Chocolate Cherry Crisp
This Chocolate Cherry Crisp is the ultimate summer treat! Fresh cherries are topped with a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie crumb topping!
If you were to ask me a year ago if I liked cherries, the answer would have been heck no! I would have been emphatic on that point. No cherries. Ever. In anything.
My reasoning? Cherry-flavored cough syrup.
See, I don’t think I had ever really had cherries before — like, real fresh cherries — but I had tried that awful medicine. I just thought that is what cherries tasted like. So chocolate-covered cherries, cherry smoothies, cherry anything was just not an option. No, no, no.
Until I spotted them for 99 cents last summer. I got brave and decided to try them. Um, they taste NOTHING like cough medicine. Why do they even name it cherry-flavored? I just do not understand. Because of those silly mislabeled medicines, I have been missing out for years! Well, no more! I have made it my mission to get as many delicious cherries as I can this summer, starting with this Chocolate Cherry Crisp!
Ingredients
This fresh fruit crisp recipe has two components: the cherry filling and the chocolate chip cookie topping. To make this you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Dark sweet cherries: Fresh or frozen, see notes regarding using frozen fruit.
- Sweetener: Granular and Brown sugar; you can use low-carb sugar substitutes such as monkfruit in this recipe.
- Old-fashioned oats and Flour: we use gluten-free varieties, but your favorite options will do.
- Dark chocolate chips: Dark or semisweet chocolate pairs well with cherries, but you can also use milk or white chocolate if you prefer.
- Butter, salt, and cinnamon: used in the topping to create the right flavor and texture.
How to Make Cherry Crisp with Fresh Cherries
This crisp comes together pretty easily. The hardest part is pitting two pounds of fresh cherries. You just layer those beautiful, juicy cherries in the bottom of a baking dish or cast iron skillet. Then, make up your chocolate chip oatmeal topping.
This topping is insane. It’s just like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, which happens to be my favorite. This is such an easy cherry crisp recipe! I’ve given detailed instructions on how to make this cherry dessert in the recipe card below, but here’s an overview of the process:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9×9 inch baking pan or large deep dish pie pan.
- To make the filling, toss all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl until they are well combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Make the topping: In a separate bowl, stir the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until well combined. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the topping over the cherries and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool at room temperature for 15-20 minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream.
Serve
Crisps and cobblers are my favorite desserts. I love what happens when you combine fresh, juicy fruit with oats, sugar, and butter—it is like magic. And this version takes it to a whole new level!
When this comes out of the oven all hot and bubbly, it is a little piece of heaven. Sweet fruit, rich dark chocolate, and crisp oatmeal topping, all topped with a big scoop of ice cream—what more could you want?!
Recipe FAQ
Yes, make sure they are pitted and have thawed completely. If you find they hold a lot of moisture take a few paper towels and very gently squeeze them to get any additional liquid out.
Yes, just omit the chocolate chips if you prefer a traditional cherry crisp.
Yes, it works nicely with strawberries and blueberries especially.
This fresh cherry crisp should be covered and stored in the fridge. It will last up to 1 week.
More Summer Dessert Recipes:
- Berry Crisp with Oatmeal Crumble Topping
- Chocolate-Covered Cherry Sundaes
- No Bake Lemon Cheesecake
- Easy Strawberry Ice Cream
Get the Recipe: Chocolate Covered Cherry Crisp
Ingredients
For the Cherry Filling
- 2 pounds dark sweet cherries, pitted
- ¼ cup granular sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Chocolate Chip Cookie Crisp
- 1 cup old fashioned oats, (I use gluten free)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, (I used Cup 4 Cup)
- ¾ tablespoons brown sugar, lightly packed
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- â…“ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, , melted
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9×9 inch baking pan or large deep dish pie pan.
- Make the filling: Toss together all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl until well combined. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Make the topping: In a separate bowl, stir together the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until well combined. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the topping over the cherries and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Allow to cool at room temperature for 15-20 minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream.
That’s so funny — I can totally see why cherry flavored cough syrup would make you think you didn’t like cherries! So many cherry flavored things taste terrible. You wouldn’t be able to keep me away from these crisps — those cherries look so sweet and syrupy, and yes to the chocolate! Your photos are so pretty, too!
Thats so funny! I never tried ANYTHING cherry for so long because of all of the terrible cherry flavored medicine. I could never understand how people loved cherries until I finally decided to try one many years later. Many people must feel this way about cherries. Medicine gives them such a terrible name! haha Your blog is so beautiful and I love your re-vamped recipes of southern favorites. Would you be interested in teaming up with Chicory and becoming a recipe partner? We would love to work with you.
I adore cherries. And chocolate. So basically, this couldn’t get any better for me! This is what ice cream was made for!
Ugh those flavored medicines ruin everything! I had a bad encounter with a grape-flavored syrup when I was younger that I still have nightmares about. Yikes! So glad you found out what fresh cherries are all about so you could share this crisp. I need to make this ASAP. Love the chocolate chips in the topping!
Oh my word, this looks amazing!
I can see how the cherry flavored cough syrup could ruin them for you, it is not good at all! But luckily cherries do actually taste good! This crisp looks so amazing, I absolutely love it!
Cherries, cherries, cherries!! Yessss Annie! ! So happy you finally tried fresh, what a difference eh? I think cherry cough syrup had a hand in my earlier distate for cherries too. But then I moved to WA and they were everywhere. Now I can’t get enough! This recipe… oh my. I love the ease of a good seasonal crisp and you nailed this one! Love it!! Thank you!
Hi Traci! They are SO GOOD! How did I go without them for so long?!