherries in an 8×8 baking pan. If you don’t have an 8″ square pan, you can use a 9″ round pan or even a small rectangular baking pan. If you want to use a standard 9×13″ pan, you should double the recipe.
In a separate bowl, mix the ingredients for the crumb topping. Start with the dry ingredients and then pour the butter over the top and mix with your hands until crumbs form. This can take 3-5 minutes to form good crumbs.
Having the butter slightly melted makes this much easier to mix evenly and give you a crumbly “dough” to work with.
Sprinkle the crumble topping over the cherries and bake until golden brown and the beautiful red juices are bubbling around the edges.
That sticky sweet “goo” at the bottom of a fruit desserts is my favorite part! It reminds me of my mom’s Easy Apple Cobbler. YUM! For the tastiest results, serve Cherry Crumble while it’s still warm from the oven.
Don’t forget the ice cream on top! There’s something magical about that hot and cold combination.
Can you freeze cherry crumble?
Yes you can! Fruit desserts like these are perfect for making ahead and stocking the freezer. It’s a great way to enjoy out of season fruit.
To freeze Cherry Crumble unbaked, put the recipe together and then cover with foil and place inside a large freezer bag. One or two gallon freezer bags are great for this. When it’s time to eat, thaw in the refrigerator first and then bake as directed.
To freeze Cherry Crumble baked, cool it in the refrigerator completely first and then wrap in foil and place in a freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake until heated through.
Cherry Crumble
Ingredients
Cherry Filling
- 2 lbs fresh or frozen cherries pitted
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp lemon juice juice of one lemon
Crumb Topping:
- 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter slightly melted (1 stick)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Place the cherries in a large bowl and add flour. Stir to incorporate.
- Add the sugar and lemon juice and stir combine well. Cherries should be evenly coated.
- Pour the cherry mixture into an 8x8 square baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, add oats, flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract and mix well.
- Pour the butter into the oat/flour mixture and mash with a fork or hands, until mixed well and crumbs form.
- Sprinkle the crumbly topping over the cherry mixture in the dish.
- Bake at 350˚F for 30-40 minutes or until you see bubbles are along the sides of the dish and the topping is golden brown.
- Serve warm. Top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.
Notes
- If using frozen cherries, increase flour in cherry mixture to 1/3 cup.
- Cornstarch can be substituted for flour in the cherry mixture.
- Cut butter into tablespoon slices and microwave for 30 seconds then let sit while mixing other ingredients.
- At 25-30 minutes, check topping to make sure it’s not getting too brown. If so, cover with aluminum foil for remaining cook time.
- Use white sugar instead of brown sugar if preferred in crumb topping or even a mixture of both sugars.
- Bake in a 11x7 or or 9 inch round baking dish if preferred.
Nutrition
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Susie G. says
So delicious. And I love that you can freeze it baked or unbaked – perfect for when you find out company is dropping by tonight for dinner.
Allison Cowherd says
Made this
joe says
i made this with frozen cherries and it was delicious! my whole family loved it and we had some ice cream on top. it was very easy to make and i’d definitely make it again.
Nicole Burkholder says
I’m glad you loved it!