Cherry Cinnamon Apple Pie

Prep Time: 50 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour & 10 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
Servings: 8 - 9 pieces

This cherry apple pie features a wonderfully crispy and flaky crust, filled with a delightful mix of juicy cherries and apples. It's truly the ideal dessert to whip up during the cozy Fall season!

Why you'll love this recipe:
This cherry apple pie is the perfect Fall dessert!
The pie crust is incredibly flaky and crispy.
The cherry and apple pie filling is versatile. You can use fresh or frozen cherries or use a different apple variety. You could even get creative and swap them out for different fruits.

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:

350 g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
250 g unsalted butter, cold & cubed
150 g ice cold water

Pie Filling:

4 tart apples, about 700g after peeled, cored, and sliced
300 g red cherries, pitted & halved
50 g brown sugar
20 g cornstarch
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Egg Wash:

1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons sugar crystals or coarse sugar

Directions:

Pie Crust:

Cut butter into flour: In a mixing bowl, stir together flour and salt. Toss the cold butter in the flour. Use a dough blender or your fingers to press the butter into pea-sized pieces, tossing them in flour occasionally, until you have a coarse flour mixture.
Hydrate flour: Make a well in the middle of the flour. Pour ice cold water into the well. Mix the flour and water together until it forms a shaggy dough.
Form dough: Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Use your hands to press the dough together and fold it onto itself 2-3 times, just until it holds together. Don't overwork the dough.
Chill dough: Cut the dough into two portions. Shape each half into a flattened disc shape. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and chill them in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Bottom crust: On a floured surface, roll out the first disc of dough until about ⅛" thick, lifting and turning it to prevent it from sticking to the surface. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll it over a 10" pie dish. Press the dough into the bottom edges of the pie dish. Trim any excess dough, leaving about a 1" overhang on the edge of the pie dish.

Pie Filling:

Make filling: In a mixing bowl, add apple slices, pitted cherries, brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Toss together to coat.
Add filling: Add the cherry and apple filling into the pie dish on top of the bottom crust. There should be enough filling to form a dome since it will lose a bit of volume after being baked.

Assemble the Pie:

Top crust: On the same floured surface, roll out the second disc of dough until about ⅛" thick. Use a knife or pastry wheel to cut 1" strips. For the braids, cut two of the strips into 3 strands and braid them together, slightly stretching the dough to make it thinner.
Make lattice: Lay down the first two strips in a cross on top of the pie filling. Lay down a strip on either side of the strip that's on the bottom. Alternate lifting up every other strip and placing down a new strip. Repeat with the opposite strips. Once finished, trim the lattice to about the same size as the pie dish.
Crimp the crust: Fold over the excess dough edges and press down to thin out the crust. Use your index finger and thumb on both hands to press the crust into a wavy pattern.
Preheat: Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Egg wash: Use a pastry brush to gently brush beaten egg across the dough. Sprinkle with sugar crystals.
Bake: Place the pie dish on top of a baking sheet to catch any overflowing juices and bake the pie at 425°F for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350°F and bake for another 50-55 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.
Cool: Let the pie cool for at least 1-2 hours for the filling to set or until you can touch the bottom of the dish with your hand. Slice and serve with a scoop of ice cream!

Tips & Notes:

Always keep the butter and pie dough cold. This is the key to flaky pie crusts. If the butter or dough seems too warm or if you've been working on it for a while, pop it back into the fridge for 15 minutes.
Don't overwork the dough. Pie dough shouldn't be kneaded or worked too much otherwise it will become tough when baked.
Roll the dough out thinly. This is essential for a flaky and crispy pie crust that isn't hard and gummy. This pie dough should be rolled out to about ⅛" or less. For any overlapping dough that is thick like the lattice or crimped crust, press it down or slightly stretch the dough in these areas to thin it out. Trim any excess dough so that it doesn't add to the bulk.
Overfill the pie with filling. The filling should form a dome above the pie dish. It will lose volume as it bakes and will flatten out after baking. This is how you get a pie with a thick filling that doesn't sink in.
Let the pie cool and set before serving. It's tempting to slice into the pie while it's hot out of the oven, but the filling needs time to set otherwise it will be watery and the pie crust will collapse. You can serve it warm when the bottom of the pie dish is cool enough to touch with your bare hand. Reheat cooled slices of pie if you want to serve them hot.