Cherry Crumb Pie

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This delicious Cherry Crumb Pie is packed with fresh fruit and is topped with a crumble made from almonds and oats. This is a great dessert for any get together: for picnics in the summer months to Halloween to Christmas!

A lot of people have asked me how I balance my love of dessert with my passion for healthy eating. My answer is always the same: everything in moderation – a little bit of indulgence never hurt anyone!

I never deprive myself, but instead I just focus on portion sizes. For example, when it comes to pies: instead of 1 piece of pumpkin pie, 1 piece of apple pie and some ice cream to top it off, I’ll either take half a slice of each, or just stick to one small slice of pie. And I never scarf my desserts down, I always eat them mindfully, savoring every bite. That way it doesn’t disappear in 5 seconds, and I’m satisfied after I’m done with my reasonably-sized portion.

Now, sometimes a recipe comes along that is somewhat guilt-free: either it’s slightly lower in calories or fat than the traditional version of the dessert, or is higher in fiber/has more nutrients. Today’s recipe is one of those desserts: A Cherry Crumb Pie with a homemade crust.

This classic cherry pie recipe is great to make during cherry season when you can you use fresh pitted cherries, but you can also make this cherry crumb pie with frozen cherries off season. It creates the best cherry pie you’ll ever taste! It’s one of my favorite fresh fruit pies! It’s the perfect dessert!

👩🏽‍🍳 Why This Recipe Works

• Delicious buttery crumble topping!
• Uses fresh or frozen pitted cherries
• A special cherry dessert!
• Flaky Pie Crust
• Golden Brown Finish
• An amazing pie for the holidays!

🥘 Ingredients

For The Easy Homemade Pie Crust

• Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: For added health benefits it’s best to use whole wheat pastry flour. However, if you do not have that on hand, you can use an all purpose flour.
• Butter: Make sure butter is at room temperature. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender.
• Coconut Sugar: For added sweetness to the pastry, a touch of coconut sugar is used. It’s a less refined sugar than white sugar, or brown sugar.

For The Crumb Topping

• Sliced Almonds: Give this crumble topping a nice crunch!
• Brown Sugar: Creates a caramelized finish.
• Rolled Oats: Used for crumbles, combined with butter, and sugar, it gives this cherry crumb pie recipe an authentic crumble top!
• Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: For increased fiber and health benefits.
• Cold Butter: Needed to give this cherry pie recipe a topping with coarse crumbs.

Cherry Filling

• Pomegranate Cherry Juice: The juice is reduced when heated, and then combined with the cherries to create a thick and sweet filling.
• Pitted Cherries: Cherries come in different varieties. You can opt for dark sweet cherries, fresh sour cherries, bing cherries, tart cherries, or even frozen cherries when they are not in season. Cherries are rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals including potassium, calcium and vitamin A and C. They are also packed with anti-inflammatory antioxidants, which helps keep your body healthy.
• Cornstarch: Helps to thicken the juices of the cherries.
• Hint of Almond Extract: A nice compliment to the almond crumb topping. If you don’t have almond extract you can use vanilla extract instead.
• Dried Blueberries: For a surprise of added fruit!

🍽 Equipment

• Pie Baking Plate
• Set of Mixing Bowls
• Set of Silicone Spatulas
• A good quality Whisk
• High Speed Mixer
• This Gluten-Free Pie Crust Mix (if you want to make this recipe gluten-free)

🔪 Instructions

For The Crust

Step 1: Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Place all the dry ingredients, and the butter in a medium bowl.

Step 2: Using a pastry cutter, or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour to achieve a “pea” size crumble.

Step 3: Stir in the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and gently form into a ball. Do not knead the pie dough.

Step 4: On a flat surface, place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap, top with another sheet of plastic wrap. Press down to flatten slightly and roll to a 10-inch diameter circle. Place dough (covered with the plastic wrap) on a dinner plate and refrigerate 15 minutes to chill quickly.

Step 5: Remove the top sheet of plastic wrap from the chilled dough and place dough in a 9-inch pie pan (plastic wrap side up). Remove the remaining plastic wrap, press the pie shell down lightly to fit the dough into the pan, and set aside.

For The Crumble Topping

Step 1: Combine finely chopped almonds, brown sugar, coarsely ground oatmeal and flour in a small bowl.

Step 2: Cut in butter until mixed and crumbly; set aside.

For The Fruit Filling

Step 1: To make filling, boil pomegranate cherry juice in a medium saucepan until reduced to 1/2 cup. Meanwhile, mix 1/2 cup of reserved cherry juice drained from thawed cherries with cornstarch until blended.

Step 2: Stir cornstarch juice mixture into reduced juice in saucepan and whisk until blended and smooth. Stir in sugar. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. Mix hot liquid filling with cherries and dried blueberries. Pour fruit filling into pie crust. Sprinkle crumb topping the top of the pie.

Step 3: Place pie in preheated oven. Bake 12 minutes, and reduce heat to 350 degrees F. Bake 35-40 minutes or until bubbly. Cool completely before serving.

❓Recipe FAQs

🧊 How to Store

This sweet cherry pie will last in an airtight container for up to 5-6 days in the fridge!

📖 Variations

• Different Crust: If you don’t have time to make the dough from scratch, you can also make this cherry crumb pie with a graham cracker crust (either store bought, or homemade!)
• Healthier Pie: To make this recipe healthier, cut the amount of sugar by 1/3 or 1/2. You’ll end up with more of a tart cherry pie filling but will still taste pretty good!
• Gluten Free Cherry Crumb Pie: To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten free oats and this Gluten-Free Pie Crust Mix.
• Cherry Crumb Pie with Canned Pie Filling: If you’re really in a bind, you can use canned cherry pie filling for this recipe. But I would highly recommend using frozen cherries instead if you can find them!

💭 Expert Tips

• Make sure the dough is kept cool at every step of prep for best results. If you’re worried about your kitchen being too warm, use a food processor to blitz the flour and butter (using short pulses) to get it combined.
• If you feel like the dough is warming up too much as you work with it, you can always pop it and all of your equipment into the fridge for about 10-20 minutes to cool it down before continuing to work with it.
• Aim for your butter pieces to be about the size of roughly chopped walnuts.
• Aim for under-mixing the dough vs. over-mixing.
• You can make the dough in advance, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days – or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• If you make this cherry crumb pie recipe with fresh cherries, you can follow the exact same directions as the frozen cherry version in the recipe card below.
• Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an extra special finish!

🥧 More Delicious Dessert Recipes!

• Healthy Pumpkin Pie
• Cinnamon Sugar Muffins Filled With Raspberry Jelly
• Healthy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
• Vegan Brownies With Walnuts
• 30 Low Sugar Desserts

📋 Recipe Card