This Easy Fresh Cherry Pie is one of my go-to summer desserts. Everything is from scratch yet so simple. It is made with an easy crust and a simple filling. The only hard part is to pit the cherries but I find it really fun.
This post was originally published in 2009 and we are updating it today with new pictures and additional information.
Raise your hand if you love anything with cherries! Do you like picking cherries from a tree? Can you eat cherries all day? Would you like to impress someone with a homemade cherry pie although you are not the best chef? This incredibly easy fresh cherry pie recipe is for you if yes. Just like the Fresh Cherry Crisp recipe I shared here a while ago, this pie doesn’t require baking skills.
How Easy Is This Fresh Cherry Pie?
Forget about all the tips you need to keep in mind to make a perfect pie crust. I mean it’s not that hard but sometimes we need a much easier recipe which makes us feel more comfortable when following the steps. I’m always in search for easy ways of making pies. Have you seen our Crustless Zucchini Pie? Count me in whenever a pie is that easy to make.
This one is an easy cherry pie recipe for two reasons. First, the crust dough is very similar to a regular cake dough, just thicker than it. Thick enough to form a ball and no chilling is required. Second, my homemade cherry pie filling has only cherries and sugar.
How to Make The Pie Crust
It is simply a combination of egg, yogurt, butter, olive oil, sugar, flour and baking powder. Whisk together the wet ingredients first and stir in flour and baking powder. Combine well using your hand. Don’t overplay with the dough, your crust gets tough otherwise.
Divide the dough into two. ⅔ for the base and ⅓ for the lid. Spread the base dough into a prepared medium spring form tin. Push up the sides to form the edge so that the lid can stick.
I sometimes divide the dough into two equal portions and use one of to make a one-crust pie like this Fruit and Cheese Pie and store the other half in the freezer up to a month. It doesn’t wait there that long though.
How To Make Homemade Cherry Filling
I use sour cherries for this recipe because I love their tartness, but you can use sweet cherries too. You may just need to adjust the amount of sugar.
Pour sugar over the pitted cherries and let them sit about 15 minutes so that the cherries release their juice. Squeeze the cherries in your hands and drain the juice. Taste and add extra sugar if needed. The filling is ready.
So easy, right? If you already have canned cherry pie filling though, you need to go check out Melanie's amazing Fudgy Black Forest Bars.
How to Pit Cherries Without a Cherry Pitter?
I know cherry pitter is a great tool. It might help a lot if you need tons of cherries when canning or preserving. However, we can live without it. Right?
We don’t have a cherry pitter because I don’t think it is a must have kitchen tool. A chopstick can work really fine to remove the pits. Use the thick end of a chopstick to push the pit out of cherries. An easy and fun method, isn’t it?
How to Combine the Crust and Filling
Fill the pie crust in the tin with cherry filling and roll out the other potion of dough to match the size of your thin. I do this part with my hands but you can use a rolling pin too.
Place it carefully over the filling, press the edges with your fingers. Make a cross on the lid using a knife so that all parts bake evenly.
Bake it at 350F for 20-25 minutes until slightly golden. Let it cool and remove from the tin. I want my pie to have a flat top, so I turn it upside down but you can just leave it as is.
If you love baking easy treats in summer as much as I do, you shouldn’t miss our Peach Cobbler with Cake Mix too. It is a fantastic light dessert with fresh peaches.
You love cherries but don’t feel like baking? Make Fresh Cherry Avocado Toasts and enjoy this unexpected combination!
Below are pictures from the old post:
If you have a chance to make this Easy Fresh Cherry Pie recipe, I’d love to hear your feedback. Please rate the recipe and leave a comment below.
You make my day if you take a cell phone picture and share it with me on Instagram. Just tag me @zerrin_giverecipe and I don’t miss it. You have no idea how happy I get when I see someone making my recipes.
Did you like this easy pie and want more pie recipes? Here are a few from my fellow bloggers:
Key Lime Pie - Mama Loves Food
Mini Cheese Pies - Give Recipe
Peach Hand Pies - Shugary Sweets
Pressure Cooker Key Lime Pie - Pressure Cooking Today
PrintEasy Fresh Cherry Pie
Homemade easy fresh cherry pie with homemade pie crust and homemade cherry filling
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Filling:
- 2 cups cherries (I used sour)
- 4 tablespoons sugar
Crust:
- 1 stick and 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 5 tablespoons plain yogurt
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cups flour
- 1 and ½ teaspoon baking powder
Garnish:
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground pistachio
- ¼ cup frozen cherries
Instructions
Cherry filling:
- Remove the cherry pits using a cherry pitter or a chopstick as mentioned above.
- Pour sugar over cherries and let them sit for 15 minutes so that the cherries release their juice. Squeeze the cherries in your hands and drain the juice. Taste and add extra sugar if needed. The filling is ready.
Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a middle springform pan and put aside.
- Whisk together the wet ingredients first and stir in flour and baking powder. Combine well using your hand. Don’t overplay with the dough, your crust gets tough otherwise.
- Divide the dough into two. ⅔ for the base and ⅓ for the lid.
- Spread the base dough into a prepared medium spring form tin. Push up the sides to form the edge so that the lid can stick.
- Fill the pie crust in the tin with cherry filling.
- Roll out the other potion of dough to match the size of your thin on parchment paper so that it doesn’t stick and it is easier to transfer on the filling.
- Place it carefully over the filling, press the edges with your fingers. Make a cross on the lid using a knife so that all parts bake evenly.
- Bake it for 25-30 minutes until slightly golden. Let it cool and remove from the tin. I want my pie to have a flat top, so I turn it upside down but you can just leave it as is.
- Dust the pie with ground pistachio and powdered sugar. Garnish with frozen cherries and serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 402
- Sugar: 27.2g
- Sodium: 121.3mg
- Fat: 13.6g
- Carbohydrates: 64.5g
- Protein: 9.4g
- Cholesterol: 33mg
Keywords: cherry, pie, fresh cherry pie, homemade cherry pie, cherry pie filling, homemade cherry pie filling
Guess I don't see how much baking powder to use, it's not listed with the rest of the ingredients.
Oh I'm so sorry! I've just added it to the list. Thank you so much Peggy for the heads up!
You are making everything sound so easy here. I know what I'm going to make with the last cherries we picked from the yard. Thanks!
★★★★★
Hi Amy! it is really so easy. I'd love to hear what you think when you make it.
It doesn't get much easier than this. Looks delicious!
Thank you Barbara! It was one of the first recipes I tried when I knew nothing about baking.
yumyumm
I love sour cherries!! You can't really get them in the states unless their canned.. But in Hungary we use them all the time.
I love that this is more cake like than pie. Looks awesome.
That pie looks scrumptious. I liked your story, though I'm glad you didn't get into trouble. Sounds like it was interesting growing up for you.
Zerrin, loved your story:)) I would always stain my clean cloths with red mulberries, the type that has lots of juice in it:))
Your pie looks so good. I am saving the recipe to make whenever I stumble upon sour cherries here. They are a rare find here in California:((
That looks really delectable. Love the photo too.
Tangled- I miss those times so much now. Wish there was a time machine and I could go back.
Gera- I wish we could see cherries on stands longer, but it lasts just about a month here. If you want to try this anyway, you can substitute cherries with chopped apples or apricot. Just saute tehm until tender, mix with 3 tbsp sugar and the rest is the same.
Oyster- Those times are absolutely so special even thought we didn't understand it then. I love mixing sour cherries with yogurt and little sugar as a perfect dessert for summer.
Jessie- Thank you. Believe or not we ate it all in just two days.
Lauren- Thank you so much. It was tast in any version.
Lisa- It was as great as the previous summers. Its texture was more tender than a usual tart.
Jenn- I agree, it helps us remember those days when we make our childhood dishes.
Natasha- I've never seen or tried Russian style dumplings from cherries. You made me curious now.
Parita, Erica, Elra, Reeni, Faith- Thank you all. It's great to see that my childhood pie is loved by all of you. This makes it more valuable.
Your photos are so pretty! I love the story, thank God for Grandmas! And this pie looks so delicious!
This is beautiful with those lovely cherries sandwiched in between. And what a cute story!
Those really look so good Zerrin. I love sour cherry too.
What a wonderful story!!!Your pie looks amazing.
Sour cherry pie looks mouth watering!
Your cherry pie looks incredible! the crust looks so moist and delicious and I just adore sour cherries. I too have memories of picking and eating the sour cherries during our summer vacations in a village. We often made Russian-style dumplings with sour cherries, always my favorite.
It's always great to make dishes we used to eat as a child. Thanks for sharing the story with us. I love how the cherries are right at the center of the pie. Mmmmm...delicious!!
I love your story about the cherry tree and your dress! Sounds like a fun summer. Your pie looks so good too. The texture looks incredibly tender.
this looks so good. I love sour cherries so much, and the cake looks so light and spongey to go along with them. I love the idea of drizzling ti with extra cherry juice.
I love the back story behind this pie,and the photos are really beautiful, great presentation and the pie itself looks so yummy!
What a beautiful recipe and pictures, really a summer gift but totally worth in winter too 🙂
Anyway the cherries aren’t from local production here.
Cheers!
Gera
Oh, this is just lovely! What a beautiful memory and delightful recipe you've shared with us. This story proves that children are the entire community's privilege and responsibility - it sounds you had a wonderful relationship with them! Your thoughtfulness in picking the sour cherries for your mom was well rewarded and now, we get to share in it, too!
What a wonderful story. We had a similar upbringing in that my siblings and I grew up in town and every summer we would visit our grandparents and of course we had to go and explore, live off the earth. I loved to gather freshly laid eggs and pick the fruits and vegetables, and as you pointed out got quite stained in the processed, but those memories are so special.
I love sour cherries and love a sour cherry mix that I add to about everything. I can only imagine how tasty this pie is that you fixed and all the great memories it brought you in the making. I will have to see if I can find some sour cherries of my own to try making this pie.