Bourbon Cherry Crisp

Cocktail cherries are a common accompaniment in drinks, so soaking up a chip’s cherry filling with a little bourbon doesn’t take much of a leap.

Pop it in the oven and the soft, moist fruit cooks into a jammy, cherry-studded filling that peeks out from under a coat of crunchy buttered oats and almond crumbles. Serve while still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the perfect summer dessert.

What are the best cherries?

Regardless of what type of cherries you choose, make sure your cherries are firm and plump. Avoid cherries that look shriveled or unclean.

Both dark, sweet Bing cherries and bright red tart cherries pair well with chips. You may need to adjust the amount of sweetness based on the cherry you use, but either will work. However, my favorite cherries for this recipe are Bing cherries.

• Am cherries: They are plump and sweet, readily available, have a long season, and are cheaper than other cherries.
• sour cherries: have a short season and you’re limited where you can find them – think farmers markets and pick your own orchards. You’ll also need to add more sugar when macerating the fruit to balance the acidity.
• rain cherries: This Yellow-red beauties work in a crisp too, but they’re expensive and give this dish a milder cherry flavor compared to other types of cherry.
• Frozen Cherries: You can also use frozen cherries in chips, which is perfect as cherry season can be short. Just defrost them beforehand. You may need to add an additional 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch to compensate for extra liquid from frosting.

I rarely buy single-purpose tools, but a cherry stoner is one of the exceptions. It makes the pitting process so much easier.

However, a stoner is not absolutely necessary. You can halve the cherries to remove the stone.

• Quick tip for pitting cherries: I find it easier to position the cherry on the side than top down in the pit – it seems more precise to find the pit.

Let’s talk sprinkles

I think a crisp called “crisp” should have a lot of sprinkles and not just a thin layer. So my crisp may be sprinkling than other recipes. The buttery, crunchy, topping loaded with oats and almonds kind of makes the dish stand out in my opinion.

It’s helpful to chill the crumbles before topping and baking the chips so the crumbles hold their shape better. Otherwise the crumble will melt with the fruit and come out rather mushy.

Also, like with cakes, you want to make sure the steam can escape, so don’t layer the crumbles evenly from edge to edge.

Swaps and Substitutions

Although the bourbon adds oak, caramel, and vanilla notes to this crisp, it can be left out entirely.

In the filling, you can replace the bourbon with:

• A splash of vanilla and lemon juice.
• Cherry
• dark rum

In the sprinkles you can:

• Leave out the almonds.
• Use pecans instead.
• Play around with the ratio of oats and flour. (It’s quite forgiving.)

Serve, store and reheat

While this crisp is best served just after it comes out of the oven with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, it can also be made ahead of time and served at room temperature or reheated.

It can also be covered, chilled, and served chilled or warmed for the next few days, preferably at breakfast. The crumbles will soften the longer they sit, so it’s best to eat them as soon as possible.

More cherry recipes you won’t be able to resist:

• Sweet cherry cake
• Cherry Hand Pie
• Sweet cherry cobbler
• Apricot Cherry Galette