Whole cherries are spiced with cinnamon and baked in a buttery crust until golden brown, making this the perfect summer—or any season, really—pie.
Last summer I was shipped a box full of delicious cherries from Northwest Cherry Growers that somehow lasted for months! I made a batch of homemade cherry preserves that I slathered on everything, ate a couple bags just as they were, and then pitted and froze the rest. (Here’s my recommendation for a cherry pitter, btw.) Eventually, those sweet cherries found themselves in this pie, which I made for an outdoor dinner party at the end of the summer last year. It didn’t last very long, so this recipe is 100% friend approved.
What kind of cherries do you use for pie?
Fresh or frozen cherries will work perfectly in this recipe. I call for sweet cherries in this particular recipe (Bing is the most common variety), but tart or sour cherries can be used too. However, if using tart or sour cherries, you’ll want to increase the amount of sugar by 25–50%.
How do you make cherry pie filling from scratch?
I’d never really been the biggest fan of cherry pie, but I think that’s because I now realize I was served ones made from a syrupy canned or jarred filling instead of the homemade cherry pie filling used here. All you need are fresh cherries, sugar, a thickener (I use corn starch), lemon juice, and a little salt. And my secret ingredient is a sprinkle of cinnamon, which is great complement to the fruit.
And no, you don’t need to cook the filling first. Just mix it all together, put it in the pie crust, and bake it in the oven—all of the work will be taken care of while the pie is baking.
The key to a flaky pie crust
When making pie crust, you always want to keep your ingredients as cold as possible (ice water and chilled butter). If the butter starts to melt, it will mix with the flour and result in a crust that is doughy, which is not what we want for pie. That’s why it’s important to refrigerate the dough whenever not in use, particularly during the hot summer months.
One of the best tricks I’ve learned is that after the pie is assembled and ready to go, only then do I start to preheat the oven. And while the oven is warming up, I place the pie in the refrigerator to make sure everything remains nice and cold. And when a perfectly chilled pie hits a piping hot oven, magic happens.
Homemade Lattice Cherry Pie
Whole cherries are spiced with cinnamon and baked in a buttery crust until golden brown, making this the perfect summer—or any season, really—pie.
Ingredients
Butter Pie Crust
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, diced and chilled
- Ice water
Cherry Pie
- 28 ounces (about 5 heaping cups) pitted sweet cherries
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 2 ounces (6 tablespoons) corn starch
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- Demerara sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
Make the Pie Crust
- Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and cut the fat into the dry ingredients until it’s about the size of large peas with a pastry blender or food processor.
- Add just enough ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, so that the dough barely holds together when squeezed with your hand. Turn out the dough onto the counter, shape into 2 disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 20 to 30 minutes. (Meanwhile, work on the pie filling.)
- After the dough has chilled, lightly dust your counter with flour. Roll one disk into a circle that’s 1/8-inch thick and about 2 inches larger than your pie plate in diameter, rotating and flipping the dough every so often to make sure that it's an even thickness, and sprinkling with more flour as needed to keep it from sticking. (You can also roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper.) Transfer to the pie plate.
- Roll out the remaining disk of dough in the same manner. Cut into strips to prepare for making the lattice pattern.
Make the Cherry Pie
- Mix together the cherries, sugar, corn starch, lemon juice, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl. Transfer to the prepared pie crust.
- Lay the strips atop the pie, weaving together to form a lattice. Don't make it too tight so that steam is able to escape. (See my How to Make a Lattice Pie Crust post for more details.)
- Combine the egg, egg yolk, and milk to make an egg wash. Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash and use it as a glue along the edge of the pie to help seal the lattice top. Trim any excess pie dough and press along the edge with the tines of the fork to both make it pretty and seal the lattice to the bottom crust. Sprinkle with some demerara sugar.
- Refrigerate the pie while you preheat the oven to 450˚F.
- Bake the pie for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375˚F and continue baking until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, about 40 minutes more. (I recommend baking the pie on a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper in case there is any spillover.) Let cool before serving.
Hi! New subscriber here and I can’t believe the first thing I see is your cherry pie recipe. We had one last night and I SO agree that the store-bought versions just don’t measure up. Can’t wait to try this ‘healthier’ version, thanks!
I’m not sure if I’d say “healthier,” but it certainly does taste better!
If we use frozen cherries, do we cook them frozen or do we defrost them first and drain? Thank you for all your wonderful videos and recipies! I am a fan for sure. xx
Cook them from frozen. No need to defrost them!
5 STARS!!!!
If you’re looking for a delicious cherry pie recipe that serves up deep flavors, cherries that have a nice bite that aren’t soggy all in a flaky pastry crust you found it ! This recipe is simple and straight forward and provides a perfect cherry pie. I am a cherry pie connoisseur and this more than lives up to expectations! Make sure to make 2 as the first pie will be gone in no time !
Glad you enjoyed it!
Made this pie today from cherries we picked.. it came out really nice!
Thank you .. for an awesome recipe
Hi, may I make the filling the night before and refrigerate it before I put in the pie crust to make it the next day? If so do I keep all the juice in the pie crust or not?
Or do you recommend making it right before putting it in the crust.?
I haven’t experimented with making the filling ahead of time, so I’m not sure how it would turn out, but it’s quick enough to just mix together right before putting it in the crust as the recipe instructs.