Classic Cherry Pie Recipe

5 from 5 votes

This Classic Cherry Pie is summer at its best! This flakey, butter crust is perfectly paired with fresh cherries that are mixed with brown sugar, lemon juice and a vanilla. This pie is truly the perfect summer pie.

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 10

Chilling Time for Crust2

Total Time3 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Author: Adrianna Adarme

Cost: $10

Ingredients

Pie Crust:

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/4 cup unsalted butter cold and straight from the fridge
1/2-3/4 cups cold water

Cherry Pie Filling:

1/4 cup white sugar
1 whole vanilla bean (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
2 pounds cherries pitted and halved
1/4 cup dark or light brown sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1 tablespoon lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

To Make the Pie Crust:

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a box grater, grate the cold butter atop the flour mixture. Transfer to the freezer to chill for 10 minutes. Working quickly, and using your hands, break the butter bits into the flour until they’re evenly distributed and resemble the size of teeny, small peas.
Add a 50% of the recommended water and mix.The mixture will be shaggy at this point. From here, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the dough comes together. Flour your counter and dump the dough onto it. Knead a few times more until it comes together into one cohesive mass. Divide the dough, forming two discs. Wrap the discs in plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.

To Make the Pie Filling:

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and vanilla bean. Mix it together until the vanilla bean is mixed throughout the sugar. (If you're not using the vanilla bean, just continue with the recipe and add the vanilla extract when you add the lemon juice.)
Add the pitted and halved cherries, along with the brown sugar, corn starch, lemon juice and salt. And then give it a stir. Set it aside while you roll out the pie crust.

To Assemble the Pie:

Remove the first disc of dough from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature for about 5 minutes. Liberally flour your work surface and rolling pin. Begin to roll the dough, being sure to rotate it every so often to avoid sticking, to a 13-inch round. Wrap the dough around the rolling pin and unroll it over the pie dish. Gently fit the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pie tin. Trim the dough around the pie tin, leaving about a 1/2-inch overhang. Recombine the scraps and set them aside. We’ll use them for the lattice.
Transfer the pie shell to the refrigerator while you roll out the second disc. Remove the second disc from the fridge and repeat the rolling process. Using a knife, cut the dough into 3-inch strips. I cut as many 3-inch strips as I can. Reroll the scraps you have set aside, too, you’ll need all of the pie dough. (If at any time your pie dough becomes too soft, transfer to a cutting board and put in the fridge to chill so it’s easier to work with.) Fill your pie shell with the cherry filling.
Lay out 5 strips of pie dough on top of the filling, leaving about 1/2-inch of space in between them. Lay the remainder of your strips running perpendicular. This will give you a good idea of how it will go. Next, fold back every strip. Start one at the top, running horizontally. and weave it under and over, rotating, each strip running vertically. Repeat this process until you’ve worked your way through every strip. If my directions are confusing, go to Youtube. The videos on there are super easy to follow. Much easier than written instructions! Trim the edges of the strips, being sure to leave about 1-inch overhand.
Going all the way around, tuck the edges under. To make a pronounced crimp, like you see pictured, set your thumb on the outside edge of the crust. With your opposite pointer and thumb fingers, create a v, and push the two together. Repeat this process all the way around the pie crust. Transfer to the freezer to chill for 15-30 minutes.

To Bake the Pie:

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush the entire pie, liberally, with egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.Transfer the pie to a baking sheet and place in the oven to for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges are just lightly brown. Turn the heat down to 350 degrees F and bake for another 40 to 45 minutes, until the edges and top are deep golden brown. Be sure to check on it intermittently, if at any time the pie crust begins to turn too dark, use foil to cover those areas to stop browning.
Allow to cool for 2 to 3 hours for neat slices. For loosey-goosey warm pie, serve right away. Serve with ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Notes

Tips and Tricks:

I always make the pie crust the night before. This breaks up some of the work and the next morning you can just throw together the filling ingredients and spend time making a pretty crust, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Buy a cherry pitter! Do yourself a favor and invest in a cherry pitter. If you buy a cheap one, you’ll buy it twice. Trust me from experience!
Egg wash is important. You want that golden brown crust!
Embrace all the cherries. If your cherries are a lil’ soft or not exactly perfect, that’s ok!
Eat it with ice cream. Always, no exceptions.

Equipment:

Nutrition