Cherry Crumb Pie
This Cherry Pie with Crumb Topping is the perfect fruit pie! It’s loaded with perfectly sweetened, fresh cherries layered with a crunchy brown sugar crumb topping and baked in a flaky, buttery crust.
How to Make Cherry Pie with Crumble Topping
- Make the crumb topping for cherry pie by combining flour, brown sugar, and softened butter in a food processor. Pulse until balls begin to form, then transfer to a bowl and place in the fridge.
- Prepare homemade or store-bought pie crust and place into a pie dish. Set in the fridge until you’re ready to use.
- Wash, dry, and pit the cherries, then place them into a bowl with sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla, almond extract, and salt. Optionally, cook down or macerate the cherries to thicken the filling.
- Transfer the filling to the prepared pie shell, then use your hands to distribute the crumb topping over the top of the filling.
- Bake at 400ºF until the filling is bubbly and the top is golden-brown, then cool for 1 hour before serving.
Kim’s Tips
Tips
- Use store-bought or homemade crust. If you want to make this cherry crumble pie completely from scratch, make a homemade pie crust! If you want to keep it a little more simple, just use your favorite store-bought pie crust.
- Pit the cherries! Double and triple check them to make sure all of the pits are removed so you don’t crack a tooth. I like to use a cherry pitter, but it’s good to do a quick once over to be sure all the pits have been removed. You can even slice the cherries in half to be 100% sure.
- Chill the topping. I find that the crumb topping bakes better and spreads less if it’s cold. I like to make it first, then pop it in the fridge while I prepare the filling.
- Bake the pie on a lined baking sheet. Not only does this make it easier to transport, but it also catches anything that might spill over in the oven.
- If you notice the top of the pie is browning too much, tent it with foil for the remainder of the baking time to prevent it from burning.
Storage and Reheating
Storage: To store leftover cherry crumb pie, let it cool to room temperature for one hour, then cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheating: You can enjoy a slice of leftover pie cold, bring it to room temperature, or warm it slightly in the microwave or oven.
Freezing: Normally, I avoid freezing fruit pies, because the texture isn’t quite the same when thawed. However, if you do want to freeze your pie, wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap, place it into a large Ziploc bag, then store it in the freezer for up to 2 months.
When you’re ready to serve, thaw overnight in the fridge.
What Kind of Cherries Are Best for Cherry Pie?
You can use your favorite variety of cherries! You can also mix and match several different varieties to play around with the flavor of your pie.
Some types of cherries may be sweeter than others, so feel free to adjust the sugar slightly as needed.
Ingredients
Crumb Topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup light brown sugar
Filling:
- 1 pie crust, 9-inch, homemade or store bought
- 2 pounds fresh cherries, pitted (about 5-6 cups)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
To Make the Crumb Topping
- Add flour, brown sugar, and softened butter to a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are combined and begin to form balls.1 cup all-purpose flour½ cup unsalted butter½ cup light brown sugar
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl, and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
To Make the Filling
- Preheat the oven to 400°F, and line a large baking sheet with foil.
- Prepare a 9-inch homemade or store bought pie crust, and place it into a pie dish. Refrigerate the pie shell in its dish until ready to use.1 pie crust
- Wash, dry, and pit the cherries. Place them in a large bowl with granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt. Stir to combine.2 pounds fresh cherries¾ cup granulated sugar⅓ cup cornstarch1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract⅛ teaspoon almond extract½ teaspoon salt
- Optional: Cook down or macerate the cherries to thicken the filling.
- Transfer the filling to a prepared 9-inch pie shell. Use your hands to form the crumb topping into small balls of various sizes and dot them over the top of the filling.
- Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown. If the top begins to brown too quickly, cover it with a foil tent.
- Allow the pie to cool at room temperature for about 1 hour before serving.
Notes
- The calories listed are an approximation based on the ingredients in the recipe card and a serving size of 1 slice (⅛ of the pie). Actual calories will vary.
- Get our Dark Cherry Pie with Crumb Topping here!
Hi there. I wanted to know if I can do this with fresh blueberries with same recipes you already have? l also did try you’re cherry pie recipe and it came out delicious 😋. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Lois!
Yes, you can use blueberries in place of the cherries. Depending on how much liquid they release, you may need to add more cornstarch. We have a similar recipe that uses blueberries on our other website. Here’s a link to that blueberry pie recipe if you’d like to see how we make it. It has a lattice top instead of a crumb topping. Hope that helps! 🙂
Can you re-link the recipe with frozen cherries? I’m unable to find it on your site.
Thanks!
Hi Leigh!
I recently updated the recipe that used frozen cherries with this fresh cherry recipe. I’m happy to give you a quick list of ingredient/instructions for the frozen cherry recipe. 🙂
1 (9-inch) crust
For the Crumb Topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar
For the Filling:
2 pounds dark sweet cherries, frozen
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
The instructions for the crust and crumb topping are the same as in the current, fresh cherry recipe. For the filling, place all the filling ingredients in a saucepan and cook down until thickened. Pour into the unbaked crust, top with the crumb topping and bake as written in the instructions. If the filling seems to be too thin, add a little bit of an extra cornstarch slurry (cornstarch + cold water) to thicken. Hope this helps! Have a wonderful day! 🙂