I went cherry-picking almost two weeks ago, and have been looking at ways to use up all eighteen pounds of cherries we brought home. I froze about half of them, we ate some of them, and we blended some into juice and added a splash of Jose Cuervo for a much-needed nightcap after the kids went to bed.

Making a cherry compote was also a really fun and easy way to create something new from all those cherries. I use it on pancakes, in oatmeal, on toast, or just eat it out of the jar! There’s really no wrong way to enjoy cherry compote.

(I even did a similar thing here with blueberries, and they came out delish!)

SUPER EASY CHERRY COMPOTE

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups fresh Bing (or other sweet) cherries, pitted and halved
• 1/4 cup white sugar

PREPARATION

1. In a food processor, pulse cherries until coarsely chopped. The coarser the cherries, the chunkier the compote.
2. Put cherries in a large saucepan. Stir in sugar.
3. Bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce to medium-low, stirring occasionally.
4. Simmer until larger cherry pieces are soft, approximately 10 minutes. Mash them as best you can, then transfer to a bowl using a slotted spoon.
5. Continue to simmer juices for another 15-20 minutes until syrupy.
6. Pour juices over cherry pieces in bowl. When cooled, transfer to a clean jar with a tight-fitting lid and store in the refrigerator.

Recipe adapted from here.