Dark Sweet Cherry Holiday Pie
This cherry pie filled with ripe dark sweet cherries is an all-time staple for us around the holidays. With a super simple, flaky, and buttery homemade pie crust and festiveChristmas cut-outs to top, you will find yourself falling in love with this recipe too. A touch of almond extract in the filling and a dash of sugar helps the cherries shine and bring this holiday pie scene to life!
Tis the season, ya’ll! I’m in love with this time of the year for so many reasons. Probably the most important one is the time I get to spend with my family doing all the things I love. As you may have guessed, one of those things is being in my kitchen and creating delicious, no-fuss dishes.
My mother always had us very active in the kitchen, practically from the day we were born. I have carried that special tradition over and my own children are now very engaged in the world of cooking and creating and my heart rejoices!
That being said, I learned how to cook by watching my mother who truly is one of the greatest chefs in all the land. I know, I know – everyone thinks their mom is the best cook. I’m willing to place bets all in my mother’s favor. My mom is the best at what she does because she feels the recipes she creates. In other words, there is no recipe; it’s a pinch of this, a dash of that, let’s taste and now add this ingredient. It’s the quick on your feet and 100 percent success rate in the delivery of any dish. I ultimately inherited this from her and I am so incredibly grateful.
But, (I know, what could the problem be here?)…my mom is not a baker. Not in any sense of it. Think about it. With baking, you have to be precise. It’s definitely not a fee. It is or it isn’t and just one little step missed, ultimately can lead to a baking disaster. Like mother like daughter. Whereas baking brings joy, rainbows and butterflies to many, many people, it leaves me feeling frustrated and pretty well defeated. I want this soo bad though! I’m a wanna-be baker. I definitely love alll the sweets, but why does it have to be so hard!?
So now that you know my baking backlog history, let’s talk about why I love this dark sweet cherry pie recipe so much, keeping in mind that baking for me is baby steps. Itty, bitty baby steps!
Why we love this dark sweet cherry pie recipe:
- Tradition – This cherry pie recipe is one that my children look forward to making every year. They may know the recipe better than I do and sure know how to create the perfect Christmas scene from the pie crust cutters.
- Low(er) sugar -This recipe uses dark sweet canned cherries which themselves have a natural sweetness. We are then straining the cherries and only using a small amount of reserved juices to combine as a thickening agent. The pie crust calls for a small amount of sugar, which can also be omitted entirely.
- Easy to make – Probably of the upmost importance for us. This recipe uses 2 cans of Oregon Speciality Fruit Dark Sweet Cherries, which means you can save time and effort in the kitchen! You basically just have to worry about the pie crust and a store-bought one works well too.
- Fun to make – There is a reason my kids ask me to make this every year with them and that is because it is fun for them to do and something that they can handle. Super simple – but looks like a lot of effort was involved. Works for us!
Let’s make this!
Ingredients for dark sweet cherry pie
To make this cherry pie, you will need 8 ingredients, including the pie crust which should be divided so you will be able to make the Christmas cut-outs to place on top.
- Oregon Speciality Fruit Dark Sweet Cherries
- lemon juice
- eggs
- sugar
- almond extract
- corn starch
- butter
- homemade or store bought pie crust for Holiday Pie Crust Cutters
How to make dark sweet cherry pie
First we will place half of the divided pie dough in the bottom of a pie plate, pressing down on it to fit, gently. The homemade pie crust in this recipe fits best in a 9″ pie plate. Next, we are filling it with all the cherry goodness and finally having fun rolling out and creating a unique and special holiday scene with the remaining pie dough to top. The rest is history with this recipe. And to all a goodnight! Enjoy!
Dark Sweet Cherry Holiday Pie
- VGVegetarian
Ingredients
For the filling
- 2 15 ounce cans dark sweet cherries
- 3 tablespoons reserved cherry juice
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- ¼ cup sugar, optional
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 tablespoon cold butter, cubed
For the pie crust
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
- 5 tablespoons ice water
Instructions
If using homemade pie crust recipe, prepare it first:
- Mix the flour, sugar, and salt into a bowl and using a hand mixer or stand mixer, pulse a couple times to mix.
- Add the butter, half at a time, pulsing several times until the largest pieces of butter are about the size of large peas.
- Slowly add in the ice water until the dough just barely begins to hold together.
- Take the dough mixture out of the food processor and place on to a clean, dry, flat surface. Gather the mixture into a mound.
- Divide the dough mixture into two even-sized mounds. Use your hands and knead each mound just enough to form each one into a disc.
- Sprinkle each disc with flour and wrap each one in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour. This will keep up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
For the filling and pie crust cut-outs
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
- Drain cherries and reserve 3 tablespoons of the juice.
- In a small bowl, combine the reserved cherry juice with 3 tablespoons cornstarch. Mix well.
- Into a medium sauce pan, add the drained cherries, sugar, lemon juice and almond extract. Cook over medium heat until bubbly; add in the cornstarch mixture and stir well to combine.
- Roll-out 1 of the pie crust discs and place into lightly prepared pie dish, using a fork to push down around the edges.
- Add in the cherry mixture.
- Roll-out the other disc on a lightly floured flat surface; Using the pie crust cutters, cut-out the dough and place on top to form a winter/holiday scene.
- Dot with 1 tablespoon cold butter cubes
- Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes
- Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired
Equipment
- Christmas cut-outs
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to #thetastefultribe on instagram @thetastefultribe if you try this dark sweet cherry holiday pie recipe. We love seeing your version of the recipe! You can also post your pictures to my facebook page!
