Cherry and Apple Crumble with Oats {Cherry Apple Crisp}
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What happens when you combine sweet cherries, crisp apples, and buttery oatmeal streusel? You get a delicious cherry and apple crumble with rich fruit flavor!
When our countertop fruit bowls are overflowing in summer, one of the best desserts for after a warm family dinner is a cherry and apple crumble. It reminds me of a cherry cobbler mixed with a good old apple pie. So good!
What is Cherry and Apple Crumble?
Sometimes called a crumble and sometimes a crisp, this apple and cherry crumble recipe is based on a traditional fruit dessert that has been made for generations.
Crisps and crumbles are made in a few steps, whipping up a fruit mixture, and topping it with a buttery crumb mixture. Then, cook it in the oven to melt the fruit together and bake the oatmeal streusel on top until crisp and golden brown.
It’s the centerpiece of the kitchen table after dinner is served, and you’re ready for something sweet. Luckily, summer gives us a lot of ripe fruit to use, so mixing up that fruit and adding a buttery oatmeal topping makes a classic dessert to satisfy everyone.
What you’ll love about this Cherry Apple Crisp Recipe
Equipment
For this apple and black cherry crumble, you’ll need a few tools to help you assemble this delicious fruit dessert.
- large mixing bowl
- cherry pitter
- cutting board
- chef’s knife
- wooden spoon
- baking dish or individual ramekins
- fork or pastry blender
Ingredients
Fruit Filling Ingredients
- Tart apples: I used Granny Smith apples, but you could easily use any type of apple, such as Pink Lady, Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp apples, or even cooking apples.
- Fresh cherries: For this apple cherry crisp, I used Bing cherries, but you could also use fresh sour cherries.
- Sugar: Granulated white sugar dissolves and mixes into the fruit mixture best. You don’t need much since the fruit has natural sweetness too.
- Flour: Flour thickens the fruit mixture and makes it saucy!
Crisp Topping
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar helps stiffens and finish this crisp to a golden brown color. If you prefer light brown sugar, that will work too.
- White sugar: Substitute dark brown sugar if you need to. I’ve found adding white and brown sugar together in this cherry and apple crumble brings different layers of sweetness.
- Old-fashioned oats: The oats are the ingredient that makes this a true crisp! Use rolled or instant oats; either type will work.
- All-purpose flour: Flour is the essential part of our topping and the base of all crumble ingredients.
- Cold butter: I recommend unsalted butter so you can season it to your own preference.
- Vanilla extract: this brings forward the flavors in the fruit, melds with the other dry ingredients in the topping, and is an all-together wonderful ingredient.
- Cinnamon: Where there’s fruit and vanilla, cinnamon isn’t too far behind. Adding this warm, aromatic spice is a great way to deepen all the other flavors in this apple and black cherry crumble.
How to Make Cherry Apple Crisp
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In your baking dish, mix apples and pitted cherries with the sugar and flour until combined.
- In a medium bowl, add all of the ingredients for the crisp topping.
- Using your pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers, combine the butter into the crumble topping until it resembles coarse crumbs. Leave a few larger pieces for a nice crunch.
- Pour the topping over the apple cherry mixture and spread it evenly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes until the topping is golden and the fruit filling is thick and bubbling in the corners.
- Allow the fruit crisp to cool for approximately 20-30 minutes, then serve warm.
Storing
Fridge: I never have any leftovers! If you do, transfer it to an airtight container or cover it and store it in the fridge for 4-5 days
Freezer: You can store leftover crisp in the freezer in a freezer-safe container for several months. Just let it thaw in the fridge, then bake it in the oven at 350 to crisp up the topping.
How to Serve Cherry and Apple Crumble with Oats
This cherry apple crumble with oats is best served hot! You don’t need to let the crumble cool to room temperature, but it’s a good idea to let it rest for a few minutes after removing it from the oven so the fruit has a chance to thicken a little bit.
I recommend dishing it into a small bowl and serving it with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, Greek yogurt, or homemade whipped cream.
Tips & Variations
- To make this apple cherry crisp with frozen cherries, be sure to thaw the cherries overnight in a large bowl in the fridge and strain off the excess liquid.
- For a really delicious flavor, use a combination of tart and sweet apples.
- Feel free to change up the vanilla extract with cardamom extract or cinnamon extract for extra flavor.
- For a little extra texture, add up to 1/2 cup of sliced almonds into the crumb topping.
- Sprinkle some apple pie spice into your fruit filling and crumble topping to add the warm flavors of fall.
FAQs
Whether you’re making apple crisp or a classic apple crumble, it’s up to you if you want to peel your apples! The skin will soften in the oven, so it will add minimal texture. I prefer to peel the apples in my homemade fruit crisps and crumbles because the apples turn into a chunky applesauce, but it’s entirely optional.
Not much! Crisp and crumble are words used almost interchangeably for old-fashioned fruit desserts that consist of a fruit mixture, and a butter, flour, and sugar topping. The only difference is that a crisp has rolled oats mixed in with the other main ingredients of the topping, and a crumble does not include oats.
These days, many crumble recipes include oats, too, so they are often the same thing. That is why this recipe is called both a crisp and a crumble interchangeably.
Whatever kind you can find at the grocery store! I prefer Bing cherries because their flavor is so sweet and rich. Then again, sour cherries have that homemade cherry pie filling flavor which also goes great in a fruit crumble. Rainier cherries are very popular these days but, I’ve noticed their flavor is too subtle to stand out in this baked dessert. Rich, sweet black cherries are the way to go if you want deep flavor.
Our Favorite
Cherry Recipes
Related Recipes
If you love fruity desserts, crisps, and crumbles, you’ll love some of my other new recipes:
- Strawberry Apple Crisp
- Gravenstein Apple Crisp Recipe
- Apple and Blueberry Crumble
- Blueberry Crumble Bars
- Blackberry and Apple Crumble
- Rustic Apple Galette with Caramel Sauce
Cherry Apple Crisp {Cherry and Apple Crumble with Oats}
Equipment
- 1 Chef's knife
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 9 x 13 baking dish
- 1 medium bowl for the crisp topping
- 1 Pastry cutter or fork
Ingredients
Cherry Apple Filling
- 2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved
- 4-5 apples, approximately 1 1/2 lbs; dice into 1 inch cubes
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 pinch kosher salt
Oat Crumble Topping
- 1 1/2 cup oats
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 sticks butter, chilled; diced into small cubes
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon, optional
- 1 tsp vanilla extract, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a 9 x 13 baking dish, add your diced apples, sliced cherries, sugar and flour. Stir to combine.
- Place crumble ingredients in a medium bowl. Cut the butter in using the pastry fork or your fingers until the mixture looks like clumpy sand.
- Sprinkle the crumble over the cherry apple fruit filling.
- Place the cherry apple crumble in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the topping is golden. You will also be able to see liquid from the fruit bubbling in the corners.
- Allow the cherry and apple crumble to cool for 20-30 minutes, then serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
Notes
- To make this apple cherry crisp with frozen cherries, be sure to thaw the cherries overnight in a large bowl in the fridge and strain off the excess liquid.
- For a really delicious flavor, use a combination of tart and sweet apples.
- Feel free to change up the vanilla extract with cardamom extract or cinnamon extract for extra flavor.
- For a little extra texture, add up to 1/2 cup of sliced almonds into the crumb topping.
- Garnish with lemon zest if you like a brighter zing.
- Sprinkle some apple pie spice into your fruit filling and crumble topping to add the warm flavors of fall.
Nutrition
Thank you for a great recipe. It was just what I wanted and it was sooo good. We topped it with vanilla ice cream. Yummmm!
Liz, I’m thrilled to hear that! We absolutely love this recipe too, so I’m glad you feel the same way. 🙂