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The most delicious cherry pie with an easy heart shaped, butter pie crust!
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4.67 from 3 votes

Classic Cherry Pie

A classic cherry pie recipe with the most adorable heart shaped pie crust on top! 
Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Chilling time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 574kcal
Author: Eden

Ingredients

Cherry Pie Filling

  • 3 pounds pitted fresh cherries you'll need a cherry pitter for this.
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Buttery Pie Crust

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 pound cold unsalted butter (2 sticks)
  • 1/4 cup Crisco
  • 1/3 cup ice water
  • 1 tbsp sugar

Instructions

Cherry Pie Filling

  • Remove pits from 3 pounds cherries. The easiest way is to use a cherry pitter for this. 
  • Cut the cherries in half. You don't have to cut all of them, but the majority. 
  • In a medium sauce pan, cook the cherries, sugar and the extract for five minutes while stirring. 
  • Mix the cornstarch and the lemon in a small bowl, then add to the cherry multure while still cooking over medium heat. Continue to stir. 
  • Cook for anther four minutes until thick.
  • Let the mixture cool to room temp while you make the crust.

Buttery Pie Crust

  • In a large bowl combine flour and salt and sugar.
  • Cut 2 sticks butter into small chunks and add to the flour mixture. With your hands or a pastry cutter, blend until butter chunks are the size of peas.
  • Add ice water and mix dough with hands until combined. The dough should hold a loose ball and be more on the dry side. It should look rough.
  • Roll the dough out and fit it into the pie dish. You can refrigerate freeze it for 30 minutes in the pie dish, which I recommend doing.

Assembling the Pie and Hearts

  • Remove a little less than half the pie crust and set aside. 
  • Roll the remaining dough out on parchment paper to about 12" circle to fit in a  9" pie dish (it doesn't need to be perfect!) then flip it over into a pie dish.
  • Press it down in the center and up to the sides. Create a crust around the edge of the pie, using your hands to mold it. 
  • If you need a little extra dough to create more crust or an area that needs more, just take it from the preserved dough.
  • Once the dough is pressed nicely in the pan with a pretty crust, place it in the freezer and let it sit there while you make the hearts.
  • Roll out the remaining dough (about 1/4" thick) on parchment paper and using a 1" heart cookie cutter, cut out about 75 little hearts... or as many as you can with the dough. 
  • Keep rolling the dough out and cutting again. Then once you have all the hearts you can start assembling the pie!
  • Pour the cherry mixture into the cold pie crust.
  • Start around the outer edge and add the hearts. Continue until you get to the center of the pie. Leave a little room in the center to see the cherry pie filling.
  • Whisk an egg with a fork and give the crust and hearts and egg wash. Really get all of the top and cracks good so it turns golden brown. You can sprinkle a little sugar on top too!
  • Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 -25 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Let it cool about 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy! 

Nutrition

Serving: 0g | Calories: 574kcal | Carbohydrates: 73g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 368mg | Potassium: 432mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 815IU | Vitamin C: 14.1mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 2.4mg