Ooh Wee – It is hot outside! This Sunday we experienced a heat index of 100 degrees by 9am and 118 degrees later.
But who wants dessert?
Me!!!!!
Golden Girl Granola has graciously provided the secret main ingredient for what makes this a no bake dessert –> GRANOLA. I used their Chocolate Decadence Granola this time. (The last blog post used Bluesberry Granola which was soooo good!) I love how their granola tastes homemade because it is made that way. If you read the ingredients, Golden Girl Granola is exactly what you would use in making homemade granola. Real ingredients. Really good granola. Instead of chunks, it is sweet and delicious with a hint of almond.
Crisps are great with cherries and summer is cherry season. I have included a recipe for your own homemade cherry filling that is tasty and fast – so you don’t have to buy the canned stuff enhanced with Red #40 and all kinds of totally useless ingredients. If you have a pot, you can make cherry pie filling! Don’t have fresh cherries around? Use frozen!
This filling also works great for topping cheesecake, eating with Greek yogurt, making my favorite cherry pie, or topping for chocolate cake.
- 4 Tb. butter
- 1 and ½ cups Chocolate Decadence Granola
- 2 Tb. white whole wheat or all-purpose flour
- 4 cups dark sweet cherries, fresh or frozen
- 2 cups sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ tsp. almond extract
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Toppings (optional but tasty): vanilla ice cream, whipped cream
- In a large pot, add the butter and melt over medium heat. Once melted, turn the heat down to medium-low and add the granola and flour. Stir often to toast and coat the granola.
- Pour the granola from the pot into a bowl and set aside.
- Add cherries to the same pot you used. Cook over medium heat until bursting. My cherries were pretty large and I cut them in half with my spoon while stirring.
- Once bursting. add the sugar and cornstarch. Bring to a boil and stir constantly for two minutes while the mixture boils. Remove from heat.
- Add the extracts and stir to combine. Allow to cool slightly.
- Now, you can pour the cherry pie mixture into 4 individual dishes or a 8x8 or 9x9 pan. Pour the granola topping on top of the mixture. Top with ice cream and eat!
