Cherry Bombs

Don’t worry. The only explosion you’ll get from these Cherry Bombs is an explosion of flavor.*
*And by “flavor,” I mean cherry juice…hopefully only in your mouth and not all over your hands.As soon as I heard about Whole Foods’ Kid-Friendly Cherry Recipe Contest for bloggers, I knew I had to participate. After all, not only did I used to teach kids…I myself am often mistaken for a small child in my eating habits and perspectives. And who wouldn’t want the chance to win $500 to buy groceries?Oh, and I kind of love my cherry pitter. So there’s that.The only requirements were that the recipe be original, kid-friendly, and utilize seven ingredients or less, including at least 1/2 cup of fresh cherries and two or three other fruits or veggies.I wish I knew where the inspiration came from for this recipe…but I cannot. All I know is that kids like snacks, especially sweet snacks. And if they can get messy while making (or eating) them…all the better.The first thing to do is pit a number of cherries…although I had about 3 lbs. of them (bought during the one-day Whole Foods organic cherry sale), you only need 24 for my recipe.*

*Although this recipe is easily halved or doubled…or tripled. In fact, the photographs show only 12 of these Cherry Bombs being made.

You know what fits perfectly inside of a pitted cherry?Blueberries!*

*On sale at Central Market for $1.99 a pint. [Hey, I have to give a shout-out to my current employer, y'all...]

The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies would be proud of the cherry poppin’* going on around here.
*PG variety, people…

(Hint: It’s much easier to pop in the blueberry from the non-stem end…or the butt if you like. But really, let’s keep our minds out of the gutter people. This is a kid-friendly contest.)Things will get a little juicy, but once you have your blueberry-stuffed cherries ready, it’s time to make the ‘cookie crust.’

For the outer covering of these Cherry Bombs, you’ll need two ripe medium-sized bananas.* [This translates to about 1 cup smushed banana.]
*Thanks to my friend Liz for carrying these on the airplane halfway across the country, only to leave them in my fridge. I couldn’t have made this recipe without you. [OK, I could have bought some bananas, but then I'd have had to wait a few days for them to ripen and perhaps missed the contest deadline.]

You don’t want brown, bread-ready bananas…still white on the inside is what you are going for. [This banana is proof that you can't judge a fruit by its cover.]
You’ll also need 2 cups of quick-cooking oats. Although I’d normally say use old fashioned if that’s all you’ve got, for textural purposes, the smaller, quick-cooking oats are better here. Should you not want to purchase quick-cooking oats just for this recipe, a quick spin in the food processor will give you a finer oat.
Combine your quick-cooking oats and your banana in a large mixing bowl.
Then, scoop in 1/4 cup of creamy almond butter.
Stir it up, using a wooden spoon if you want to be dignified about it…
…and take forever doing so.
Really? Just get your (clean!) hands in there and squish!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that messy equals more fun.

The ‘dough’ will still be pretty sticky, and that’s what you want. Now it’s time to assemble these (non-injurious) Cherry Bombs.
Grab one of the berry-cherry eyes (scary aren’t they?)…
…and roll them up inside some of the dough. The easiest way to to this* is to use a bit more than you’d actually think would cover it and roll it around with two hands.
*But the hardest way to photograph when you are alone in the kitchen.
Once you’ve covered up the whole cherry, pinch off the excess dough.
Squish and mold and roll until you have a pretty uniform (but not too thick) covering and the cherry is encased in the dough.
Already, these are good enough to eat…but they are a little sticky. Simple solution…
Shredded coconut! [Although I imagine shredded chocolate would be just as--if not more--tasty...]
Pour some unsweetened coconut directly into your original mixing bowl…
…and roll those little Cherry Bombs around until they have an even layer of coconut on ‘em. [It's really fun to push them around like they are pinballs in a pinball machine. I'm not going to tell you how I know this. But trust me.]
And that’s it! You’re done.Ready to eat as is…or store them in the fridge for however long you can keep them without devouring them first.

Y’all have got to love this recipe. Not only are they easy to make with simple ingredients, they are healthy and tasty, too. Also, there’s hardly anything to clean up when you’re finished.They even look like eyeballs when you bite them (or cut them) in half. So what’s not to love about that?

I can hear all the kids now:
“Please can we make some Cherry Bombs? Pleeeeeeaaaaaase! Pretty please?”With a cherry on top?

Cherry Bombs

24 pitted sweet, fresh cherries
24 small, fresh blueberries
2 ripe medium-sized bananas (1 cup smushed banana)
2 cups quick-cooking oats*
1/4 cup creamy almond butter
2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
*2 cups old-fashioned oats run briefly run through the food processor may be substituted.

1. Stuff one blueberry into each cherry. [This is easiest done from the non-stem side.]
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together bananas, oats, and almond butter, squeezing with your hands if necessary (or just desired).
3. Take one cherry at a time and roll it up inside the banana-oat dough. [Tip: First scoop up about 3 tablespoons worth of dough, and use your palms to roll it up with the cherry. Then, pinch off the excess and mold the dough around the cherry until you have a thin layer.]
4. Once all cherries are covered with dough, pour the coconut into the mixing bowl.
5. Roll the dough-covered cherries around in the coconut until covered.

6. Eat immediately or store in the fridge.

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Do you think finding paired cherries sharing a stem is good luck the way finding a four-leaf clover is?If so, I’m totally going to win this contest.