I was remarking to some friends the other day about how Joey and I are complete opposites when it comes to socializing.
As an extroverted social butterfly, Joey draws his energy from being around people and generally loves a crowd.
For me, while I love to socialize, I tend to be reenergized by some alone time, and after a long day of hanging out with people or going to an event, I need a break to recharge.
Despite that difference, what Joey and I do have in common is that we love to host.
Planning a meal or a snack table and having people over to spend time chatting or playing games or watching sports with us is one of our favorite activities.
This past week, Joey casually mentioned, “Oh, I probably should have told you but I invited a bunch of people over to hang out this weekend.”
I was totally on board.
We discussed menu a bit, and that was that.
But then, the night before our get-together, I remembered I totally forgot to plan a dessert, which is a necessity for any big meal, in my humble opinion.
Luckily, the Internet and my pantry saved the day on this one, and I managed a delicious, quick dessert for our guests.
This recipe comes from the blog “Julie’s Eats & Treats” by Julie Evink. You can find the original at https://www.julieseatsandtreats.com/cherry-crunch-pie/. I added cinnamon and almond extract in my version.
Quick Cherry Crumble
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
- 21 ounces cherry pie filling
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, flour, oats and cinnamon until everything is well incorporated and the mixture looks like pea-sized crumbs.
- Dump half of the mixture into an eight- or nine-inch glass pie plate and press it firmly to an even layer on the bottom and up the sides.
- Pour the can of cherry pie filling into the plate, and sprinkle on the almond extract. Give the filling a gentle stir to distribute the extract, and then crumble the rest of the crust mixture evenly over the top of the filling.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the top of the crumble is browned.
- Serve warm or room temperature for the best flavor, but out of the fridge is a winner, too.
As you can see, this really was a quick recipe, and I was glad I added the extra oomph with the cinnamon and almond extract. You could leave those out, but I thought it made the dessert taste a bit more homemade.
This would also be absolutely amazing with some ice cream, if you wanted to pull out all the stops.
I know some people hate hosting, but despite my tendencies to be a bit of an introvert, I love opening our home to our friends and family and watching them have a good time.
Plus, it generally means just a little leftover dessert in the fridge when they all leave.
This piece first appeared in print on June 29, 2023.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
