Cherry Pie

How to Make Cherry Pie

Whether you’re a new baker or a seasoned pro, this easy cherry pie is sure to wind up in your collection of favorite desserts. Simple prep, delicious taste and a picture-perfect presentation make this an easy pie to master and a future family-favorite dessert in one. Ready to get baking? We’ve got an overview of the recipe up first, then an ingredients list and step-by-step instructions further below.

Start with a Premade Pie Crust

The simplest step is up first. Just unroll the refrigerated pie pastry into a glass pie plate. We love using glass plates for pies because they offer even heat distribution, which helps the crust bake to a beautiful golden brown all over.

Load Up on Cherries

The best pies are absolutely bursting with delicious filling. For that level of decadence, you’ll need to spoon two cans of cherry pie filling into your crust-lined plate. (Be sure to scoop out any lingering glaze stuck to the bottom of the can!)

Top, Seal and Crimp the Crusts

Next, seal the two crusts together to prevent any of that delicious filling from oozing out. If you’ve never crimped or fluted your way around a pie before, we’ve got you covered. For perfect crimps in your cherry pie crust, use the handle of a wooden spoon to mark evenly spaced sections, then pinch the crust around the handle with your fingers. It’ll look like it was done by a professional!

Create the Crunchy Top

To take this homemade cherry pie to the next level, brush the top crust with milk and sprinkle it with sugar. This will create a sparkly, delicately crunchy finish, just like you’d see on a bakery pie. For more of a glazed top crust, use cream and coarse sparkling sugar instead. Don’t forget to cut vents in the top to allow the pie to release steam as it bakes!

Bake and Enjoy

All that’s left to do is pop your pie in the oven. Keep an eye on the crust as your cherry pie bakes—you don’t want to underbake the pie, as that can create a gummy bottom crust, but you also don’t want to over-brown the top edges of the pastry. Have strips of foil or aluminum pie crust shields at the ready to help shield your crust edges as the rest of your pie continues to bake.

Types of Cherry Pie Filling

When it comes to making cherry filling for your pie, you might be wondering if you can use fresh cherries in place of the canned. Here’s how the two compare.

Canned Cherries (Our Pick ): We love the convenience, flavor and color that canned cherry pie filling brings to this easy recipe. The cherries are picked at the peak of ripeness and all the work of taking out each tiny pit and making the thick, juicy glaze is already done for you!

You can usually find cherry pie filling in the baking aisle of your grocery store. If it’s not there, try looking in the aisle with other canned fruit. You’ll find these canned options have a lot of nice cherry glaze that will create a gooier pie. Alternatively, you can use the “more fruit” variety of filling, which has more cherries and less glaze. Both are delicious and work well with this cherry pie recipe, so it’s up to you to pick your favorite—why not double the dessert and compare two pies?

Fresh Cherries: Fresh sour cherries are amazing when they’re in season—we eat ‘em all on their own! But they’re not ideal for this recipe because they don’t come with that sweet glaze that really pulls the filling together . If you want to make your own cherry pie filling from scratch, give our Fresh Cherry Pie recipe a try.

Perfect Cherry Pie Toppings

Make your yummy dessert the absolute best cherry pie ever by serving it with some tasty toppings. Here are our picks, but feel free to experiment with any and all favorite pie toppings!

Whipped Cream: Decadent whipped cream complements the luscious cherry pie filling nicely. Add a generous helping onto the pie just before serving. If you don’t have an aerosol can on hand, you can also add a dollop or two of frozen (thawed) whipped topping. A sprinkle of granola or chopped nuts over the top would also be delicious.

Ice Cream: Creamy vanilla or vanilla bean ice cream pairs beautifully with the warm, flaky crust and sweet filling. You could also branch out a bit with a less expected flavor like chocolate chip, butter pecan or coffee. For even more decadence, sprinkle chopped candy bar pieces over your ice cream.

Garnishes: If you really want to go the extra mile, add a cherry on top—literally! For an over-the-top dessert experience without any extra work, you could also garnish your ice cream or whipped topping with a sugar cookie or chocolate wafer cookie. Pick up themed sugar cookies with sprinkles around the holidays from the grocery store as a special touch.

Storing and Reheating Cherry Pie

Eating cherry pie for the first time? Great. Having leftovers and enjoying another piece later? Extra amazing. Here’s how you can store, freeze, and thaw either unbaked or baked pies or reheat individual pieces of cherry pie:

Storing Pie on the Counter: Cover any leftover cherry pie with plastic wrap and store at room temperature on the counter. Your pie will last for up to 2 days.

Refrigerating Cherry Pie: To get a few more days out of your leftovers, cover your pie with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator. Refrigerated cherry pie will last for up to 4 days.

Freezing Pie: The freezer is a great option for longer-term storage. Wrap your leftovers tightly in plastic wrap and freeze until firm, then add a layer of aluminum foil and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can also prep and freeze an unbaked pie ahead of time. Simply follow our cherry pie recipe through Step 2, but don’t cut slits in the pie. Proceed with freezing instructions. To bake, unwrap and cut slits in the top crust. Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake 30 to 45 minutes longer until juices begin to bubble through the crust.

Reheating Cherry Pie: To thaw and reheat frozen baked pie, thaw unwrapped frozen pie at room temperature for several hours or overnight, or unwrap and thaw at room temperature 1 hour, then bake at 375°F for 35 to 40 minutes or until warm. To reheat refrigerated or room-temperature pie, place a piece on a microwavable plate. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and microwave on Medium-High (70%) for about 1 minute for room-temperature pie or up to 3 minutes for refrigerated pie.