Sour Cherry Crisp

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This delicious tangy sour cherry crisp is a fantastic dessert recipe. It's not overly sweet but highlights the natural sweet and sour flavors of the sour cherries.

Sour cherries are a wonderful summer fruit that's only available for a short time. Most people find them a little too sour to eat on their own, but they are great in baked goods and desserts.

This fruit crisp recipe has a little sweetener (brown sugar) in the cherry filling to offset excessive tartness, but it doesn't overwhelm the natural flavors of the cherries.

Sour cherries have an awesome sweet and sour flavor that's perfect in baked goods and desserts.

Making them into a sour cherry crumble is my favorite way to enjoy them! I hope it will be one of your favorite desserts.

Fresh sour cherries are in season in June and July (unlike sweet cherries, which are available from May to August), making them special. Sour cherries freeze well though, so you can make this easy recipe any time of the year if you use frozen cherries.

Be sure to check out all our healthy dessert ideas if you like this great recipe!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Equipment
• Storage
• Sour Cherry Crisp

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make a sour cherry crisp recipe.

• 1 pound pitted sour cherries (fresh tart cherries)
• 5 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup water
• ⅔ cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 3 tablespoons cold butter, diced into small pieces
• ⅓ cup chopped walnuts

*You can use frozen or fresh cherries. If you use frozen, bake the crisp for 50 minutes. Sour cherries are not usually available at the grocery store; you'll likely have a better chance of finding them at a farmer's market or farm stand.

If you'd like to print this list with the instructions, see the recipe card below.

Instructions

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine the pitted cherries, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Add the water and stir to combine again. 

Add the cherry pie filling to an 8x8 inch (2 quarts) baking dish or pie plate. You could also use a cast iron skillet.

Combine the oats, butter, and walnuts in a medium bowl to make a crumbly topping. Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to combine the mixture till it is crumbly.

Sprinkle the crumble topping on top of the cherries. 

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the crumble topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. 

Cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack before serving. 

Serve with optional whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Hint: If your crisp topping isn't browning, but the crumble has been in the oven for 50 minutes, turn the broiler on for 1 minute.

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Substitutions

If you'd like to make some substitutions, here are my suggestions.

• Flour - instead of all-purpose flour, you can use almond flour or oat flour.
• Brown Sugar - Use honey, agave, or coconut sugar instead of brown sugar.
• Walnuts - walnuts can be substituted for any other type of nuts, like almonds, hazelnuts, or pecans.
• Extract - If you'd like additional nutty flavor, you can add one teaspoon of almond extract to the sour cherry mixture.

Equipment

If you're using fresh cherries, you may want to get a good cherry pitter. I've used this one before and liked it.

If you'd like to use any of the mixing bowls pictured above, here is the set of glass ones and this is the metal OXO one. This is one of my favorite pastry cutters - it's helpful for making the crisp topping.

Finally, here's the Emile Henry pie dish pictured above.

Storage

You can store the baked crisp in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container. I suggest reheating it in the oven as the crisp topping will get soggy in the microwave.

You can freeze the crisp both before and after baking. If you are freezing it in the dish you are baking it in, allow it to come to room temperature before putting it in the oven. Glassware and ceramic dishes can crack if they go from freezing to a hot oven.