Cherry Crisp

While I’ve never been a big fan of cherry pie, I am head over heels for a good cherry crisp. I love the crispy, sweet pecan and oatmeal based crust much more than I’d ever love any pie crust. Other than the buttery crumb topping, the star of this recipe is the homemade filling. I could think of no better way to punctuate the end of cherry season than by getting a big bag of fresh Washington cherries and featuring them in this decadent dessert.

Ingredients:
For the filling and crust:

• 1 ½ cups of pure cane sugar
• ¼ cornstarch
• 4 cups of cherries
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup oats
• ¼ cup flour
• ⅓ cup butter
• ¼ cup pecans, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon salt
  For the pastry bottom:
• 1/2 cup cubed butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

1.Preheat oven to 350℉. Combine cornstarch and 1 cup of sugar in a bowl and stir together thoroughly.

2.Remove the pits from the cherries, discard pits. Place cherries in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently, once the cherries begin to release cherry juice (about 10 minutes), stir in the sugar/cornstarch mixture until fully combines. Turn heat to low and simmer until mixture begins to thicken (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat, set aside.

3.In a large bowl combine remaining half cup of sugar with oats, ½ cup of the brown sugar, salt, flour, pecans, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir thoroughly. Melt butter and add to oat mixture, stir until fully coated with melted butter.

4.In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt,and brown sugar for the pastry bottom. Cut in the cubed butter. Press the prepared dough into a 9x9 baking dish.

5.Layer the cherry filling on top of the pastry bottom, top with the oatmeal mixture. Distribute both evenly over the pastry bottom.

6.Cook for 25-30 minutes until crust is golden brown.

Serve warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.