Hello hungry, happy, love muffins!!!!
It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and I’ve got a recipe for you! It’s my Cherry Crumble a la mode, a happy, healthier, gluten-free bowl of big grinning goodness for you!!!
I’m gonna walk you through, step-by-step for this super easy, super yummy dessert … and I’m going to do it with pictures the whole way through!
So let’s hit the basics. What you are going to need:
Ooey Gooey Cherry Filling:
- 1 bag of frozen dark sweet cherries
- 2 tsp of gluten-free cornstarch
- small sauce pan
- spoon
- measuring spoon
- cutting board and knife (optional)
Lip Biting Crumble Topping:
- 1/2 cup gluten-free oatmeal flour
- 1 tbsp of brown or cane sugar
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/4 cup of melted butter
- mixing dish
- spoon
- measuring spoon and cups
Unforgettable Additional Needs:
- baking bowl (I use a 1 qt glass baking bowl.)
- gobble bowls
- serving spoons
- gluten-free vanilla ice cream and scooper
- Oven mitts
- Oven pre-heated to 350 degrees F
OK … now that you’ve got all your goodie making items gathered … let’s do this! It’s so easy and so good, you’ll be making this All. The. Time!
First up. The Ooey Gooey Cherry Filling.
Now, of course, you could use any ol’ can of cherry pie filling you want if you don’t need gluten-free, or if you are in a rush … but really, this is fast and easy, and way better scratch-made!
I personally like to cut up my cherries into small little bits (thus, cutting board and knife), but I’ll leave that up to you and your preference. You don’t have to cut them up. I just do it because I like the bite sizeyness of it!
So I cut up my cherries into lil bits, and add them to my sauce pan. Add in 2 tsp of gluten-free cornstarch, and start stirring over medium heat until the cherries thaw, heat up, and the cornstarch thickens the juice into a pie filling like thickness. (You do not need to add any water, as the cherries will thaw and juice naturally.) (Also, you could add sugar if you want – like a can of store bought cherry pie filling. But honestly, you don’t need it. The cherries are already sweet and yummy all on their own. And it’s a place you can omit the sugar, and you won’t miss it. Your body will thank you!!!)
Next up, the Lip Biting Crumble Topping.
I make my own gluten-free oat flour, but feel free to buy yours pre-made. If you want to make your own, all you have to do is put gluten-free rolled oats into your food processor and pulse until you achieve a fine-ish/coarse flour. And voila! … easy made oat flour.
Once you have oat flour, add 1/2 cup of oat flour + 1 tbsp of sugar (your choice) + 1 tsp of cinnamon + 1/4 cup of melted butter and mix together. I then let mine sit or a moment, cuz this cool thing happens … the butter will kind of harden up a bit, turning your crumble into a solid-ish blob. I then break it up into crumbles with my spoon to add on top of the Ooey Gooey Cherry Filling.
(Actually, letting the crumble harden wasn’t something I originally set out to do. It just happened while I was spooning the cherries into my baking bowl, and I ended up loving the effect. Of course, you don’t have to wait. If you’ve got your cherries already in the baking bowl, spread out your crumble any ol’ way you want … it’s your happy dessert!)
Once you have your Ooey Gooey Cherry Filling and Lip Biting Crumble Topping all ready to go, grab your baking bowl. Scoop in all of your cherry filling first. Then crumble on your topping. Check out the pictures … I’ve shown you from the top, and from the side for perspective.
All you have to do now is bake your Cherry Crumble in a 350 degree F oven for 20 minutes …
And wait patiently … which is way harder than it sounds. Cuz it smells good baking!!!
tick tock … tick tock … come on buzzer!!!!
Ding! Fantastic!!! Grab your oven mitts and let’s get your cherry crumble out of the oven! The topping should be all golden brown, and the cherries will be bubbling hot!
Oh my!!! It’s tempting to just start scooping it into bowls and gobbling it … but if you do, it will melt your ice cream something fierce. So … my sweet love muffin … patience. It’s only going to be a few more minutes … and then you can gobble up all of this goodness!!!!
Once you’ve waited for your Cherry Crumble to cool for a lil bit … think warm to hot-ish warm (not hot-ish) for your desired serving temp. Once your cherry crumble cools to Ooey Gooey Gobbly Warm … scoop some out into your gobble bowl, add a scoop of your favorite gluten-free vanilla ice cream, and dig in!!!!
The cherries and the ice cream are a total dream together, and the crumble topping adds a tasty slightly crunchy texture that just adds the wallop of goodness to make this one of my favorite go-to’s for dessert!
Plus, in case you didn’t notice, we only added a tbsp of sugar to the whole dessert, so besides what is in your ice cream, this is a low added sugar dessert! And I love that!!!!
I hope you love, love, love this dessert as much as I do! Ever since I had to cut gluten from my diet for health reasons, I’ve been struggling to build up my menu options for yummy nummies … and anything with bread, cake, cookie, crumble parts is a real trick for making new goodnesses that are just as tasty as anything you remember from when you could eat gluten. And this dessert is SO GOOD!!! You will not miss the gluten, nor the extra added sugar!
I hope you’ll give this Cherry Crumble a la mode a try, especially for Valentine’s Month! It’s always good to treat yourself and those you love to healthier yummy nummies for your tummy tummy … and your face will be so happy, too!
Next week, I’m going to give you another delicious cherry dessert to plan for. It’s not gluten-free (so I can’t eat it), but Pauli LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVES this dessert, and he puts in eager requests for it all of the time. He says you absolutely need to know … so I will share my recipe for Pauli’s Favorite Cherry Dessert Danish with you!!!
Until next week …
Loving you Big Time and Hugging you Tightly!!! Would love to see a pic of you gobbling up your new dessert!!! Feel free to write me at marykate at loveandbighugs.com.
Love and Big Hugs,
More Happiness from Mary Kate
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