Chocolate Cherry Crisp | Super Easy “Recipe”
Fruit crisps in general are super easy but this chocolate cherry crisp HAS to be one of the easiest recipes I’ve ever created.
When we were first married, we had friends surprise us by showing up at our door one night. I quickly threw together flour, butter, sugar, nuts and cinnamon until it crumbled together then put it on top of a bunch of sliced apples. Voila! Apple Crisp!
It was so easy and since then I have done this many times with whatever fruit is in season. But seriously, this fruit crisp is the easiest because it uses granola in place of the flour mixture. We also use the granola element as an excuse to call it breakfast when topped off with a little yogurt instead of ice cream.
Chocolate Cherry Crisp Hacks
I highly recommend that you make a big (double) batch of my Paleo Granola just to have around. It’s great for summer when berries are in season because you can make yogurt parfaits in jars ahead of time and then have quick no cook breakfasts ready to go. We’ve used them for road trips before. Granola of course is the camper/hiker’s best friend along with individual tetra paks of regular or almond milk. But for this Chocolate Cherry Crisp, it’s the crunchy granola that makes this dessert the easiest EVER.
Fruit for crisps can be fresh or frozen, and this is the beginning of dark cherry season and the height of tart cherry season. That said, if cherries are still not in season where you live, and they aren’t by me, use frozen. If they are in season and are cheap (as is typically true with seasonal produce), buy a bunch and freeze so you can make this delicious dessert even in the middle of a cold winter as a reminder that warm days will come again. I have done this many times with local blueberries (sadly, cherries are not in season here) and when we lived in California near cherry farms, I would always buy a TON of cherries from Wayne the cherry guy (in a white van in a parking lot!)
How to Pit Cherries
Obviously, you will need to pit the cherries if you are using fresh. You can use a cherry pitter to do the job or simply cut them in half around the pit, twist apart and remove the pit. (This is my preferred method even though I have a cherry pitter. My kitchen looks like a war zone after using a pitter! 🍒😯)
The No-Recipe “Recipe” for Chocolate Cherry Crisp
What you need: Cherries, Chocolate chips or chunks, Paleo Granola (full disclosure, the photos feature regular granola that I had made awhile back, but paleo is better because it stays more crunchy.)
Before going into the oven.
Fill your dish (individual or family size) two thirds full of pitted fresh cherries or frozen cherries. Scatter about a tablespoon (or a handful if family size) of your favorite chocolate chips over the cherries then cover with granola. Bake at 350 until bubbly and the fruit has completely “slumped”. (Note: if the granola starts to brown before the fruit is cooked down – and mine did – cover loosely with foil and return to the oven until it is done.) Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Serve warm, hot or cold with regular or non-dairy ice cream, whipped cream or yogurt.