Cherry-Almond Crisp

I always struggle to bake or cook my way through all the recipes I flag, particularly in my monthly Cooking Light magazines. One of my hopes for my early retirement (a.k.a. shifting to a full-time mom role) is that I'll be able to try more new recipes. Given my struggles, I was quite proud to put into practice one recipe from my Cooking Light  that I received just last week.

When my husband and I were digging through our chest freezer last night, I saw bags of frozen tart cherries and remembered a dessert that called for tart cherries. So I was able to accomplish two positives: using something from my freezer and trying a delicious recipe! Although it takes a while to bake, the hands-on time for this recipe ins minimal.

Cherry-Almond Crisp
3 lbs. pitted tart cherries (can use fresh or thawed frozen)
2/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. flour (Note: I added about 3 Tbsp. cornstarch due to all the liquid from my frozen cherries)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Combine cherries, sugar, 3 Tbsp. flour, vanilla and cinnamon in a large bowl. Pour cherry mixture into greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake 40 minutes until thick and bubbly.

Meanwhile, combine remaining flour, oats, brown sugar, almonds and salt together. When cherry mixture is nearly done baking, combine melted butter and almond extract. Stir the butter mixture into the dry ingredients, combining to moistened the dry ingredients.

Remove cherry mixture from oven, and cover evenly with streusel topping. Place back into the oven, and bake for another 20 minutes until topping is browned. Serve warm or room temperature, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if desired. Serves 12.