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A slice of cherry crumb pie with a cup of coffee.

Cherry Crumb Pie

Heather Smoke
The best homemade cherry crumb pie with a flaky buttery crust, juicy cherry filling and brown sugar crumb topping.

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5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings8

Equipment

  • Deep Dish Pie Pan
  • Large Saucepan
  • Rolling Pin, Bench Scraper, Pastry Cutter
  • Pie Weights or Dried Beans

Ingredients
 

Crust

  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus extra for rolling
  • ¼ cup almond flour, optional
  • 2 tsp granulated sugar
  • ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
  • ½ cup cold, unsalted butter, diced
  • ¼ cup whole milk
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Filling

  • 2 lbs pitted cherries
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup corn starch
  • ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter

Topping

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
  • cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
  • ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Instructions
 

Crust

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, almond flour, sugar and salt.  Scatter the butter over the flour and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into smaller chunks, about 1/4 inch in size.  Now use your fingers and smash each chunk of butter flat.
  • Drizzle the apple cider vinegar and milk over the flour mixture and toss to combine.  Dump the mixture out onto a clean work surface, and use your hands to gather the crumbs together.  Keep gathering and pressing the crumbs together until it comes together into a ball – this should only take a minute or two.  Use your bench scraper to scrape all the bits of dough off the work surface, if any of it sticks.
  • Lightly flour your work surface, the ball of dough, and your rolling pin.  Roll the dough out, using using your bench scraper to loosen the dough from your work surface, and sprinkling more flour as needed to keep it from sticking, into a rough circle about 1/4 inch thick.  There may be a few cracks in the dough, and you should see visible chunks of butter throughout.
  • Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter, and then in thirds again, so you have a neat little package of dough.  Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 20 minutes, to let the dough rest and chill.
  • After chilling the dough for 20 minutes, it’s ready to be rolled out for your pie.  Flour your work surface again, and roll the dough out, using more flour as needed to keep it from sticking, until large enough to fit into a deep-dish pie pan with a little overhang. Trim or fold the edges under.
  • Now chill the crust in the pan by freezing it for 20 minutes. You can also make the crust a day in advance, and refrigerate it, covered in plastic wrap, until needed.
  • While the crust chills, preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
  • Place the chilled pie pan on the baking sheet. Lightly spray a piece of foil with non-stick baking spray, and fit the foil into the chilled crust, greased side against the crust. Fill the foil with the pie weights or dried beans.
  • Bake the crust on the center oven rack for 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and carefully remove the foil and weights. Return the pan to the oven and bake uncovered for another 12-15 minutes, until the bottom of the crust is pale golden brown.
  • Set aside to cool slightly.

Filling

  • In a large stock pot, toss the cherries with the sugar, corn starch and salt. Stir in the water and lemon juice.
  • Over medium heat, bring the cherries to a simmer, stirring frequently. Once the liquid starts to boil and thicken, stir constantly and cook for 1 1/2 minutes.
    Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla and butter.
  • Set aside to cool to room temperature, or make up to 3 days in advance and refrigerate until needed. Let refrigerated pie filling warm up to room temperature for an hour before filling and baking your pie.

Topping

  • In a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt and cloves. Drizzle with the melted butter and stir until moistened and crumbly.
  • You can use the topping immediately, or keep covered in the refrigerator, up to 3 days in advance.

Assembly and Bake

  • Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper - this catches any juices that might drip. Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven.
  • By now, you should have pre-baked your crust, and your filling and topping is ready to go.
  • Spread the room-temperature cherry filling into the pre-baked pie crust. Sprinkle with the crumb topping. Set the pan on the baking sheet.
  • Bake your pie for about 50-60 minutes, until the filling is thick with slow, thick bubbles rising to the surface. If needed, cover the edge of the crust with a pie crust shield to keep it from over-browning.
  • Set the pie on a cooling rack and cool for at least 4 hours before cutting and serving.

Notes

  • Fruit pie is best eaten the first day it's baked.
  • You can keep your pie at room temperature for up to 24 hours.  After that, cover it loosely and keep it refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Keyword Cherry, Pie
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