Cherry Crisp

With a sweet and sour cherry base and crunchy topping made with brown sugar, rolled oats, and butter, this old-fashioned cherry crisp is just right for easy summer baking. Use fresh or frozen cherries for this recipe.

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How This Recipe Works

With a mix of sweet and sour cherries, this cherry crisp is a not-too-sweet summer staple. We often use frozen cherries for the ease of it - no pitting - but fresh cherries are the best when they're in season. If you don't have a pitter a metal straw or chopstick is great.

A little starch is used to thicken the cherry filling, with chewy oats, flavourful brown sugar, and creamy butter in the crumble topping. Crisps and crumbles are a great easy way to use summer fruit, served warm with vanilla or sweet cream ice cream.

We've all been making crisps since we were kids, because they're one of the first things you start with when you start baking, and cherry is a favourite for us across the board. It feels a little special to me in particular because big cherries don't grow in Manitoba so they're a real treat!

Ingredients You'll Need and Why

We really like frozen cherries here as a time-saver, but Kelly and Sophie use fresh when they're in season locally (both Nova Scotia and British Columbia grow great cherries!). These are our notes from recipe testing and you can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.

• Cherries: use fresh or frozen. If you can find both sweet and sour cherries, a mix is excellent in this crisp. if you are using fresh cherries, try using the leftover pits to make Alex's easy cherry syrup.
• Flour: this should be plain all-purpose white flour. We often use whole wheat flour here with no changes to the other ingredients for a nice nutty flavour. While we haven't tested with a gluten-free flour blend, crisps are usually an excellent time to sub GF flour if needed.
• Lemon juice: a little lemon juice cuts through the sweetness of the cherry filling.
• Sugar: plain white sugar is used in the filling. We found using all brown sugar, for both the cherries and the crumble topping, to overwhelm the cherry flavour.
• Brown sugar: the topping is made with all brown sugar for a crisp, tasty oatmeal crumble. You can use light or dark brown sugar.
• Oats: for the best texture, use rolled oats. Quick-cook will be fine in a pinch, but don't try to use steel cut oats.
• Butter: all butter gives the best flavour and texture to the crisp. Cold butter is best. If you need a dairy-free alternative, try a good vegan butter that comes in block or stick form.
• Corn starch: added starch thickens the cherry filling, just like in a pie. In a pinch you can use double the flour instead of starch.

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top, or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the printable recipe card with full ingredient measurements and complete instructions.

How to Make Cherry Crisp

You just need one mixing bowl: mix the cherry filling, transfer it to the baking dish, then mix the crumble topping in that same bowl. Since the baking dish will be filled right up to the top before baking it's a little too tricky to mix the cherries right in the dish.

Step 1: mix the cherries with the lemon juice, starch, and sugar. If you're using frozen cherries you might notice some clumping, that's normal. Transfer to the baking dish and set aside.

Step 2: in the same bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, oats, and other topping ingredients. Use your hands to mix very well into a crumble. The cold butter is too difficult to mix in using a spoon - simply wash your hands before mixing.

Step 3: top the cherry base with an even layer of the crisp topping. Don't worry if some cherries peek through. For the best texture keep the topping with some larger and some smaller pieces.

Step 4: bake until bubbling and golden, about 50 minutes. The filling needs to come to a boil in order to thicken properly. To prevent any cherry juice from spilling over and burning to the bottom of the oven, bake the crisp on a baking sheet.

Expert Tips for the Best Fruit Crisp

• Don't skip the starch: added corn starch in the cherry filling thickens it, and if you leave it out, you'll end up with a runny cherry sauce. If you really want to make this and don't have starch in the house, replace it with double the amount of flour and it'll have a similar result.
• Bake until bubbling: to thicken properly, the filling needs to boil - if it doesn't, not only will it not set properly, it'll also have an unpleasant mouthfeel.
• Cool before serving: give your cherry crisp a few minutes to rest before serving. This makes it cool enough to eat but also lets the fruit base set enough to be just the right consistency.

More Cherry Recipes

• Chocolate Cherry Cake
• Cherry Peach Crisp
• Cherry Blondies with Almonds
• Cherry Crumble Cake

If you make this Cherry Crisp recipe or any other dessert recipes on the Baked Collective, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more baking, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.