Cherry Surprise
Cherry Surprise is a delicious cherry cobbler that is amazingly sweet. Every bite is filled with luscious cherries, nuts, coconut, and oatmeal. It’s also incredibly quick and easy to put together. You can assemble this wonderful dessert in about 5-8 minutes.
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In less than an hour you can have a very satisfying dessert with a delicious combination of flavors that are simply amazing. Everyone in our household loves this dessert and I think you will enjoy it too.
I write this post as a tribute to a very special lady who passed away in December after a very courageous battle with brain cancer. Debbie Porter gave me this excellent recipe over 30 years ago when we met weekly with a few other families for Bible study while attending the same church in Largo, Florida.
Debbie was famous for her fabulous desserts and this is only one of many I collected from her. We moved away in 1990, and although we hadn’t seen Terry and Debbie in decades, contacts on Facebook kept them in our thoughts. We are always reminded of Debbie whenever making one of her luscious treats.
We were very sad to see Debbie’s passing but I share this recipe with my readers as a way to remember Debbie, her love and zeal for life, her huge smile, and something that tastes as sweet as she was in how she interacted with others! I hope you enjoy it.
We made Cherry Surprise for our Christmas dinner dessert last year. It is a spectacular recipe and everyone came back for more! I will make one suggestion about this recipe. The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups brown sugar. That is extremely sweet…too sweet for me. I prefer using only a cup which is still plenty sweet when you consider the pie filling and coconut are both sweet. I’ve altered the recipe reflecting this change.
I initially posted this recipe in March 2013 although I had served it for our Christmas dinner in December 2012. We stayed the holidays with my husband’s family and I made this luscious dessert. Everyone raved over it then. Everyone raves over it now.
I recently remade this recipe (February 2015) for a potluck at our church and it was one of those things that got eaten up really fast. I usually help provide a lunch meal for those who go through New Member’s Classes at our church. I made a delicious soup, homemade bread, and this scrumptious Cherry Surprise along with a Pineapple Sheet Cake. We had pretty hardy eaters that day and everything was eaten up pretty rapidly!
Doesn’t this Cherry Surprise dessert look beautiful?
This luscious dessert is filled with cherry pie filling, nuts, coconut, and oatmeal.
Cherry Surprise is a spectacular dessert that is elegant enough for company.
We served Cherry Surprise for Christmas dinner last year.
Here’s what I did.
I used these ingredients.
Melt butter. Place in mixing bowl. Add oatmeal and brown sugar. Add UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour. Bleached flour toughens baked goods. Add coconut.
Stir all the ingredients together.
Spray a 9×13″ glass baking dish with cooking spray. Place part of the oatmeal mixture into the pan and press down.
Add 2 cans of cherry pie filling.
Add chopped nuts.
Sprinkle remaining oatmeal topping over top.
Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes or until done.
We love Cherry Surprise. It’s a festive, elegant dessert that your whole family will enjoy.
This recipe is so quick and easy to throw together too. About fifteen minutes prep work and then baking time. Voila! A beautiful dessert is the outcome.
Here’s the recipe.
CHERRY SURPRISE
(Recipe from Debbie Porter, when we attended First Baptist Church Indian Rocks, Largo, FL)
Cherry Surprise
Equipment
- 1 9x13" glass baking dish
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 wooden spoon
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- 1 nut chopper if nuts are not previously chopped
Ingredients
- 2 cups oatmeal
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened or melted
- 2 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour bleached flour toughens baked goods
- 2 cans cherry pie filling
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup coconut
- 1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (but any kind of nuts will do) (measure after chopping)
Instructions
- Mix oatmeal, flour, brown sugar and coconut together.
- Stir well to combine.
- Add melted butter and mix until very well combined.
- (It is almost easier to mix this with your hands!)
- Take ¾ of the mixture and put it on the bottom of a greased 9x13” baking dish.
- Press mixture firmly into pan.
- Pour pie filling over mixture.
- Sprinkle nuts over top.
- Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over top of nuts.
- Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes until lightly browned and bubbly.
Notes
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen
Nutrition
- 2 cups oatmeal
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened or melted
- 2 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour (bleached flour toughens baked goods)
- 2 cans cherry pie filling
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup coconut
- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, but any kind of nuts will do
- Mix oatmeal, flour, brown sugar and coconut together.
- Stir to combine.
- Add melted butter and mix until very well combined.
- (It is almost easier to mix this with your hands!)
- Take ¾ of the mixture and put it on the bottom of a greased 9×13” baking dish.
- Press mixture firmly into pan.
- Pour pie filling over mixture.
- Sprinkle nuts over top.
- Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over top of nuts.
- Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes until lightly browned and bubbly.
Cherry lovers will greatly enjoy this dessert. Dollop a scoop of ice cream on top if you desire.
This dessert is amazing down to the last bite.
Grab a fork or spoon and enjoy a bite of Cherry Surprise with me!
You may also enjoy these delicious recipes!
Cherry Surprise
Equipment
- 1 9×13" glass baking dish
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 wooden spoon
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- 1 nut chopper if nuts are not previously chopped
Ingredients
- 2 cups oatmeal
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened or melted
- 2 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour bleached flour toughens baked goods
- 2 cans cherry pie filling
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup coconut
- 1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (but any kind of nuts will do) (measure after chopping)
Instructions
- Mix oatmeal, flour, brown sugar and coconut together.
- Stir well to combine.
- Add melted butter and mix until very well combined.
- (It is almost easier to mix this with your hands!)
- Take ¾ of the mixture and put it on the bottom of a greased 9×13” baking dish.
- Press mixture firmly into pan.
- Pour pie filling over mixture.
- Sprinkle nuts over top.
- Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over top of nuts.
- Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes until lightly browned and bubbly.
12 Comments
Dorothy
July 23, 2019 at 6:04 am
Good morning! I realize these cherry recipes are old, but they all look so good! I have a question, of course. My husband and oldest child hate coconut. Can I simply omit it? Will that change the texture too much? There was another of your cherry recipes with coconut and I wondered the same thing. I guess it should be a general question about coconut, not just for this recipe. Thank you 🙂
Teresa
July 23, 2019 at 9:59 am
Hi, Dorothy. I would just eliminate the coconut. It will barely change the texture, and the recipe will not be quite as sweet, but it will still be terrific.
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Liz
March 2, 2013 at 7:12 am
He Teresa, I did not need to resubscribe your feed. It is still picking up you site.
Once a gain the recipe looks fantastic. This one my be simple enough for me to do here. Time to order the cherries. 🙂
Teresa
March 2, 2013 at 8:04 am
I am going to do my very best about getting some goodies made for you this coming week. Thanks for being such a faithful follower.
petit4chocolatier
March 1, 2013 at 6:57 pm
I love cherries and this looks so delicious!!
Teresa
March 2, 2013 at 8:42 pm
It really is delicious. I used to make this often for my father-on-law who loved anything with cherries!