Fresh Cherry Pie

After picking pie cherries, my favorite thing to do is come home and bake them up into pies.  Not only are they delicious in summer, they're also a special treat when frozen and baked up in the winter, when snow is on the ground and a taste of pie is like a mouthful of sweet sunshine.

Ingredients

• 4 cups pitted pie cherries
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 discs Pie Dough (Find the link to my pie dough recipe at the bottom of this post.)

Directions

	Roll out bottom pie crust and turn into a 9" pie pan. Set aside.
	Add pitted cherries to a mixing bowl. Stir in flour and sugar until completely combined. (Fresh cherries have a LOT of juice, which will mean your pie will be juicy too. If you prefer a less juicy pie, just drain off a bit of the juice before you mix in the flour and sugar).
	Pour pie filling into pie shells. (This recipe makes one pie, however, you can double it to make two, if you'd like).
	Roll out pie dough and cut into strips for a top lattice crust. (I use a rolling pie crust cutter that has a scalloped edge, but a knife will work just fine).
	Moisten pie dough along the rim of the pie pan, then lay down lattice strips, press into place along edge, and crimp.
	Bake at 425 degrees for 40-60 minutes or until crust is browned and the center of the pie is bubbly.

Note

I like my pies farm-style, meaning they're not thick and perfectly gelled into a firm wedge when you cut into them, rather, the juices run out from the slice, just a little bit.  To get the farm-style filling, I use flour as the thickener.  If you prefer a more gelled pie, substitute 2 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch for the flour.

I think using tapioca in a pie is a crime.  Pies don't like it either.  It turns their filling lumpy.  When I was a little girl, it reminded me of hundreds of poison oak bumps, in a pie.  If you ever see a pie recipe calling for tapioca, RUN!

Tips:  Line your oven with foil before baking your pie.  Chances are, it will boil over a bit.

Fruit pies are not set until the juice in the center of the pie is bubbling.  If you take it out before the center is bubbling, your pie will be soupy, which will taste just fine, but won't look great.

Make sure your pie is cooled down before cutting, or juices will run.

If your pie is soupy, scoop out the slices with a serving spoon, serve into shallow bowls, and top with vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream.  When you serve it to your guests, name it something cute, like cherry frumble or sour cherry soup.  (Yes! You can make up new words to suit your dessert.  You're the chef! Thing is, when you serve it up proud, no-one will ever know you didn't intend for it to be anything other than the way you're serving it!)

Pie making should be fun.  Don't let it intimidate you and don't hesitate to make it.  After all, nothing is more American than pie, and we don't want our children to lose that tradition now do we?

You can find my recipe for pie crust here.

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Between posts on my website, I document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.

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Comments

[Erin @Home's Where My Heart is]

Oh. My. Goodness. That looks amazing. I am going to have to make a lot more pies in order for my crust to turn out like that.
I made a cherry pie for the 4th and I thought it got even better the next day.

Thanks for sharing :)

PS: Wrote about your super cute and awesome store today.. :)

[MNStacey]

Oh how I wish cherry trees could grow in Minnesota! That pie looks so delicious! I might have to just settle with the cherries from our produce section, but I'm sure they aren't near as tasty as your fresh picked batch!

[Katie Kobelinski]

Sounds delicious...

If I were to freeze one- at what point would I stick it into the freezer- before or after I bake. I know silly question. I am new to pie baking!

[Karen Rissmann]

I have the same question as Katie about freezing, and would like to add, what are the instructions for baking/reheating after freezing?

[Melissa Wheeler]

What perfect timing for this post! I just picked tons of cherries at a neihbors this week and I'm about to make my first cherry pie. Thanks for all the tips.

One question - when you freeze your pies, have you already baked them? or are you putting them together then freezing?

Thanks!
Melissa

[The Wife of a Dairyman]

One word......YUM!

[Plain and Joyful Living]

That looks so good - my crust never comes out so smooth.

[Tricia Basken]

to freeze them do you just assemble everything and then without baking them you just freeze them?

[Kayte]

I've got the cherries (now in the freezer), I just don't have time for the pie making. But after seeing these beauties, I'm going to try to make some time this weekend.

Are we going to see picture of you new store??

[Melissa Joy]

We picked 32 pounds of cherries in Green Bluff a few days ago - I think we got a little carried away! lol. I have quart ziplocs in the freezer now, full of pitted cherries, waiting for winter pies. :)
And of course I did make a cherry pie the day we picked cherries too. We positively couldn't wait!

[Our Red House]

That pie looks scrumptious. Such a shame it's winter here. You make me yearn for the summer.

Kate

[~ ~Ahrisha~ ~]

Gosh, you do have a dream life bakin' cherry pies my favorite. I love your blog and I'm so glad to have found you.
~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

[turtle]

how lovely! We lived here for 3 years before i saw that the large tree in the back property was an old fashioned cherry tree, perfect for baking. It is so huge and the squirrels, birds, and raccoon spend so much time in it, i would never be able to get enough fruit for a pie from it. They eat them before they even ripen!

[pinksuedeshoe]

I've been looking for fresh pie cherries for three years now and have yet to find some. So I made one today with sweet cherries and a heaping scoop of cranberries that have been hanging out in my freezer. So good! But I still really want to taste a sour cherry pie. One day, right? Your pie is beautiful!

[Nicki]

Cherry has been my favorite ever since I was a little girl! Wonder if it's the cherries or the color red? LOL! Always been a red girl! So of course I noticed the fabric behind the pie. I think my mom made me a bathrobe when I was a girl out of almost the same print! I wore it until it was way too short and too small. My mom is also the pie maker in our family but we are not able to grow cherries here in SD so only the boughten kind! Your's looks so good!

[The Little Wife]

We have two sour cherry trees and every year they produce more and more cherries. I spend hours every day during picking season trying to find the perfectly ripe ones.
My issues with cherries is not in picking them, canning them, or cooking them, but rather in pitting them. Does anyone know a faster way to pit cherries than than using a small knife? (And then having cherry juice running down to your elbows and all over the table)

[Serena]

Hi Little Wife :)
I really love my cherry pitter. It's a handheld type and works great. Very basic, but efficient.
Take care,
Serena

[Amelia]

my problem is, my pie is way to runny!!! is there any way to fix this?