cherry crisp & a giveaway

First things first — the cherry crisp recipe I promised you.

Gluten-Free Cherry Crisp

4 cups tart cherries (mine were frozen from the tree in our yard)

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons reserved cherry juice or water

2 tablespoons cornstarch

 Crisp topping:

½ cup GF oats

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup butter

½ GF flour (I used Jules GF Flour, but any mix of GF flours will work) 

Sprinkle or three of cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cherries with sugar and set aside for a half hour. You know how I am with my recipes, you can make them your own. It may not be necessary to wait for a half hour, but I do, if you try something different, let me know! In the mean time, combine all of the crisp topping ingredients in a separate bowl. (you can use a fork to mash in the butter, but your hand work even better)

Bring cherry-sugar mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, combine cherry juice and cornstarch. Because I used frozen cherries, there was plenty of juice, but you can add water if needed. Reduce heat and pour liquid into cherry mixture and stir constantly, it will thicken quickly, making one perfect cherry pie filling.

Remove from heat and pour filling into a 9 x 9 baking dish — or if you’re lucky like me, maybe your Mamasita gave you some cute little dishes to use for this. Either way. And you may want to grease up the dishes a little. Spoon the crisp topping onto the filling and bake for 30 mins, or until bubbly and heated through.

Dig in!

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The gluten-free oats I used for this recipe were from GF Harvest/Gluten-Free Oats. The company has such a crazy-cool story  — it was started by Forrest, who’s in his early 20’s and was diagnosed with Celiac Disease when he was two. He started the gluten-free oats adventure when he was in high school. Yes, high school. For his FFA project and it led to the successful company that it is today.

Not only is he adorable, but he’s smart too. And passionate about the company he and his family have built. I knew these oats would be perfect for my Grandma G’s monster cookies.

Perfect indeed. (I used the oats for those same cookies that I donated to the Cookies for Kids’ Cancer event)

But you don’t have to be a cookie lover to enjoy these tasty oats. I use them in my smoothies too. Easy way to add some bulk to your morning drink.

What about you — are you an oats eater? I sure hope so because I’m giving away a bag of these certified GF oats. All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me your favorite way to use oats. Breakfast only? Or are you using them in baking too?

Just leave a comment and you are automatically entered. I’ll pick a winner at random, on Halloween night — no trick, just a treat!

This drawing is for US residents only. I bought a bag of oats and Forrest was sweet enough to give me a bag as well, so I’m sharing with you.  As usual, I just share my honest opinions with you.