Fresh Tart Cherry Crisp Recipe

This fresh tart cherry crisp recipe is easy to throw together! If you love cobbler for dessert, this easy fruit dessert is going to be a hit. 

Sour Cherry Crisp

I mean this isn’t really “sour” but not sweet like jarred like we use in our maraschino cherry bread or pie filling you may have tasted. Instead these are tart, fresh, and pretty darn wonderful if you ask me. Of course you can use store bought pie cherries for this too. The bing variety are much sweeter so less sugar needs to be used.

We started this obsession after we made this rhubarb crunch dish. It was just so delicious that we kept going with different fruits. Then was a huckleberry crisp, and on to this one.

Fresh Cherry Crisp

Are pie cherries the same as tart cherries?

They are just called different things depending on whom you ask really. Tart cherries are sour and often used as key ingredient in desserts such as homemade cherry pie. Of course with any fruit crisp you need a sweet topping that includes oats for texture and flavor, or dough like our Easy Cherry Cobbler.

I like to use a bit nicer dish than just a baking pan I would for brownies because it looks nicer. This cherry dessert won’t slice out pretty but rather needs to be scooped out. This is my go to baking AND serving dish. Here’s a look at the step by step process I took to make this. The longest part is pitting the cherries really.

Sour Cherry Crisp with Frozen Cherries

Yes you could buy these frozen, at some stores. If you do they likely will already be pitted which is nice but you’ll want to defrost first. I mean if they are just a bit icy that is okay but not rock hard. If left in a bowl for 1-2 hours that usually does the trick.

1. Wash and pit cherries, put fruit in a bowl. We used sour cherries so if you use sweet cherries you’d want to cut down on the sugar.
   • if you want another flavor you could add a bit of lemon juice or almond extract
2. In a medium bowl add sugar, 4 tbsp of your flour and vanilla with your cherries and stir to coat well
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
4. In another mixing bowl mix dry ingredients together: rest of your flour, brown sugar and Old Fashioned oats.
5. Add room temperature or melted butter and shortening. Use fork to combine everything.
6. Spray inside of casserole dish with non stick spray and pour in cherry mixture. Sprinkle the topping on and smooth out evenly over the top so it’s the same thickness across the pan.
7. Cover dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Then remove foil on top and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes until crisp topping is golden browned.

Take out of oven and allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving to solidify and thicken up a bit. THIS is what it looks like when it’s done!! Seriously this fruit crisp is so good as is. No ice cream or whipped cream are needed for added sweetness, but a great addition too if you want.

Easy fruit desserts

Doesn’t this just look amazing?? Don’t expect to lift this out in cleanly sliced pieces. It is similar to a dump cake where a large spoon is needed. I serve it in bowls because it’s just gooey and ready to be scooped up with spoons.

• Our pumpkin crisp is great too
• If you love EASY, give our cherry brownies a whirl that only have 2 ingredients…seriously!
• Fresh apple recipes are always a winner during the summertime especially.

Should cherry crisp be refrigerated?

If you do have any leftovers you can cover the pan or transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 4 days for best results. I will say the texture of this and our Upside down cherry pie is another fun one I came up with quite by accident using cherry pie filling but way way better fresh.

What can I do with frozen cherries?

This is great for that, and our puff pastry fruit strudel with blackberries too! You’ll just want to defrost them beforehand and then follow our instructions below. Like I said, tart cherries are better for this and of course fresh is always better but use what you have on hand. Printable recipe for cherry cobbler is below.