Sour Cherry Oat Crisp

1. Line the bottom of an oven with aluminum foil to catch spills. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a 9-inch square baking dish with the pie crust.

2. Place cherries in a bowl. Let sit in the refrigerator for about 4 hours until juices start to come out. Gently press down on top of the cherries to release juice. Pour off 3/4 cup juice, reserving cherries in the bowl.

3. Pour juice into a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon together. Stir mixture into the juice before it starts to steam. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and keep stirring until mixture starts to thicken, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts.

4. Pour juice mixture into the bowl with the cherries; stir until combined. Pour mixture into the prepared crust.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes while preparing the crumb topping.

6. Mix brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in butter pieces with a fork until they're the size of small peas.

7. Remove cherry pie from the oven. Top with the crumb topping and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cut a small hole in the center to help vent. Let cool, at least 1 hour. Serve warm.

Cook's Notes:

For pitting cherries, I recommend inserting a clean, opened paperclip into the top of the cherry and pulling out the pit.

Three cans drained sour cherries can be substituted for the fresh cherries. If you are using canned cherries, you just need to save the drained juice from the cans. Just be sure to squeeze each one gently to check for any pits that may have been missed (you don't want anyone to break a tooth!).

Quick-cooking oats can be substituted for the rolled oats.

Substitute margarine for the butter if desired.