Pecan Free Cherry Pie with All-Butter Crust
Few desserts hit quite like a homemade cherry pie, and this one delivers on every level — a shatteringly flaky all-butter crust wrapped around a glossy, bubbling tart cherry filling that's sweet, bright, and just a little bit tangy from fresh lemon juice. The filling gets cooked down on the stovetop first so it thickens beautifully and never turns out watery or soupy when you slice it. A touch of almond extract in the filling is the kind of quiet move that makes people ask what your secret is. The crust itself is built the old-fashioned way — cold butter worked into flour by hand until you get those essential pea-sized pieces that bake up into flaky, buttery layers. Because everything here is made from scratch with straightforward pantry staples, there's no guesswork about what's hiding in a store-bought shell or pre-made filling. If you've been nervous about tackling a double-crust pie, the step-by-step process here makes it genuinely approachable, and the payoff — a deep golden, crimped beauty cooling on your counter — is absolutely worth it.
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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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