The Sweet Kitchen: Cherry Vanilla Almond Crisp

Tonight, I felt like a little something sweet and I was all out of ice cream! Gasp! Honestly that's not that unusual in my house. So, I thought, why not make myself some cherry crisp! This recipe is inspired by Joanna Gaines, but I have made some adjustments to it. It is super easy to whip together fast and doesn't take too long to cook. 

The ingredients I use are:

2C cherries fresh or frozen (if using fresh will need pitted)

1 TBSP lemon juice (or lime juice)

1/2 tsp almond or vanilla extract

1/4 C sugar or Splenda

1/8 C cornstarch

2 TBSP of already made crumble topping. (See blog post on June Farmers Market from 6/1/23 for recipe)

1TBSP butter

This is a cut back version with some differences of Joanna Gaines Cherry Almond Crisp. Her's makes 6 servings mine makes 4. The differences I make my own crumble topping that is different than hers, I did not include the lemon zest. I also add vanilla extract instead of almond in some cases. Also the amounts of the ingredients differs due to a small yield. 

The recipe I use is:

In a large bowl add cherries, juice, and extract and toss to coat. In small bowl, combine the sugar/Splenda and cornstarch and mix well. Then coat the fruit with this mixture and coat well. Divide the fruit into 4 ramekins or oven safe bowls/dishes. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place ramekins on a baking sheet in case of overflow. Dish up a couple TBSP of the crumble topping onto each ramekin and top each with a TBSP of butter (or less if desired). Cook for 20 minutes, or until browned and bubbly around the edges. Cool for 20 minutes then serve. 

*Tip: if you are using frozen cherries you may need to cook a bit longer. I would add 10 minutes at a time and check and see if it is bubbly before removing from the oven. I ended up needing to cook an additional 20 minutes for frozen fruit in my oven. Also remember, if using fresh cherries you will need to pit them. 

You can serve this with ice cream or cool whip.

*Tip if you are not eating all the crisp and saving some for leftovers like I do I suggest only putting the crumble on the top of what will be eaten immediately. When you go to heat up the leftovers you can add the crumble and butter at that time before microwaving or reheating in the oven. 

Yield 4 servings. Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days.