Easy Cherry Crumble

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

A fruit crumble is an easy dessert recipe that will impress your guests. There is something so appealing about the rustic charm of a crumble. Made with in-season fruit, you really can’t beat the taste.

We should embrace un-fancy desserts. I always say that I am a big baking fan, but that doesn’t mean I am a decorative baker. And that’s ok! I have a feeling I’m not alone. Not all baking should require piping frosting or shaping dough, while still delivering on looks and flavor.

Crumble leftovers will become your new favorite breakfast. I am serious. You can eat them cold with Greek yogurt. You can’t say that about many dessert recipes, right?

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

For cherry filling:

• Cherries: Tart cherries, also known as sour cherries, are my first choice, but I know their window of availability can be short. Also, they are a definite farmers market purchase, which makes them harder to find. You can use sweet cherries like bing. They are usually stocked at the grocery. Also, don’t hesitate to use a mix of different cherry types.
• Granulated sugar sweetens the filling, but don’t worry. This filling doesn’t turn out overly sweet.
• Cornstarch thickens the fruit filling. As the cherries bake with the sugar, they will macerate and release their juices. 
• Lemon juice doesn’t make the crumble taste lemony. Remember, you want to layer in flavors that all work together. It’s there to add acid to balance out the sweetness.
• Vanilla extract: Like so many baked goods, pure vanilla extract rounds out the rest of the ingredients.

For crumble topping:

• Oats: Make sure to use old-fashioned rolled oats and not quick-cooking oats. They are the base of the crumble.
• All-purpose flour is the ingredient that gives structure to the crumble. You can think of it like a background ingredient. Those fine grains are the in-between that holds the oats and the other ingredients together with the help of melted butter.
• Almonds and cherries are the perfect pair. They give the crumble something nutty with good bite. I wouldn’t call the crumble crunchy, but sliced almonds are just right the texture and variety.
• Cinnamon: No matter the fruit, it is nearly impossible for me to make a crumble without ground cinnamon. 
• Melted butter is the glue that gives you those clumps. Who knew the word clump could be a good thing, but it is here. A good crumble has clumps—small, medium and some larger.
• Salt doesn’t make the crumble salty. Again, this simple recipe is all about using baking and pantry staples. Small moves all contribute to how fantastic you can make an uncomplicated dessert. 

How To Make This Cherry Crumble Recipe

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with butter. 

1. Make the filling. Stir the cherries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and vanilla extract in large bowl.

2. Spoon the cherry filling into the baking dish.

3. Make the crumble topping. Stir the oats, flour, light brown sugar, almonds, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Then pour in the melted butter and stir to combine. Overall, you should see different sized clumps.

4. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the cherries. They should be mostly covered.

5. Bake the cherry crumble. Give it 40-45 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the cherry filling is bubbling.

Serving

I recommend allowing the crumble to cool. When you pull any fruit dessert out of the oven, whether that’s a salted caramel apple pie or something else, the fruit filling will be lava hot. You can test to see if it’s safe to eat, by dipping a knife into the crumble and carefully touching it. You can serve it warm or at room temperature, but just avoid plating it when it’s piping hot. 

Of course, a crumble is wonderful a la mode with vanilla ice cream, but it’s great on its own just scooped into a bowl. 

Leftovers & Storage

Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and put it in the fridge up to 3 days. As mentioned, I love eating leftover crumble cold with Greek yogurt. You can scoop a portion of leftovers onto a foil-lined sheet pan and reheat them in a 300-degree F oven.

If you want to keep the crumble longer, you can freeze it up to 1 month. Rather than freezing the entire thing, I like portioning it out. Then you can thaw it in the fridge and reheat it in the oven as desired.