This recipe is better than ever. My homemade cherry pie is perfectly sliceable with a thick almond-hinted cherry pie filling and a golden brown buttery flaky pie crust. As always, wait for the pie to cool completely before slicing, which is a non-negotiable that helps avoid a soupy pie filling.
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more success tips, like quartering *some* of the cherries instead of halving and reducing some juices on the stovetop to guarantee the pie filling will set up perfectly.
No store-bought pie filling or pie crust because today we’re making cherry pie completely from scratch. Does making homemade pie intimidate you? I promise this dessert specialty is nothing to fear and that’s exactly why I’m sharing my recipe with you. Out of all pie flavors, cherry pie is where most bakers depend on canned filling, but I’m going to teach you how to make the most of fresh cherries and a delicious crust.
One reader, Shirlee, commented: “I’ve never tasted a cherry pie as delicious as this one. The crust is flaky, not soggy, and so delectable. The dough is easy to work with. The filling was incredible. It’s just the right consistency—not runny. The almond extract adds amazing flavor. Pitting the cherries takes a little bit of time, but once that’s done the recipe moves along quickly. Thanks, Sally, for providing such wonderful baking tips and instructions. ★★★★★“
Cherry Pie Details
- Flavor: While the cherry flavor is front and center in this pie, you’ll enjoy the notes of vanilla and almond as well. Vanilla and almond extracts add richness and depth and a touch of lemon juice keeps the overall flavor fresh and bright. (Without it, the filling can taste a little flat.) A scoop of vanilla ice cream and a dollop of homemade whipped cream pair perfectly on top of a slice.
- Texture: If you follow the recipe closely, this cherry pie filling is buttery, jammy, sturdy, and sliceable. You can use your favorite pie crust recipe, but I encourage you to try mine linked below. We use a mix of shortening and butter because they work together to make the BEST crust. Butter adds flavor and flakiness, while shortening’s high melting point keeps the crust tender and workable. It’s my go-to crust for apple pie and pumpkin pie, too. If you don’t want to use shortening, try this all butter pie crust recipe instead.
- Ease: It goes without saying that homemade pie is a labor of love, especially if you’re a beginner. Consider this recipe an activity—hopefully fun and definitely satisfying—and set aside several hours from start to finish. My time-saving tip is to prep the pie dough ahead of time because it needs to chill for at least 2 hours before you can roll it out. Plan accordingly if you want to include this cherry beauty in your lineup of Memorial Day recipes.
Best Cherries to Use for Cherry Pie
If you’re making cherry pie from scratch, it’s helpful to know which cherry variety works best. I usually choose a mix of rainier cherries and dark sweet cherries, but opted for all dark sweet cherries in the pictured pie. You can use all Rainier or all dark sweet. If using sour cherries, add a little more sugar as referenced in the recipe note below.
You can also use frozen halved or quartered cherries. Follow the recipe as written below and don’t skip the reducing step on the stove.
Pitting Cherries
Pitting fresh cherries is always a tedious and messy task, so if you want to save time and prep work, pick up a cherry pitter. If you’re anything like me, you don’t like stuffing your kitchen drawers with endless gizmos and gadgets, but a cherry pitter is most definitely an exception. I don’t bake with cherries often, but when I do, I’m VERY thankful for this tool.
- It’s also a timesaver if you’re baking bourbon cherry crisp, cherry cobbler, and/or cherry buckle!
Reducing the Cherry Juices on the Stove Takes Less Than 10 Minutes
After you combine the filling ingredients together, set it aside and roll out the pie dough for your pie dish. During this time, your filling is already working as the sugar pulls juices from the cherries. Normally I discard all this juice, but it’s where a lot of the cornstarch ends up and that’s what helps thicken the filling in the oven. I use this same method in my blueberry peach pie, and it helps the filling set nicely.
Instead, use a slotted spoon to transfer the fruit into your crust, then pour the leftover juice into a small saucepan. You’ll only have a few Tablespoons, but this juice is pure GOLD as it holds our thickening agent and a lot of flavor. Reduce on the stove over low heat for about 3-4 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes, then pour over the cherries and toss gently (in your pie dough!) to combine.
Here’s the filling in the mixing bowl. You can see all the juices at the bottom. Spoon cherries into the pie dough:
Reduce the excess juice on the stove until it has thickened:
Let it cool for a few minutes, then toss into the cherries. The sugars in the reduced juice will harden and you’ll notice this “juice” become almost caramelized and stringy once it hits those cold cherries. This is NORMAL and totally fine! The “juice” will melt down in the oven, but keep the filling thick.
Don’t Forget the Extras
- Butter: Dot the pie filling with small cubes of butter before applying the top crust. Why? It adds buttery richness and actually helps prevent the formation of bubbles on the filling’s surface. We do the same thing when we make peach pie.
- Egg wash: An egg wash is egg mixed with milk (or water) and you use it pretty much whenever you’re baking pie dough or baking other shaped dough such as stromboli, vanilla biscotti, homemade bagels, choux pastry, croissants, etc. Egg wash promises a crispier crust and helps develop that signature golden sheen. Without it, dough is dull and lackluster.
- Coarse sugar: This is optional, but I love finishing sweet pies with coarse sugar because it adds a little crunch and sparkle. I usually use Sugar in the Raw or these coarse sugar sprinkles, both of which can be found in the baking aisle of major grocery stores.
Lattice Pie Crust
Note that our pie crust recipe yields enough dough for a double crust pie—one for the bottom and one for the top. If you’re new to working with pie dough or need a little troubleshooting, our pie crust tutorial walks you through each step in thorough detail and includes a video, step-by-step photos, and all my tips and tricks for pie crust perfection.
I made a simple lattice pie crust design with thick and thin strips, but decorate the pie however you’d like. Once your lattice is assembled, you’ll want to crimp or flute the pie crust to finish it off. I fluted the pie crust in these photos.
You could even skip the top crust and use the crumble topping from our blueberry crumble pie. Or if you wish to skip the pie dough completely, try these cherry pie bars instead.
Start the Pie at a High Oven Temperature
Why do some pie recipes call for an initially hot oven temperature that you eventually lower? Baking this pie at 400°F (204°C) for 20 minutes helps the pie dough set and activates the cornstarch in the filling (as does heating it on the stove). After that, reduce oven temperature down to 375°F (190°C) to continue baking the pie. We use this same trick when we make blueberry pie and triple berry pie.
Do I Need to Par-Bake The Crust for This Cherry Pie?
Before you begin, let me answer a FAQ we receive on this recipe. You do not need to par-bake or blind bake this bottom pie crust. Reducing the filling’s juice on the stove keeps excess liquid off the bottom pie dough, plus we bake the pie for long enough that the bottom crust sufficiently cooks through. It’s helpful to use a glass pie dish so you can see when the sides/bottom of the pie crust has browned.
See Your Homemade Cherry Pies!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge! Feel free to email or share your recipe photos with us on social media. 🙂 For more pie inspiration, check out our collection of delicious summer pie recipes!
Print
Homemade Cherry Pie Recipe
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 7 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: 8-10 servings
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This homemade cherry pie is perfectly sliceable with a thick almond-hinted cherry pie filling and a golden brown buttery flaky pie crust. The ingredients are exactly the same as when I originally published the recipe in 2017, but quartering *some* of the cherries instead of just halving and reducing some juices on the stovetop both guarantee that the pie filling will set up perfectly.
Ingredients
- Homemade Pie Crust or All Butter Pie Crust (both recipes make 2 crusts, 1 for bottom and 1 for top)
- 4 and 1/2 cups halved & quartered pitted fresh cherries (see note)
- 2/3 cup (135g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (28g) cornstarch
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk
- optional: coarse sugar for sprinkling on crust
Instructions
- The crust: Prepare either pie crust recipe through step 5. The pie dough needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before using.
- Make the filling: In a large bowl, stir the cherries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla, and almond extract together until thoroughly combined. Cover the filling and place in the refrigerator as you roll out the pie dough (or for up to 24 hours).
- Roll out the chilled pie dough: On a floured work surface, roll out one of the discs of chilled dough (keep the other one in the refrigerator). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cherries into the crust. Reserve the juice in the bowl for the next step. Refrigerate pie, uncovered, as you reduce the juice in the next step.
- Pour the leftover juice into a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring, until juice has slightly reduced and thickened, about 3–4 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes, then pour over cherries in filling. Do your best to gently toss together—doesn’t have to be perfect. The reduction will harden and thicken as a result of mixing with the cold cherries—this is normal. Dot the pieces of cold butter on top of the filling. Place the pie in the refrigerator while you roll out the top crust.
- Arrange the lattice: Remove the other disc of pie dough from the refrigerator. Roll the dough into a circle 12 inches in diameter. Using a pastry wheel, sharp knife, or pizza cutter, cut the dough into strips—for the pictured pie, I cut four strips 2 inches wide and four strips 1 inch wide. Carefully thread the strips over and under one another, pulling back strips as necessary to weave. See this post on How to Lattice Pie Crust for help with this step. Press the edges of the strips into the bottom pie crust edges to seal. Use kitchen shears or a small paring knife to trim off excess dough. Flute or crimp the pie crust edges.
- Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the top and edges of the pie crust with egg wash. Sprinkle the top with coarse sugar, if using. Place the pie in the refrigerator for 20–30 minutes while your oven preheats.
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
- Place the pie onto a large baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Keeping the pie in the oven, reduce the temperature to 375°F (190°C) and bake for an additional 30–40 minutes or until the top crust is golden brown and the filling juices have been bubbling up around the edges or through the lattice/vents for at least 5 minutes. *After the first 20 minutes of bake time, I recommend placing a pie crust shield on the crust’s edges to prevent it from over-browning too quickly.*
- Remove pie from the oven, place on a cooling rack, and cool for at least 3–4 hours before slicing and serving. Filling will be too juicy if the pie is still warm when you slice it.
- Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead / Freezing Instructions: There are a couple ways to make this pie ahead of time. Prepare the pie in full 1 day in advance—after pie cools, cover tightly and keep at room temperature. The pie crust dough can also be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Baked pie also freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving. Prepared filling (with juices) can also be frozen up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before spooning into dough and reducing the juice.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Cherry Pitter | Glass Mixing Bowl | Rolling Pin | Pie Dish | Pastry Wheel or Pizza Cutter | Pastry Brush | Pie Crust Shield | Cooling Rack
- Cherries: You need about 1.5 lbs of cherries for this recipe. Cut half of the cherries into halves and the remaining half of cherries into quarters. Using a mix of halved and quartered cherries helps keep the baked filling in tact. You can use any variety of cherries. I use all dark sweet cherries in the pictured pie, but also enjoy using a 50/50 combination of dark sweet and Rainier cherries. Feel free to use all Rainier cherries if desired. If using sour cherries, increase sugar to 3/4 or 1 cup depending how sweet you like your pie. You can also use frozen cherries. Halve/quarter them while they’re frozen, then toss with other filling ingredients as instructed. Reduce the juices as instructed as well. Bake time may be a few minutes longer.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Great pie! Was looking for a cherry pie without cinnamon. This is a keeper. Turned out beautiful.
This is a great tasting pie filling. I want to know, am I able to can your pie filling as in your recipe?
Hi Kimberley, we haven’t tried canning it so we’re unsure, but let us know if you try anything!
Will this recipe work in individual sized ramekins? I would love to make this with both the crusts on the top and bottom because that’s my fav part :). Thank you!!
Hi Camille, we haven’t tested it, but we can’t see why not! We’re unsure of the exact yield or bake time for mini pies, but let us know if you give it a try.
This recipe sounds great! Could you use sweet cherries in a jar and modify the juice that the cherries are canned in?
Hi Barbara, fresh cherries really are best here!
Recipe does not mention size of pie dish. How do I adjust for a 10″ pie?
Hi Pat, see step 3: “Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish.” If using a 10-inch pie dish, you’ll need a bit more pie dough—if using one of our linked pie crust recipes, they each yield 2 crusts so that shouldn’t be an issue. You can use the filling as is, nothing that it will be just slightly less thick. Hope you enjoy it!
My bf AND bff love this more than anything else I bake, and I bake a LOT.
I’m about to attempt making this pie for the first time and I am super excited to see how it turns out! I was just wondering, would it be possible to substitute the corn starch for tapioca starch? If so, would it be a 1:1 ratio?
Hi Shivani, you can use tapioca instead — we would increase amount to 1/3 cup. Hope you love this pie!
Pectin is in the cherries, not corn starch. <3
I am making this Using a different pie crust recipe how should I adjust the temperature When baking The pie
No need to adjust the oven temperature if using a different pie crust recipe, or even if using store-bought.
On bought pie crust,do have to par bake? I crust in the middle comes out doughy. I made a peach pie and the filling came perfect except the dough bottom.
Hi Sandra, you do not have to par-bake this crust. It’s helpful to use a metal or glass pie dish, and increase the bake time to ensure the bottom cooks through.
Big fan of your recipes. I’m 35 weeks pregnant and am looking to put some meals in the freezer for postpartum. Have you ever frozen this pie, fully-assembled, unbaked? My husband and I love freshly baked pie. If not, we’ll just bake it before we put it in the freezer. 🙂
Hi Adriana, we recommend freezing the baked pie for best results. But you can also freeze the pie dough and the filling separately. See the recipe notes for details. Congratulations!
Followed this recipe for my first Cherry pie and it was amazing, so good, there were many moans of delight all around the table
Made this recipe with cherries and loved it; could other berries be substituted? I was specifically thinking of swapping blackberries in place of the cherries.
Hi Betsy, so glad you loved this recipe! Different fruits have different water contents and baking properties so it’s not always a 1:1 swap. We don’t have a plain blackberry pie recipe, but you could use a mix of blackberries and blueberries in our blueberry pie recipe, or you might enjoy this triple berry pie. Let us know what you try!
Would this work for baking the pie in an aluminum 9 inch pie pan.
Hi Lakesha, yes, this recipe is written for a 9-inch pan.
My first cherry pie and it was a huge success. Bought a pitter just for the occasion!! It sliced so beautifully. No runny innards! Not too sweet. Texture was on point. Made your butter/shortening crust which is my go too. Just need to get better at rolling. My pies are always messy. Will need to make another one while cherries are in season!!
I made this recipe for my husband’s birthday. I used canned tart cherries (3, 15oz cans) and otherwise followed the directions exactly. It was excellent!! Everyone loved it!
I’m making this today!!
Excellent! Family devoured as they usually do. Keeper
This is such a great recipe and the pie was fantastic! The only thing I did differently was use a store-bought crust. Loved it!!!
We made this on July 4th and regret to say it turned out terribly so I would appreciate any suggestions you have on what we might have done wrong. We used fresh and great tasting sweet cherries and the recipe seemed to work well and the pie looked beautiful, but the filling was too dry and not flavorful or jammy. I baked it so the juices were boiling for about 7 minutes and the internal temperature at the center was 204 and the crust was a perfect golden brown. Thank you.
Hi Jim, I’m so sorry to hear that, and would be happy to help troubleshoot. Did you reduce the juices on the stove for a little too long, I wonder?
Hi Sally, I made this last night and it was terrific. Can’t wait to try the blueberry pie next. Thanks for all your great recipes.
I made this for my dad’s birthday on the Fourth of July. It was absolutely delicious! The almond extract brings a deeper flavor out of the cherries. I will definitely be making this again!
Can I make the filling ahead
Yes, you can cover the prepared pie filling and leave in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Prepared filling (with juices) can also be frozen up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before spooning into dough and reducing the juice.
This is hands down the best cherry pie I have ever eaten or made! The filling, with the chopped cherries on the bottom and the jelly-like mixture on top, is just dreamy. Paired with a flaky pie crust, I couldn’t stop eating it!
Just delicious!!
I loved the crust, using butter and shortening! However, the pie filling was bland. I used fresh cherries from the grocery store that I pitted. Could it have been the variety of cherries?
I love your recipes! You are incredible!
Hi Cecille, I’m sorry to hear that! What variety of cherries did you use? And did you include the almond extract?
I made this pie today with my homegrown cherries, followed your instructions including cooking the juices. It turned out to be a perfect and delicious pie thank you
The ONLY fruit pie I’ve ever liked!! I made this for my husband’s birthday and it was amazing. I followed the recipe exactly except I used a little more almond extract than recommended (1/2 tsp instead of 1/4 tsp). The almond taste was great paired with the cherry but I will use less next time. Instead of cooling for 3-4 hours I cooled it on the counter for 30 mins then in the fridge for another 30 and it was perfect. I was converted because I was in a time crunch but it was not runny at all.
How do I go about this using frozen cherries??
You can use frozen cherries. Halve/quarter them while they’re frozen, then toss with other filling ingredients as instructed. Reduce the juices as instructed as well. Bake time may be a few minutes longer.
I made this for our Father’s Day dessert, and it was a huge hit! My kids and I picked the cherries at our neighbors’ which made it even sweeter.