Cherry Crumb Pie

5 from 16 votes

This fresh sweet cherry crumb pie, with a buttery crust, gets topped with an almond crumb topping making it the perfect summer dessert to make! Fresh cherries are best, but frozen cherries can also be used. My secret to a thick cherry filling is cooking the filling first.

Prep Time3

Cook Time1

Total Time4

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 543kcal

Author: Heather Perine

Ingredients

For the pie dough

1 single pie crust homemade or store-bought

For the filling

5-6 cups (800-960 g) cherries pitted and halved
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
¾ cup (148 g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt

For the crumble topping

½ cup (43 g) slivered or sliced almonds optional
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter melted, cooled slightly

Instructions

For the pie dough

Roll out dough into a 12-inch circle (or prepare according to directions if using store-bought). Place into a 9-inch pie plate. Fold pie crust edges under and crimp. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling and topping.

For the crumble topping

In a food processor, combine sugar and almonds to chop up almonds. (If you don't own a food processor, chop the almonds, then stir in the sugar, flour and salt to combine. Then stir in butter until a crumbly mixture is formed).
Add flour and salt and pulse to combine.
Add butter and pulse to combine until mixture is crumbly. Refrigerate for up to 3 days when ready to use.

For the filling

Place cherries, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat. Use a potato masher to break down some of the cherries to release juices. Continue to cook, stirring frequently and mashing occasionally, until about half of the cherries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced, about 8-10 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in extracts.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, up to 24 hours to cool down.
When ready to bake, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place rimmed baking sheet on oven rack and heat oven to 400°F.
Transfer mixture to dough-lined pie plate.
Sprinkle crumble topping over pie filling evenly.

Bake the pie

Place pie on a heating baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake until juice bubbles and crust is deep golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes longer. Cover pie edge if they are getting too dark.
Transfer pie to wire rack; cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. Cut into wedges and serve.

Notes

Make ahead/storage: You can make this pie up to two days ahead of time. Keep covered at room temperature. Yes you can freeze this pie, baked or unbaked, for up to 3 months. If baking a frozen pie, no need to thaw, just bake as normal but you will need to increase the baking time. And I do NOT recommend a glass pie plate as it could shatter going from freezer to oven.
Cherries: I made this pie with 100% sweet dark red cherries and also with 50/50 Bing cherries and Rainier cherries. If you're using sour cherries then I would recommend increasing the sugar to 1 cup, or more, depending on how sweet you like your pie. I used fresh cherries in this pie, but frozen cherries also work. If you are using frozen cherries, then half them while frozen then thaw them out before cooking them down.
Almonds: Omit the almonds completely in the crumb topping and replace with oats. Simply stir the oats, flour, sugar, and salt together and stir in the melted butter to create an easy crumb topping.
Cornstarch: You can also use flour if need be.
More crumble pie options: Try the oatmeal crumble from this pear cranberry pie or this brown sugar streusel topping from my blueberry pie!

Nutrition