Cherry Crumble
This fresh Cherry Crumble is a cross between a cherry cobbler and a cherry crisp. Homemade cherry pie filling is topped with a crumb topping reminiscent of a shortbread cookie. It’s one of my favorite summer desserts.
My Favorite Easy Cherry Crumble Recipe
Cherry season is one of my favorite seasons of the summer. When they’re at their peak, they’re perfectly sweet and juicy, and they are one of my favorite summer fruit ingredients for dessert.
While I love a classic cherry dessert, like cherry pie or cherry ice cream (or even the flaky cherry turnover), I am incredibly partial to the quintessential summer dessert: the crumble.
If you’re wondering what a crumble is, it’s as if a cherry cobbler had a baby with a cherry crisp to give you a sweet cherry pie filling with a crumb topping. In the case of this cherry crumble, the crumb topping is similar to that of a shortbread cookie or a sugar cookie. Think about a rich cherry pie with a buttery crumb topping and you’ve got yourself an old fashioned cherry crumble dessert.
Add a little scoop of ice cream or whipped cream while it’s warm out of the oven and you’ve got summer perfection.
Why You’ll Love This Fresh Cherry Dessert:
- Easy: There’s nothing simpler than an easy cherry crumble recipe with fresh cherries. It’s a few ingredients, including cherries, butter, flour, and sugar.
- Cookie Crumble: If you love cherry cobbler but don’t feel like making a biscuit topping, you’ll love this cherry crumble. It’s got the filling of a cherry cobbler but has the topping of a shortbread cookie. We refer to this as heaven, but also a shortbread cherry crumble.
- Versatile: Have super sweet cherries? You can omit a lot of the sugar or all of it! Want a little less crumble and more cherry cobbler filling? Halve the crumble topping or double the cherry pie filling. Want to double the topping? Do itttttt. And finally, want to use rainier cherries? You 100% can.
If you love fruit crisps and cobbler recipes, these should be on your baking summer bucket list: strawberry cobbler with lemon biscuits, apple cinnamon cobbler, and old-fashioned peach cobbler.
Easy Cherry Crumble Ingredients:
- Fresh Black Cherries: You can use frozen cherries, but if black cherries are in season (or rainier cherries or some sort of combo), I highly suggest going fresh.
- All Purpose Flour: this is used to thicken the cherry crumble filling and used in the crumble topping.
- Sugar: We use sugar in the cherry filling and in the buttery crumb topping.
- Brown Sugar
- Baking Powder and Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla and Almond Extracts: We use both almond extract and vanilla extract because both pair extremely well with a classic cherry flavor.
- Orange Juice and Zest: This is my secret ingredient to almost all of my cherry desserts. I love the bright citrus flavor orange brings to fruit, but it’s sweeter and less tart than fresh lemon.
How To Make This Crumble Cherry Dessert From Scratch:
This is a brief overview of how to make a cherry crumble. There is a full recipe in the recipe card below. It’s printable as well!
- Step 1: Pit the cherries, and if desired, cut the cherries in half. (I did a mixture of whole cherries and cherry halves because I wanted a little more texture. You can leave all of the cherries whole.)
- Step 2: Mix cherries with granulated sugar (if your cherries are very sweet, you can use less sugar or omit it all together). Next, add in almond extract, vanilla extract, orange zest, and a squeeze of fresh orange juice.
- Step 3: Pour cherry filling in a buttered baking dish (you can use a 9” or 10” deep dish plate or an 8×11” rectangular casserole dish). Set aside.
- Step 4: Mix brown sugar, sugar, and orange zest together. This helps the orange zest “bloom” and the natural oils are released. Add in vanilla and almond and mix until just combined. Next, add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined. Add in the cold and cubed butter, and work the cold butter into the dough until it resembles a buttery crumb topping.
- Step 5: Sprinkle the shortbread sugar cookie topping on top of the cherry filling.
- Step 6: Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until the topping is just lightly golden and cherry filling is bubbling.
- Step 7: Serve with ice cream or homemade whipped cream, if desired.
Storage Tips:
- Store any cherry crumble leftovers in an airtight container (or covered tightly with plastic wrap) in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Fresh Cherries or Frozen Cherries?
- You can use both fresh cherries or frozen cherries in this fruit crumble recipe. Fresh cherries definitely work a little better than frozen, as I prefer their flavor and texture. However, if frozen is all you have access to, go ahead and use frozen cherries in this cherry crumble.
- Pro Tip: Thaw the frozen cherries first, then drain the excess liquid before making the cherry filling.
My Final Crumble Tips:
- Sugar: Again, if your cherries are exceptionally sweet, use less sugar if you prefer. It’s up to you how sweet you like your fruit cobblers and fruit crisps.
- Baking Dish: I like to make this crumble in an 8×11” baking dish or a deep dish pie plate (9” or 10”). I find a 13×9 baking dish to be a little too large.
- Crumble Topping: If you love a crumb topping, you can double this recipe and really go to town on the crumble top. You can also halve the shortbread crumb if you want more cherry filling flavor.
Cherry Crumble
Ingredients
Cherry Filling:
- 6-7 cups cherries, pitted*
- 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 2-4 Tbsp granulated sugar**
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 1 Tbsp orange juice
Crumble Topping:
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract***
- 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cubed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9” or 10” deep dish pie plate or an 8x11” baking pan. Set aside.
Cherry Filling:
- In a large bowl, mix cherries with flour, sugar, almond extract, vanilla extract, orange zest, and orange juice. Once mixed together, pour the cherry filling into the prepared baking dish.
Crumb Topping:
- In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, and orange zest together. This helps release the natural oils in the orange zest, which brings out the orange flavor. Next, add in vanilla and almond extracts and mix until combined.
- Next, add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined.
- Add in the cold and cubed butter, using a pastry cutter or fork to work the butter into the mixture until it resembles a crumb topping (the mixture will be a little dough like, which is what you want—see pictures above for the desired cookie crumb consistency).
- Sprinkle the crumb topping on top of the cherry filling.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the topping is lightly golden and the cherry filling is bubbling.
- Allow to cool for about 15-20 minutes before serving. Top with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.
Notes
*Also, you can halve the cherries, keep them whole, or do a combination. I like to do a combination to give my cherry crumble more texture.
**Sugar: The amount of sugar you use in the filling is up to your taste preference. With the cookie crumble topping (which is a cross between a shortbread cookie, a sugar cookie, and a crumb topping), there is a lot of sweetness already in the dessert. If your cherries are very sweet, you can use less sugar or omit it all together.
***Don’t have almond extract? Just use more vanilla!
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Meet Michelle
I’m a self-taught baker who truly believes it’s impossible to be upset when eating dessert. It’s my life’s goal to bake everyone happy!
If I’m not baking, I’m probably reading a good book with a cup a coffee in hand.
Welcome! I’m glad you’re here!
