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Bite taken out of cherry pie with scoop of vanilla ice cream next to it.

My Favorite Cherry Pie in the History of Ever

Yield: 8 Slices (Makes a 9-inch pie)
Prep Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 hours 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • Double crust 9-inch pie dough (see note for recipes)

For the cherry pie filing:

  • 5 cups (794 to 850) pitted sweet, dark cherries - you'll start with around 2 pounds whole fruit (see note for sour pie cherries)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 1-2 medium lemons
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  • ¾ cup (163 g) granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon coarse, kosher salt (use 1/4 teaspoon for table salt)
  • ⅓ cup (43 g) tapioca starch/flour (see note)
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Egg wash:

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 teaspoons water
  • 2 teaspoons cream or milk

Instructions 

  • Keep all ingredients/pie crust as cold as possible throughout the making process to ensure the most delicious pie ever! Roll out bottom pie crust according to pie dough recipe instructions and place in the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate (I use a glass pie plate). Trim edges leaving 1/4-inch excess from outer rim of pie plate. Refrigerate until filling is ready.
  • For the filling, in a large bowl, combine the pitted cherries, lemon juice, almond extract, sugar, salt, tapioca starch and cornstarch. Mix until well combined. Set aside.
  • Roll out top crust to 10-inch diameter and cut into 10-12 strips (I like to cut thicker 3/4- to 1-inch strips).
  • Scoop cherry pie filling evenly into refrigerated bottom crust, scraping out all the sugar and liquid. Dot the top with 1 tablespoon butter (pinched or cut into small pieces).
  • Weave strips on top of the filling for a lattice crust (see above pictures in post for how-to). Trim lattice strips evenly with bottom crust. Fold bottom crust up and over evenly with edge of pie plate and press/pinch to seal. Flute the edges of the pie crust.
  • Refrigerate the pie for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour to make sure the top crust is completely chilled.
  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. For the egg wash, whisk together the egg yolk, water and cream/milk. Brush the mixture over the top pie crust.
  • Place the pie on a parchment or foil-lined baking pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly and thickened (will thicken more as it cools). The exact time will depend on type of pie plate, thickness of crust, if pie was refrigerated, etc. {The pie will be soupy even after cooling if it doesn't bake long enough, so err on the side of adding extra time - even up to 75 minutes total. Tent the top and sides of the pie loosely with foil to prevent the crust from over browning or burning.}
  • Let the pie cool for 2-3 hours before serving (if it's too warm, the filling will be soupy). The pie can be covered and kept at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Notes

Pie Crust: I use either this recipe or this recipe for flaky, easy to work with pie dough.
Cherries: I have not tried this pie with frozen cherries; if doing so, I highly recommend thawing and draining thoroughly before using. For sour pie cherries, decrease the lemon juice to 1 teaspoon and increase the sugar to 1 cup (or more, depending on how sweet you want the pie).
Sugar: for any type of cherry, the exact amount of sugar really depends on the sweetness of the fruit. Even dark, sweet cherries can be quite tart depending on when they were picked. The 3/4 cup sugar called for in this recipe for dark, sweet cherries assumes the fruit is perfectly ripe and sweet. If they are slightly underripe and a little more tart, increase the sugar by 1/4 cup.
Almond Extract: I normally do not like almond flavor in hardly anything - I almost always leave it out if it's called for in a recipe, but I promise, the almond extract is everything in this recipe! That small 1/4 teaspoon adds the best complimentary flavor to the cherries. Don't leave it out!
Tapioca Flour/Cornstarch: I like a pretty firm cherry pie filling and after a lot of experimenting I really prefer this lineup of tapioca flour with a little bit of cornstarch. It gives the best texture without being glumpy and globby. Tapioca flour/starch is pretty easily found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores (definitely in stores with bulk bins); can also be ordered online. Alternately, you can grind minute tapioca or other tapioca pearls until finely ground.
Make-Ahead: pie can be made start to finish and cooled 1-2 days ahead of time. Cover well and keep at room temp. Warm in the oven (250 degree oven for 10-15 minutes) or individual pieces in the microwave. I haven't frozen the unbaked or baked pie.