To showcase cherries in their prime, I try to make at least 1 cherry dessert each summer. Cherry pie with my favorite flaky pie crust is typically my default.
But this year I had a hard time deciding on a cherry dessert, so I asked you in my latest recipe testing post which you prefer: (1) streusel-topped crisp or (2) biscuit-topped cobbler. The results were pretty even, but the majority swayed toward crisp. There’s a lot of love out there for berry cobbler (and traditional pie crust, of course!), but nothing can live up to heaps of oatmeal streusel. Biscuits will never be streusel.
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MORE CHERRY DESSERTS
Behind the Recipe
Cherry crisp is a really simple dessert, but it delivers impressive flavor and texture. Here’s why cherry crisp is so easy:
- No need to mess with pie dough: no rolling anything out, waiting for it to chill, or stressing over a pie dough cracking. A main reason why we all love peach crisp, strawberry crisp, and apple crisp too!
- You only need 2 bowls: 1 for fruit, 1 for topping. Mix both components separately then layer into a dish and bake.
- No need to wait for the dessert to cool down before eating. Serve, eat, enjoy warm. Most definitely with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.
- Quick. Done and on the table in an hour.
What may take you the most time is pitting those cherries. Pitting cherries is the pits. You’ll save a lot of time and headache using a cherry pitter. I only pull mine out once or twice a year and whenever I clean out my gizmos and gadgets drawer (the official name), I ask myself if I really need this thing? And then I remember spending about 12 hours pitting cherries a few years ago for 1 pie and realized that cherry pitters, while only used a handful of times, is LITERALLY THE BEST INVENTION. And guess what? If you want to avoid all that, use frozen cherries instead. See my recipe note about substituting.
Which Cherries?
Use your favorite cherry variety. I chose a mix of rainier cherries and dark sweet cherries. You can use all rainier or all dark sweet– or if you opt for sour cherries, add a little extra sugar. See my recipe note below.
This is Exactly What Your Cherry Desserts Have Been Missing
Now I’m not much of a bourbon drinker, but I know that cherries and bourbon are a dynamite flavor pairing. I tossed a little into the filling and as I tasted my first spoonful, I knew exactly what all of my cherry desserts have been missing. Bourbon. You don’t need much—just a splash. But those couple tablespoons will catapult your cherry crisp from “great” to “I’m eating this entire cherry crisp and I’m not sharing.”
When I first tested this recipe, I tried reducing the bourbon down before using in the filling, but I found that step was unnecessary. When I tried the recipe with a simple pour of bourbon straight from the bottle, it was awesome. And obviously easier since it saves a step.
You won’t feel tipsy after eating a serving, though I’m sure you won’t feel like roses if you down the entire dessert. Like with my bourbon sweet potato pie, you can tell something unique is baked in, but the booze doesn’t overpower anything else.
Which Bourbon?
Since the bourbon is being used in a recipe and you only need a couple Tablespoons, no need to purchase the really fancy stuff. Any middle of the road bourbon is great. I used Jim Beam.
Streusel Topping
Nothing but basics come together to make the streusel topping so not only does it taste dreamy, it’s both easy and convenient. You need the same ingredients we use for apple crisp—brown sugar, oats, butter, cinnamon, and flour. I added sliced almonds for some added crunch, but you can skip them for a nut-free dessert. I went back and forth about adding cinnamon, but quickly came to my senses because oatmeal desserts are nothing without cinnamon and cinnamon makes everything taste like grandma’s baking. So, cinnamon is a non-negotiable.
The streusel topping is what I use for apple cranberry crumble pie and blueberry crumble pie. The trick with this crumble topping—so that it doesn’t melt and lose a lot of texture—is to use very cold butter, just like with pie crust and homemade biscuits. Mix brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together then cut in cubed and cold butter. I add the oats last because I don’t want them to break down when I cut the butter in. Whole oats = more of the texture we crave.
And if you want an upgraded bourbon cherry crisp, use the brown butter streusel topping from my blueberry peach crisp. It’s so very good. Or if you need a gluten free alternative you can use the topping from my gluten free apple crisp. And if you want a bourbon cherry cobbler, halve the topping recipe that I use for peach cobbler. Also so very good.
PS: Any size close to a 9-inch baking dish works for this recipe.
More Summer Dessert Recipes
- Fruit Pizza
- Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches & Berry Icebox Cake
- Blueberry Pie
- Peach Cobbler
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Bourbon Cherry Crisp
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: serves 8
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This buttery bourbon cherry crisp combines sweet bourbon infused dark cherries with brown sugar cinnamon oatmeal streusel. Toasted almonds add a little crunch while vanilla ice cream adds a lovely contrast to the warm cherry filling.
Ingredients
- 5 cups halved pitted cherries*
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (21g) cornstarch
- 2–3 Tablespoons (30-45ml) bourbon*
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 6 Tablespoons (46g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, very cold and cubed
- 2/3 cup (57g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- optional: handful of slivered/chopped/sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Lightly grease a 9-inch round or 9-inch square baking dish (or similar size).
- Mix all of the filling ingredients together in a large bowl, then spread into the baking dish.
- Make the topping: Whisk the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture is crumbly. See photo above for a visual. Fold in the oats and almonds. Sprinkle evenly over filling.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the fruit juices are bubbling around the edges. Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack, and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving warm. You can also serve room temperature or cold.
- Cover leftovers and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked crisp freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then warm in a 350°F (177°C) for 20 minutes or until heated through. I do not suggest preparing the crisp and storing it, unbaked, in the refrigerator because the topping will get soggy. You can prepare and assemble the crisp through step 3 and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 4.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Round Pie Dish or 9-inch Square Baking Dish (or similar size) | Glass Mixing Bowl | Pastry Cutter | Cooling Rack | Cherry Pitter
- Cherries: You need about 1.5 lbs of cherries. You can use any variety—I use a combination of dark sweet and rainier. If using sour cherries, increase sugar to 3/4 depending how sweet you like it. You can use frozen cherries. Thaw and blot them with a paper towel before using.
- Bourbon: I’m not much of a bourbon connoisseur. Since the bourbon is being used in a recipe and you only need a couple Tablespoons, no need to purchase the fancy stuff. I used Jim Beam. I tested the recipe with 2 Tablespoons and 3 Tablespoons. Anywhere around either amount is great. If you’d rather skip the alcohol, use 2 Tablespoons of orange juice or 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice instead.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Could you use tapioca instead of cornstarch?
Same question when making your peach crisp
Thank you
Hi Nan, we haven’t tested it, but tapioca should work fine here and in the peach crisp recipe. Let us know if you try it!
I love this recipe! My son is allergic to dairy so I used Country Crock’s dairy free butter and it turned out good. It’s a little brown around the edges, but overall looks great!
This was great! I added 1/2 tsp of salt to the crumble topping and an additional 1 tablespoon of Bourbon. Made one with Rainier cherries and one with Dark Sweet cherries. To my household, the dark sweet cherries were the favorite! Brought out the flavor of the bourbon a little better than the Rainier. Thanks so much for this delicious recipe!!
This way way too runny. I would recommend cooking the filling first next time.
I’ve made this recipe multiple times to rave reviews. It couldn’t be easier. Works great with fresh or frozen cherries. The recipe calls for unsalted butter, but the second time I made it I used salted butter because that is what I had and I think it makes the flavors pop even more. When entertaining, I make it ahead of time, but keep the topping separate in the fridge until right before I bake it. Next time I may try the brown butter topping to amp it up a bit, but the recipe it is divine just as written.
Could I use this filling in a cherry pie, instead of a crisp? I’m asking because my husband loves the filling, but also prefers pie crust. Should I reduce the liquid or let sit longer? Thanks for all you do!
Hi Ashley! We would try reducing the liquid like we do with our cherry pie recipe. Let us know if you try!
We made it tonight -it turned out great! I used 4.5 cups of cherries and I reduced the liquid after mixing and chilling in the refrigerator. I let it sit for an hour before reducing (not intentional, just had people over for pie week and stopped what I was doing). Those are the only changes I had made. This turned out amazing! 10/10!
Holiday Staple. I’ve made this 1/2 dozen times now and it’s consistently delicious. I’ve known someone to make it without thawing the cherries (we always use frozen) or draining the juice and it can be soupy and unset, but other than remembering the night before to put the cherries in the fridge, this is the quickest dessert to throw together for a gathering.
Sally’s recipes are so reliable but I was disappointed in this one. I found the filling to be “blah” and the topping to be much too sweet. If I make it again, I’d add almond extract to the filling and cut the sugar in the topping by maybe a third.
Hi Leeann, we’re so sorry to hear that. Did you use sour cherries by chance? If using sour cherries, we recommend increasing the sugar in the filling to 3/4 depending how sweet you like it. A dash of almond extract would be fantastic here, too. Thank you for giving this one a try!
I’ve made this many, many times and it has always turned out perfectly. We’re having guests for dinner tomorrow and wonder if I can prep the cherry portion today, refrigerate it overnight then add the topping and bake tomorrow? (I’ve always made it the morning of the day guests come for dinner.)
Hi Deborah, that should work just fine. So glad this is a favorite for you!
Flavor wise this is very good, but the juice at the bottom barely thickened so was very runny. My cornstarch was fresh, just opened it today. Next time I am going to try thickening it on the stovetop and then proceeding. Was this an anomaly or was this how the recipe was intended.
Super easy, and a hit, even from a stuffed audience. Followed the recipe exactly, using 2 Tbs bourbon and a hearty handful of sliced almonds. Already planning to make to make again this summer!
Did yours thicken as expected? Mine didn’t at all.
This is so delicious – have made it twice now for Father’s Day dessert with fresh whipped cream!
This was the best cherry dessert ever
I had pitted and frozen some cherries when they were in
season. I had planned to make a chipotle cherry bbq sauce but never got around to it. This recipe pooped up and I had to try it. Sadly, ididn’t get to use bourbon because of the grandkiddies but enjoyed this recipe very much anyway.
I will definitely make again with bourbon.
This is perfect for any fruit crisp. I’ve made this several times now and every time I look at another crisp recipe I just come back to this one. I’m using Knob Creek Smoked Maple Bourbon and the flavor is devine. I just made it with peaches and raspberries from the garden and used 1/4 t almond extract and 1/4 t vanilla. Sooo good. It temps me to make a good bourbon cocktail.
Dear Sally, Huge fan. Want to make this with frozen cherries. Worried when thawed they will be sitting in a lot of juice–should I strain first before proceeding? Would alternatively love your thoughts re putting the frozen cherries directly in with sugar and cornstarch and thickening first as one reader commented–then taking off heat, adding the bourbon and vanilla and proceeding accordingly. If you think same result from drained thawed frozen cherries, I’ll just do that. Thanks again! Your site gives me great joy and constant inspiration!
Rave reviews! I made for my 91 year old mom who is visiting and she said 5 stars! My husband came running out saying Wow A +! I used frozen sweet cherries and cut them in half. I only used 1/4 c sugar because used the sweet cherries and was perfect. I also subbed lemon juice for the bourbon and pecans for the almonds although I’d love to try it just as written too! I’ve made a lot of crisps but cherry crisp is fantastic! Thanks for the awesome recipe!!
Hi Sally, very excited to make this crisp.
Would you have any rein incorporating some fresh rhubarb? I picked up beautiful dark sweet cherries and have some fresh rhubarb. Hoping to make this in the next few days. Thank you. Clo
Hi Clo! You could absolutely replace some of the cherries with rhubarb here. Let us know how it goes!
Delicious. I love bourbon and gives this a recipe an advantage over other fruit crisp recipes. I made it with home grown cherries and will try with homegrown raspberries next. Can’t go wrong substituting with any fruit.
I love making your peach/blueberry crisp in a cast-iron skillet. Will this bourbon cherry crisp also do well in cast-iron skillet?
Thanks Cat
Absolutely! The bake time should be the same.
Question. I am thinking of making this for Thanksgiving bringing to family. There will be traditional pies but I do not do pie crust. One of my favorite pies from a nearby farm combines blueberries, cherries and peaches. I think all of these fruits would work with bourbon. I have frozen blueberries that I picked, as well as frozen peaches & cherries. Do I thaw, rinse & dry the fruit completely before combining? Thanks!
Hi Suzie! We’d recommend thawing completely and then gently blotting with a paper towel (they don’t need to be completely dry, you just want to remove some of the excess juices/liquids). Hope you enjoy it!
Thank you!
Wow this looks fantastic! If you double the recipe for a 9×13 pan, do you have to cook it longer, or does the cooking time stay the same?
Hi Tamsin, the bake time will be longer. Bake until the topping is golden brown and the fruit juices are bubbling around the edges – enjoy!
Delicious – times a zillion!! So so so good and so easy. (Well, probably easier if you use frozen cherries. I made a double batch and that’s a lot of cherries to pit) Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream? Oh my goodness!!!! Sally is my absolute go-to for all entertaining and treats. Thank you so much!
Would I be able to double the recipe and bake it in a 9×13 glass pan?
Hi Anna, We would double or 1.5x the recipe for the 9×13 pan.
I have everything to make this delicious-sounding dessert except whole oats. I do have quick oats; would it make that much of a difference, do you think? I would definitely use some slivered almonds which would help with the contrasting textures. Thanks for any help!
Hi Janet, quick oats will work in a pinch here.
I can’t wait to try this recipe but don’t have bourbon. How do you think it would work with amaretto?
If you love the almond flavor from amaretto, then that should work great here! Let us know how it turns out, JoJo.
If using frozen cherries, do I thaw them then measure or measure then thaw and blot?
Hi Sherry, it won’t make a huge difference either way. You can thaw, then measure – enjoy!
I made this for the first time over the weekend at hubby’s request for something ‘slightly lighter’ than a pie. It was an absolute 5-star hit and I felt a little guilty at how easy it was! I used frozen cherries this time but ordered a cherry pitter this morning; I’m sure I’ll need it for Spring / Summer and more of your yummy recipes!
As always, thank you Sally, for the attention to detail with instructions and pictures. I also LOVE that you include make ahead tips and alternatives.
You are always my go-to site for guaranteed delicious recipes.
Can I had bourbon to your cherry pie recipe or will it be to wet?
Hi Brittney, We haven’t tested it but you should be able to replace both the lemon juice and almond extract for the same amount of bourbon (we would still use the vanilla extract). Let us know if you give it a try!
Looking forward to trying this recipe. I canned some cherries earlier this season with bourbon (1st time). Any thoughts on how to proceed?
Hi Maria, When you canned the cherries did you add sugar? If so, you may want to adjust the sugar in the filling accordingly. Drain the cherries before using too. Since they’re canned, they’re softer– reducing the bake time would be helpful too. Enjoy!