Hazelnut Free Cherry Pie with All-Butter Crust
Few desserts hit quite like a homemade cherry pie, and this one delivers on every level — a deeply golden, shatteringly flaky all-butter crust wrapped around a jammy, bubbling tart cherry filling. The crust comes together with just flour, sugar, salt, butter, and ice water, so you know exactly what's going into it without having to second-guess any store-bought pastry dough that might have been processed near tree nuts. That matters more than people realize, since pre-made crusts and pie fillings can be surprisingly risky territory when you're avoiding hazelnuts. Here, the filling is built from scratch in a saucepan — tart cherries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and a touch of almond extract — so every ingredient is fully visible and accounted for. The two-stage bake (starting hot, then dropping the temperature) gives you that gorgeous deep-brown crust without burning the edges, while the filling sets up beautifully glossy and thick. Letting it cool the full two hours before slicing is genuinely worth the patience — it slices clean and holds its shape on the plate. This is the kind of pie that makes people ask for the recipe before they've even finished their first slice.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
For the crust
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes and chilled
- 6–8 tbsp ice water
For the filling
- 5 cups pitted tart cherries, fresh or frozen (thawed and drained if frozen)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- ¼ 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 — it should not be sticky or wet. You will likely need 6–8 tablespoons total.
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