Cherry Pie
With its sweet cherry filling and buttery, flaky pie crust, this Cherry Pie is completely irresistible. Make it with fresh or frozen cherries.
There’s nothing better than a homemade pie made from scratch. Try my Blueberry Pie, Apple Pie and Blackberry Pie recipes next.
The Best Cherry Pie
Making the best cherry pie comes down to a few simple steps:
- For a thick cherry pie filling, bake the pie until the juices are very bubbly. Allowing the juices to come to a boil in the oven activates the cornstarch to thicken the filling. It’s also important to let the pie cool before slicing into it. If you cut it too soon you risk a soupy pie filling.
- A few ingredients enhance the flavor of the cherries. Lemon juice and vanilla extract, plus a touch of almond extract complement the cherries and give the filling exceptional flavor. The almond extract is optional; if you don’t have any on hand the pie will still be delicious without it.
- Adjust the sugar to your tastes. Taste your cherries and add more or less sugar depending on how sweet they are. I tested this recipe with sweet cherries. If you use tart cherries, you’ll want to increase the sugar in the recipe.
- You’ll love our easy all-butter homemade pie crust. It rolls out beautifully, doesn’t require chilling and bakes up nice and flaky. Even if you are new to making pie crust, I promise you can make this pie crust recipe!
This cherry pie always gets rave reviews. We like to serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream – so good!
How to Pit Cherries
My favorite way is to use a cherry pitter, an inexpensive kitchen gadget that quickly and easily removes the pits. To pit cherries without a cherry pitter, you can use a chopstick to push the cherry pits out. Or, just halve the cherries and pull the pits out.
How to Make Cherry Pie
Make the cherry pie filling. Pit the cherries. I like to cut the pitted cherries in half, but you can leave them whole if you prefer. In a large bowl, combine the cherries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla extract, salt and almond extract. Stir until you no longer see any white cornstarch on the cherries.
Make the pie crust. Lay the bottom pie crust into the pie dish. (You can use a store-bought pie crust if you prefer.)
Add the cherry filling, including the juices. Pour the cherry filling and all juices from the bowl into the pie crust. Most of the cornstarch will be in the juice, so you want to be sure to add all of the juices to the pie for a thick pie filling. Scatter a few small pieces of butter on top of the filling.
Top with the top pie crust. You can make a lattice crust or you can place the top pie crust on whole and cut a few slits for steam to escape. Brush the top of the pie with an egg wash, made by mixing one egg with a tablespoon of milk. The egg wash helps the crust to brown in the oven and gives it a beautiful shine. For added sweetness and sparkle, you can sprinkle the pie with coarse sugar or granulated sugar before baking.
Bake at 400° for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350° F and continue baking the pie for 40-50 more minutes, until the filling is very bubbly. Check on the pie partway through the baking time and loosely cover it with foil if the edges of the crust are browning too much.
Let the pie cool for at least 3 hours after it bakes before slicing and serving.
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How to Use Frozen Cherries
You can make this cherry pie year-round using frozen cherries. Place the cherries in a colander set over a bowl and allow them to fully thaw. You can save any accumulated juices in the bowl for another use, or discard. Then use the thawed cherries in the recipe, without any other modifications. The filling may be a bit more juicy when using frozen cherries.
Make Ahead and Freezer Instructions
- To freeze cherry pie: The baked pie can be frozen for up to 3 months. Let it cool completely and then wrap it tightly before freezing. Thaw for 24 hours in the refrigerator before serving.
- The pie crust dough can be made ahead of time, wrapped airtight, and stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let frozen pie dough thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling it out.
- Cherry pie filling can be frozen for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Let it thaw in the refrigerator before using it.
More Pie Recipes
If you love cherries, you might also enjoy my Cherry Cobbler and Cherry Crumble Pie recipes. Or try one of these delicious pies:
The BEST Cherry Pie
Ingredients
For the Cherry Filling
- 6 cups sweet cherries, 2 pounds, pitted and halved*
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar, see note
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract, optional*
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, for dotting on the filling
For the Pie Crust
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 7 tablespoons ice-cold water
Egg Wash + Sugar Sprinkle
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
- coarse sugar or granulated sugar, for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
Make the Cherry Filling
- Place the pitted, halved cherries in a large bowl. Add the granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla, salt and almond extract (if using). Stir to combine until you no longer see the white cornstarch. Set aside while you prepare the crust. The cherries will release some of their juices as they rest.
Make the Pie Crust
- Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. (Alternatively, the pie crust dough can be made by hand in a large bowl using a pastry cutter to cut in the butter.)
- Pulse to combine the dry ingredients. Add the cold butter cubes and pulse 8 to 10 times, until the largest butter pieces are the size of small peas.
- Add the ice-cold water and pulse just until the dough comes together. It may still be a little crumbly.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and form it into a ball. Cut the ball in half and shape each half into a round disk. Wrap one of the disks in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll the second disk of dough out into a 12-inch round and transfer it to a pie dish. (To transfer the rolled out dough easily, wrap it around your rolling pin to help move it.)
Assemble the Pie
- The cherries will have released some of their juices. Stir the cherry mixture to make sure everything is well combined. Pour the cherries and all juices from the bowl into the pie crust. You want all of the juices in the pie because this is where most of the cornstarch is, which will thicken the filling.
- Cut the 1 tablespoon of butter into small cubes and scatter them over the top of the cherry filling.
- Take the remaining dough disk out of the refrigerator and roll it out to a 12-inch round. You can place the dough round on top of the pie as is, or you can make a lattice-top crust. If putting the full dough round on top of the pie, be sure to cut a few slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape as the pie bakes.
- To make a lattice-top pie crust: Cut the second dough round into strips anywhere between ¾-inch and 1 ¼-inch wide. Place the longest strip down the center of the pie. Reserving every other dough strip to go in the other direction on the pie, lay strips across the pie with a little space in between. Then weave in the remaining strips of dough going the opposite direction on the pie. (See my apple pie recipe for step by step photos.)
- Trim the edges of the pie crust so that there is a ½-inch overhang over the edge of the pie dish. Fold the overhang under and use your fingers or a fork to flute/crimp the edges of the crust as desired.
Brush with Egg Wash & Bake
- Beat the egg and milk together in a small bowl. Lightly brush the top of the pie crust with the egg wash. (You will not use all of the egg wash.) If desired, sprinkle coarse sugar or granulated sugar over the top of the pie.
- Place the pie in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before baking. While the pie chills, preheat the oven to 400° F with a rack in the lower third of the oven.
- Bake the pie in the lower third of the oven at 400° for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350° F and continue baking the pie for 40 to 50 more minutes, until the filling is very bubbly. (The filling must become very bubbly/boil to activate the cornstarch for a thick filling.) Start checking on the pie about halfway through the baking time and cover it loosely with foil as needed to prevent the crust from over-browning.
- Let the pie cool to room temperature for at least 3 hours before serving to allow the filling to thicken.
Notes
- You can adjust the amount of sugar added to the filling depending on how sweet or tart your cherries are and how sweet you like your pie.
- If making the pie with tart cherries, increase the sugar in the filling to 1 cup.
- Adding 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract to the filling enhances the flavor, but if you don’t have almond extract on hand you can omit it.
- To use frozen cherries: Place the cherries in a colander set over a bowl and allow them to fully thaw. You can save any accumulated juices in the bowl for another use, or discard. Then use the thawed cherries in the recipe, without any other modifications. The filling may be a bit more juicy when using frozen cherries.
- Store pie at room temperature for up to 8 hours, or in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.
- Once completely cool, the baked pie can also be frozen, wrapped tightly, for up to 3 months. Thaw for 24 hours in the refrigerator before serving.
- The pie crust dough can be made ahead of time, wrapped airtight, and stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let frozen pie dough thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling it out.
- Cherry pie filling can be frozen for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Let it thaw in the refrigerator before using it.
This is now my go to cherry pie recipe. However, please do not discard the juice from the filling. When heated It makes a very lovely syrup.
Hi Stephanie,
I’m so glad you are enjoying this recipe! I’ve recently updated this recipe to use all of the juices. With further recipe testing, I’ve found that adding all of the juices to the pie helps to produce a thicker pie filling, since most of the cornstarch is in the juices.
Can I use tapioca flour in place of corn starch?
I noticed you don’t blind bake the crust for this recipe. Does the liquid cause a soggy bottom without the blind baking?
No, I don’t find the bottom crust to be soggy at all. I don’t recommend blind baking the crust for this pie because blind baking plus the the long pie baking time would likely cause the crust to burn.
I wonder how long to bake it if I make mini 4 inch pies?
Hi Karen, I haven’t tested this recipe as mini pies. I suggest that you start checking on the pies early and take them out of the oven when the filling is bubbly. If you try it, let me know how they turn out. 🙂
Hi! I’m going to make this for my dad, and I’m just wondering, if I have a pie crust recipe I already really like, would that work just as well with this? The main difference is just that it uses butter and shortening (and needs some time in the refrigerator).
Yes, you can use another pie crust recipe. Enjoy!
My go to recipe for cherry pie. Really delicious.
Great pie!
Could I assemble the pies the night before, above 10 hours before baking? Planning these for a party and would love to get them fully ready the night before!
The crust may get soggy if you let the fully assembled pies rest in the refrigerator for that long before baking. I think your best bet would be to refrigerate the pie crust and pie filling separately, then finish assembling the pies the day you plan to bake them. Don’t forget that the baked pies will need to cool at room temperature for at least 3 hours before serving, and they can sit at room temperature for up to 8 hours.