If you enjoy eating or baking with sweet cherries, you know that these diminutve stone fruits are at their peak in July and August. While you can sometimes find cherries at other times of year, these fruits are being flown in from across the world and the taste pales in comparison to the juicy, flavorful berries of summer not to mention being much more expensive.

But you don’t have to say goodbye to juicy, ripe, sweet cherries when summer ends. You can save money and eat more seasonally by freezing cherries while they are at their peak and readily availble. With the right technique and a few pieces of helpful equipment, cherries freeze like a dream! And frozen cherries work just as well as fresh in baked goods, sauces and your morning smoothie.

This year, once again, I am a Canbassador for the Northwest Cherry Growers. As part of this program, a week or two ago, they sent me eighteen – yes eighteen! – pounds of luscious, ruby-red cherries grown in the beautiful Northwest. My husband laid claim to several pounds for eating and snacking. But no one could eat their way through 18 pounds of cherries. I was excited to bake with and preserve the rest…but first, we were going out of town. Yes, the cherries arrived on a Wednesday and we were leaving on Saturday for a five-day trip.

So what did I do? I used about three pounds to make pickled cherries. (I promise I will post that recipe soon.) But the rest I froze to create a stash of ripe, seasonal cherries to bake with and preserve all year long.

To prepare cherries for freezing, first gently wash them in cool water. Drain well and allow cherries to air-dry completely or dry them using paper towels. Remove and discard any moldy or mushy fruit so mold won’t spread to other cherries. Pit them using your favorite method. I am partial to the OXO Cherry and Olive Pitter.

To freeze cherries, place fruit in a single layer on a baking sheet that fits comfortably into your freezer. Place the sheet in your freezer for several hours or even overnight until the cherries harden completely. Once cherries are firm, you can transfer them into a storage container for long-term storage — up to six months. It is important, however, not to skip the step of freezing the cherries on the baking sheet first. If you place cherries in the storage container while they are still soft, the ones on the top will crush the ones on the bottom before they freeze.

For freezer storage, you can use gallon-sized plastic freezer bags. If that troubles you, consider using Stasher storage bags, which are made out of food-grade silicone. These durable, reusable bags go directly from the freezer to the microwave to the dishwasher. Investing in a few Stasher bags will help you reduce waste and use less plastic in your kitchen. Plus, the thick silicone exterior will help protect your cherries while they are in the freezer.