Each bite of this Homemade Cherry Pie gives you a thick and perfectly sweetened cherry pie filling that's paired with a flaky, buttery pie crust that's made from scratch. It's a delicious, easy-to-make classic that is a must try any time of the year!
1Egg or Egg White with 1 tablespoon Water(for egg wash (optional))
Sparkling Sugar(for garnish (optional))
Instructions
homemade pie crusts (makes 2, 9 inch pie crusts)
In a large mixing bowl and using a pastry blender (or two forks), mix together the all-purpose flour, salt, cold cubed butter, and cold vegetable shortening until you have small pea-size pieces. Some larger pea-size pieces are fine too!
2 cups All-Purpose Flour, 1 teaspoon Salt, 6 tablespoon Unsalted Butter, ½ cup Vegetable Shortening
Add in 1 tablespoon of the ice cold water, then (using a spatula or with your hands) work it into the pie dough mixture. Continue to add the ice cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the pie dough forms and it is no longer crumbly. If there are any crumbly bits, just add the teeny tiniest bit of cold water so they blend in with the rest of the dough.
4-6 tablespoon Ice Cold Water
After forming the ball of pie dough, place it on a lightly-floured, clean surface and divide it in half using a pastry cutter. Pat each half into a 1″- 1 ½″ thick disc, then double wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place them in the coldest part of your refrigerator (usually the back) for a minimum of 1 hour.
homemade cherry pie filling
In a large saucepan, bring the cherries (plus the water from 1 ½ cans), cornstarch, granulated sugar, salt, vanilla extract, almond extract to a boil. Reduce it to a medium-low heat, stirring continuously until it thickens and bubbles.
3 cans Red Tart Cherries Packed in Water, 4 tablespoon Cornstarch, 1 ½ cups Granulated Sugar, ⅛ teaspoon Salt, ¼ teaspoon Vanilla Extract, ¼ teaspoon Almond Extract
Remove from heat and pour into a large glass mixing bowl (metal is fine too) and allow it to cool completely before adding to the filling. See tips for making cherry pie filling in the main post.
assembling the cherry pie
Adjust your oven rack to the center position, placing a jelly roll pan, baking sheet, or (my preference) baking steel on top of the rack. Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
Prepare bottom pie crust and place into pie plate. Trim the edges, if needed, but do not crimp the edges yet.
Pour the cooled cherry pie filling into the pie crust and place second pie crust over top in a design of your choosing (lattice, cookie cutter, etc). Trim top crust then fold and pinch/blend top crust to the bottom. Crimp the edges.
Using a pastry brush, add the egg wash to the edges and top of your pie crust. Sprinkle the edges with sparkling sugar, if desired.
1 Egg or Egg White with 1 tablespoon Water, Sparkling Sugar
Place the pie along with a sheet of parchment paper onto the preheated jelly roll pan, baking sheet or baking steel and bake for 15 minutes at 425ºF.
Leaving the pie in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 375ºF and bake for another 30-40 minutes. At this time - or - with 15-20 minutes left of baking, you can choose to add strips of aluminum foil, a sheet of aluminum foil with a hole cut out, or a silicone pie shield to prevent the crust from over browning.
Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool on a wire rack completely (about 2-3 hours) before serving. Alternatively, you can place the pie in the fridge after cooling to chill. Both methods will allow the filling to set properly.
Notes
You can easily substitute the homemade pie crusts for store-bought. I recommend letting them sit out at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before unrolling to avoid cracking.
Recipe adapted from A Taste of Bedminster Elementary cookbook and the Artful Parent.