Brazil Nut Free Cherry Pie with All-Butter Crust
Few desserts hit quite like a homemade cherry pie, and this one delivers on every level ā a flaky, golden all-butter crust wrapped around a bubbling, jewel-bright filling that smells incredible straight out of the oven. The crust comes together with just flour, sugar, salt, butter, and ice water, so there's no guesswork about what's hiding in a store-bought shell. Keeping the butter cold and working it into coarse, pea-sized crumbs is the real secret to those shattering, layered flakes that make every slice look like it came from a serious bakery. The cherry filling gets cooked down on the stovetop with cornstarch, lemon juice, and a touch of almond extract before it ever hits the crust, which means it sets up beautifully and won't turn your bottom crust into a soggy mess. A two-stage bake ā starting hot, then dropping the temperature ā gives you that deep, burnished color without burning the edges. Letting it cool a full two hours before slicing is genuinely worth the patience; the filling firms up into clean, glossy slices rather than a runny puddle. This is the kind of pie that earns serious compliments and tastes even better the next day.
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Learn more āIngredients
8 servings
For the crust
- 2 Ā½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into Ā½-inch cubes and chilled
- 6ā8 tbsp ice water
For the filling
- 5 cups pitted tart cherries, fresh or frozen (thawed and drained if frozen)
- Ā¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Ā¼ tsp almond extract
- Ā¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
For assembly
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tbsp coarse sugar (optional)
Instructions
- 1
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, 1 tbsp granulated sugar, and 1 tsp salt. Add the chilled butter cubes and work them into the flour using a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized butter pieces remaining.
- 2
Drizzle in ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork after each addition, until the dough just holds together when pressed ā it should not be sticky or wet. You will likely need 6ā8 tablespoons total.
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