This vegan cherry pie with a homemade crust and a filling made from fresh cherries is the perfect treat for any season. It’s also easy to make, regardless of your baking skills! Best served with a scoop of dairy-free ice cream.
I can safely say that cherries top the list of my favorite berries, especially in the summer. It’s not difficult for me to go through buckets of them.
These Cherry Lambic Brownies and these Chocolate Cherry Muffins are two of my favorites. But today, I wanted to come up with a plant based version of an old classic - cherry pie!
I found myself thinking about cherry pie as a possible baking adventure for a while. After all, I always loved it as a dessert before my vegan days.
And I can say now that I made the right decision to vegan-ize this cherry pie, because it is amazing.
You can serve this vegan cherry pie as a dessert or a snack. It’s delicious either hot or cold, but in my opinion, the best time to eat pie is soon after it comes out of the oven.
The scoop of ice cream on top is optional, but highly recommended. Try it with a scoop of banana nice cream.
Vegan Cherry Pie Filling
Let’s talk about this cherry pie filling for a second. It’s so tasty, I sometimes make it by itself to eat as a dessert whenever I’m craving something sweet.
Seriously. I just eat it with a spoon, or alongside a scoop of ice cream.
It’s juicy, perfectly sweetened, and tastes even better when baked together with the homemade crust.
The ingredients you will need for the pie filling are:
- Fresh pitted cherries. You can use frozen or tinned, which will save you time in terms of pitting, but fresh work the best and result in the best, well, fresh flavor.
- Coconut sugar. Adjust the amount stated in the recipe card depending on the sweetness of your cherries. You can also use regular white sugar.
- Cornstarch, or arrowroot powder.
- Water.
- Vanilla extract.
- Lemon juice. Lime juice works as well.
Make the Cherry Pie Filling
Making the pie filling is super easy! Firstly, add the cherries and coconut sugar to a saucepan over a low-medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Then, add the rest of the ingredients and continue to cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened.
Taste and adjust the amount of sugar used in line with your preference. That's it!
Vegan Pie Crust
I love this vegan pie crust because it doesn’t break apart, but it is not hard and chewy either. You can use it for pretty much any sweet pie, and in this case, it complements the flavor of the cherries perfectly.
You can make either a plain pie crust, or make a lattice top like I did. Oh, and it's gluten free too!
These are the ingredients you’ll need:
- Corn flour.
- Rice flour.
- Xanthan gum.
- Vegan butter (stick rather than tub form is preferred).
- Water, chilled in the freezer.
- Maple syrup.
Making the Vegan Pie Crust
First, combine the corn flour, rice flour and xathan gum. Then add the vegan butter and start incorporating it into the flour using a knife or a palette knife until a crumb-like consistency forms.
Next, slowly add the water followed by the maple syrup and mix using your hands into a dough. Leave to chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F.
Set aside ¼ of the dough to use for the top of the pie. Meanwhile, roll out the rest into a disk around 10 inches in diameter. Then, carefully press into a pie tin or springform. Add the filling, and now you are ready to make the lattice if you wish to do so.
Roll out the remainder of the dough into a 10-inch circle and divide into around 12 strips using a pizza wheel. Transfer half of the strips on top of the filling, spacing them out evenly. Then, place the rest of the strips down in the same manner perpendicular to them, lifting every other strip in order to create the lattice pattern.
Alternatively, you can roll out the remaining dough into a circle and place on top of the pie, using your hands or a fork to crimp around the edges. Then, make around 4 thin slits in the pie crust. Or, you can make 3-4 small circles in it using a cooki cutter before placing on top of the pie.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool for around 30 minutes before serving.
Tips, Tricks, & FAQs
You can prepare both the filling and the crust ahead of time. Press the dough into the pie tin and leave in the fridge, covered, for 3-4 days. The cherry filling lasts in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Personally, what I like to do is prepare both components ahead of time, then simply assemble and pop in the oven when I want to serve.
Gluten-free dough may be a little bit more fragile than ordinary dough so be careful when you make the lattice.
Keep a close eye on the pie through the door of the oven and make sure not to over-bake as it can dry out quite quickly.
Make sure to let the pie cool down before serving as this will make the filling firmer. You can then warm it up in the microwave, if needed.
Fresh cherries work best for this recipe, but if you are running short on time, use tinned or frozen as the pitting can be time consuming. They also make a good alternative if fresh cherries are not in season.
More Vegan Desserts
If you love this vegan cherry pie, be sure to check out these other delicious vegan recipes:
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Conventional oven
- Pie tin
Ingredients
For the gluten-free crust
- 2 cups corn flour
- 2 cups rice flour
- 1 tbsp xanthan gum
- ½ cup vegan butter
- ¾ cup water chilled in the freezer
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
For the cherry filling
- 18 oz cherries whole
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
MAKE THE PIE CRUST
- Combine the corn flour, rice flour and xathan gum. Then add the vegan butter and start incorporating it into the flour using a knife or a palette knife until a crumb-like consistency forms.
- Slowly add the water followed by the maple syrup, and mix using your hands into a dough. Leave to chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F.
MAKE THE FILLING
- You can make the filling while the dough is chilling. Pit the cherries using either a cherry pitter, or by slicing in half and removing the pits individually.
- Add the cherries and coconut sugar to a saucepan over a low-medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Then, add the cornstarch, water, vanilla extract and lemon juice, and continue to cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened. Taste and adjust the amount of sugar used in line with your preference.
ASSEMBLE AND BAKE
- Set aside ¼ of the dough to use for the top of the pie. Meanwhile, roll out the rest into a disk around 10 inches in diameter. Then, carefully press into a pie tin or springform. Add the filling, and now you are ready to make the lattice if you wish to do so.
- To make the lattice, roll out the remainder of the dough into a 10-inch circle and divide into around 12 strips using a pizza wheel. Transfer half of the strips on top of the filling, spacing them out evenly. Then, place the rest of the strips down in the same manner perpendicular to them, lifting every other strip in order to create the lattice pattern. (see recipe notes for alternatives).
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool for around 30 minutes before serving.
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