Very Cherry...and an Almond Oatmeal Crust

Happy Thursday to you!  Just thought I'd pop in for a quick hello. 

Last weekend was pretty wonderful here...warm weather, time with my family and, of course, food. We had a get together at my parents' house on Monday. Our gatherings always involve something to nibble on and, while we all tend to really watch what we eat, we did decide to make an exception that day, splurge and have dessert.

Our minds were all aflutter with possibilities. "Oh, what should we have?" we wondered. My sister eventually came up with the idea of ice cream with a smorgasbord of toppings. Yes, it's true...we went crazy with the idea. There was to be no half-hearted treats here. It was a feast for the eyes, as well as the taste buds....strawberries, pineapple, chocolate, caramel, crushed cookies...the list went on and on.

I very rarely buy ice cream, not to mention all the goodies that go on top, so needless to say, my children were thrilled!

Although I've been vowing to stop, I spent a lot of time baking last week...trying to come up with a simple, yet delicious sweet crust.  Why I do this to myself? I don't know.

While one would normally think of eating ice cream in a bowl or a cone, I figured that a crust would be a good base for our dessert and that way I could test my recipe on everyone too! Excellent plan, don't you think? My first attempts at playing crust creator resulted in something that was a bit too crunchy, to say the least, but I finally got it to where I want it...a nice and chewy oatmeal crust with a hint of almond.

While I do admit to having a sweet tooth, I also really love fruit. As I was preparing my dessert and getting ready for the all important taste test, I thought about the bag of cherries that I had just bought. Ripe and red, I figured they'd look and taste pretty good with that oatmeal crust and a bit of chocolate. Ummm, yes...it was very good.  A little too much so, since I had another "taste test" later that day ;)

Almond Oatmeal Crust

Makes four 4" tart crusts.

• 1 3/4 generous cup quick oats 
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup almond meal/flour
• 1/4 cup oat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 tablespoon honey

In a medium size bowl, combine the quick oats, brown sugar, almond meal, oat flour, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. In a separate container, melt the butter and then add the almond extract and the honey. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir well.

Divide the mixture among four mini tart pans with removable bottoms, being sure to press the raw crust into the sides and bottom of the pan. Place the tart tins on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for approximately 13-15 minutes. Do not overbake or the crust may get too hard. Let the crust cool and then remove it from the pans.

Top it with whatever your little heart desires...or just eat it like a big cookie. Yes, it's very good that way too :)

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Well, lovely people, that's all I have for today.  Hope you have a great weekend!

xo