How To Freeze Cherries

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Did you know that you can easily freeze cherries to enjoy all year? We love cherries at our house, they are so good and good for you. Today you can learn how to freeze cherries so that you can also enjoy cherries all year long.

 

WHY FREEZE CHERRIES?

I love having cherries all year long for smoothies, snacks, and baking. For me freezing cherries is the easy way that I can make sure I have cherries available. Cherries are one of those things that not only taste good but are also really good for you.

We don’t grow our own cherries, I wish we could. Since we don’t grow them I love to buy a case or two when they are in season. I can then freeze them to use and eat throughout the year. 

 

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO FREEZE CHERRIES?

You really don’t need any special equipment to freeze cherries but a cherry pitter sure makes the job a lot easier. I have a cherry pitter like this one.

I am so glad I found this thing. For the first couple of years that I bought cases of cherries and froze them I didn’t have a cherry pitter and it took a lot longer to get my cherries in the freezer. 

Other than a cherry pitter, a cookie sheet, some parchment paper, a knife for slicing the cherries and a zip lock freezer bag are the other tools you should need. 

HOW TO FREEZE THE CHERRIES

First of all remove the stems and wash the cherries. I either use a fruit wash or a mix of water and lemon juice to wash my cherries.

Next what I like to do is remove the pits from my cherries, slice them in half and then place them on a parchment covered cookie sheet with the cut side down. 

I then place the cookie sheet in the freezer. After 2 or 3 hours I remove the cookie sheet from the freezer and place the quick frozen cherries into a ziplock freezer bag and return it to the freezer. 

I find that when I remove the pits and slice the cherries they are easier to use straight out of the freezer without having to do anything else to them.

These cherries are delicious to grab out of the bag and eat as a cool snack during the heat of the summer. Also when they are prepared in this way, you can just grab a handful out of the bag to throw straight into a healthy, delicious smoothie. 

When I am going to bake with the cherries, I usually take them out and go ahead and chop them up while they are still frozen. Since they are already pitted and cut in half that is really easy to do. 

If we don’t eat them all first, cherries will keep this way in the freezer until you are able to replenish your supply the next cherry season.

You might also enjoy,                           How to Freeze Blueberries

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