Cherry-Almond Granola Crisp

Cherry-Almond Granola Crisp
Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
4(608)
Notes
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For all the cobbler and crisp lovers, here’s a simple dish that you can eat for breakfast or dessert. Chewy clusters of almonds and oats brown in the oven after getting coated in a nutty and floral browned-butter honey syrup. While the granola clusters caramelize, the bed of sweet cherries they rest over turns tender and juicy. Warm out of the oven, this crisp belongs in a bowl with your favorite yogurt, some of the warm cherry sauce drizzled over top, and maybe even a good shaving of dark chocolate or orange zest, if you have some.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • ½pound/225 grams sweet cherries, halved and pitted (about 1¼ packed cups)
  • cup/115 milliliters honey
  • 4tablespoons/60 grams unsalted butter (½ stick)
  • ¼teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1cup/100 grams sliced almonds
  • ½cup/50 grams rolled oats
  • Yogurt, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

322 calories; 17 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 32 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 87 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread out the cherry halves in the bottom of an 8-inch square (or 9-inch round) baking dish. Set aside.

  2. Step 2

    In a small saucepan, add the honey, butter and salt. Bring to a foaming boil over medium heat, then cook 3 to 4 minutes until the honey thickens, stirring often so it never burns. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla — it will spatter slightly — then fold in the almonds and oats, continuing to stir until the oats absorb all the honey syrup.

  3. Step 3

    Drop spoonfuls of the mixture across the cherries, and bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until the almonds are almost a mahogany brown and the cherries are tender and juicy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes, so the granola hardens slightly, then serve with yogurt.

Ratings

4 out of 5
608 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Would this work with frozen cherries?

Cherries are no longer in season. What fruit can be substituted?

Cherry season is over,...harvested Italian plums...used instead...just delicious

Really, many fruits can be substituted: right now, peaches are still in full swing; blueberries, fresh or frozen, baking apples, pears, possibly slightly under-ripe bananas, etc. With a recipe such as this, use your imagination; don't be hide-bound.

Maple syrup works as well as honey!

I used frozen pitted organic sweet cherries from Costco. Nice that they were already pitted. They have good flavor. I strained off most the juice once they thawed. (Drank it on the spot. Very tasty.) They worked fine. Next time I will try maple syrup. The honey was way too sweet for me.

Gosh I saw tons at Publixs just yesterday?

I used plums instead of cherries, although seems any stone fruit would do. And the next time I will double the oats, (to 1 cup), and lessen the almonds, (to 1/2 cup).

Costco carries wonderful frozen organic cherries year round.

I made with apples today. Peeled and cored 3 apples, added to mixture in saucepan as I thought they would need a bit more time. Served for lunch with Greek yogurt. Might try fresh figs tomorrow.

This works well with frozen cherries. Just let them thaw before topping with the granola mixture. I added a tiny amount of almond extract along with the vanilla. Wonderful and easy morning breakfast option, and so pretty on the table too! Will definitely reuse this recipe for holiday brunches.

For anyone who wants to substitute other fruits: Using the filing recipe from your favorite cobbler or pie should make substitutions easy. Just adjust the amounts of ingredients to work with your dish. You may also want to reduce the amount of sugar and omit or reduce the corn starch depending on desired filling sweetness and thickness. Baking times will vary depending on the type of fruit and how it's cut. If the crisp finishes browning before the fruit is ready, tent the dish with foil

Also, you can try other fruits with pits such as pears, apricots, and plums. And, try a couple of them together with the cherries. It is very tasty!

I would soak dried fruit in a little warm water to reconstitute.

Divine with black cherry ice cream

Loved!! Used fresh picked tart cherries and served with plain Greek yogurt. My company enjoyed this and added this recipe to their NYT recipe boxes. I would add extra cherries next time (up to double) for a more fruit forward taste.

I made this just as written, but using thawed frozen sweet cherries. It was AMAZING ... served with plain whole milk yogurt (Brown Cow is our favorite), with the juices spooned over the yogurt. I will be making this a LOT! Very easy to put together.

As written this dish does not work at all. Cherries need additional ingredients to make a tasty base. The honey/nut/oat mix totally lacks flavor (I used less nuts and more oats as many recommended but the problem here is the honey) My best recommendation would be not to try and rewrite this recipe but find an alternative that works!

This was delicious! I had some cherries that I needed to use before they went bad and VOILA! My only note is that the granola gets soggy when left out. I know, I know, I should have known, but I'm a goof and thought it would stay nice a crisp like a regular granola. Nothing a little quick toast in the oven can't fix! :)

Maple syrup works as well as honey used plums, any stone fruit would do, double the oats to 1 cup, and almonds to 1/2 cup made with apples today. Peeled and cored 3 apples, added to mixture in saucepan as I thought they would need a bit more If browning too soon, tent the dish with foil other fruits: Baking times will vary depending on fruit and how it's cut, may need to adjust other ingredients almond extract with vanilla pears, apricots, and plums with the cherries or without

I just made these muffins and can’t stop eating them. The one change I made was to replace the buttermilk, which I didn’t have, with yogurt (not Greek). And probably increased the quantity of blueberries, using a bag of frozen. Absolutely delicious.

This was really delicious with vanilla ice cream for dessert-it's quite sweet, so for breakfast I added more of my homemade granola and oat milk. I used thawed dark sour cherries from Costco with just a little honey and a little corn starch added to the juices. I also used Miyoke vegan butter and couldn't tell the difference. As some suggested, doubled oats, halved almonds, which were chopped. No sliced on hand. I doubled the recipe, but this recipe would easily serve 4.

I should say that for a doubled recipe I used 2/3 cup maple syrup, and it was very sweet and caramelized on top, and the sour cherries were a perfect foil.

If you can find them, use Montmorency sour cherries. And whipped cream instead of yogurt. You will need some sweetening, to taste. About 1/3 cup.

I've made this recipe now 8 or 9 times, each time with different fruit and some variations on quantities of nuts, butter and oats. Delicious! Peaches and cherries together was one of the favorites. I experimented with using large blueberries and found it was a bit too much moisture but flavor was still good. I often bake it longer, depending on the fruit. Fantastic recipe!

I also made it with Vegan butter (made from oats) and it worked fine

Just made this with frozen cherries. It was fine, just a bit juicy.

Based on the other comments I swapped the amount of almonds and oats and this turned out great! I also made with a drained can of black cherries and a handful of frozen mixed berries since that is what I had available. Super versatile and adaptable base for a recipe, probably does not need adjusting but it definitely can work out well in many ways. Excited to play around with it more with fall and winter on the way!

Disappointing. Agree with others to halve almonds and double oats. Also, Would substitute almond extract for vanilla.

Trader Joe’s also has frozen cherries and jarred pitted cherries that I’ve used before!

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