Even with frozen cherries, cherry pie just tastes so dang good! I love the sweetness of ripe cherries, which this recipe for gluten-free cherry pie pairs with almonds and thyme, for an absolutely delightful flavor experience! And if that's not enough to convince you, I created the filling in a way that guarantees a thick filling that won't be runny when you cut into your pie!
I am fortunate enough to live just a few miles from gorgeous cherry orchards, and my family goes several times during the season (late Spring). Yep, we definitely bake lots of gluten-free cherry pies then! I recommend a cherry pitter (non-affiliate) if you decide to use fresh cherries, but just know that cherries are one of those fruits that also taste amazing frozen (unlike strawberries, in my opinion).
This recipe is inspired by my gluten-free mixed berry pie. I love to flavor my pie crust with complementary flavors, and in this recipe, I'll use almond extract and thyme to enhance the sweetness of the cherries. It's a total winner combo, you'll see!
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Ingredients
The most important ingredient here, is my gluten-free pie crust. It's not a difficult recipe, but you do need the right gluten-free PASTRY flour if you're excited about rolling out and shaping dough without it breaking.
I always blend my own mixes, but if you're looking for a commercial mix, the only one I recommend for this recipe is the blue Cup4Cup bag (non-affiliate). If you want to make this recipe dairy-free, you must blend your own gluten-free pastry flour (don't worry, I'll walk you through it!)
In this recipe, I don't use a lot of sugar. Instead, almonds and thyme are used to flavor the cherries AND the crust... trust me this combo really works!
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Let's split our baking instructions for this gluten-free cherry pie into four categories: making the crust, making the filling, assembling the pie and baking.
Making the Crust
Follow the instructions in my gluten-free pie crust recipe, with a small addition: when you make the dough, add 1 teaspoon of almond extract and 2 sprigs of thyme leaves. The dough should rest in the refrigerator for at least 90 minutes, and up to 48 hours before you use it. Please note that my pie crust recipe yields ONE round, and so you'll have to double it for cherry pie, since we want bottom and top crusts.
Making the Filling
Add pitted cherries (fresh or frozen) and sugar to a saucepan. Cook until the cherries start to release their liquids, about 5 minutes. Add a sprig of thyme to the saucepan to flavor the juices, and cover for 10 minutes. Remove the thyme. Drain the juices into another saucepan, and set the cooked cherries on the side. Add almond extract and corn starch to the juices, and cook on medium heat and stir until thickened, about 3 minutes. Store the cherries and the juices separately at room temperature, or refrigerate if you don't plan on baking immediately.
Assembling the Pie
I've created a video to show you the pie assembly. Here are the broken down steps:
- Roll out half of the pie dough onto a lightly gluten-free floured surface.
- Laminate the dough: this means folding and turning the dough, which makes it flakier and easier to handle. I recommend doing this twice.
- Trim the dough into a circle, and press into the pie pan.
- Add almond slivers, then cherries, then juices.
- Roll and laminate the top crust.
- Decorate! Here you'll see me use a pie crust mold (non-affiliate), but you can also keep the top crust whole, or make a lattice!
- Egg wash the crust, and sprinkle sugar, to create a beautiful golden brown crust.
Baking the Pie
Once your pie is assembled, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and set your pie pan on it. This serves two purposes: one, it catches the inevitable juice and butter drips to keep your oven clean, and two, it makes it really easy to protect the edge of your pie crusts from baking unevenly.
The pie goes in the oven on 375F for the first 20 minutes, then an additional 25 minutes on 350F. At around the 25 minutes mark, wrap the edges of the pie crust to prevent them from baking faster than the center, which will keep the whole pie evenly golden, as shown below.
Fully cool on a rack before cutting. I personally don't love hot or warm fruits, so I always wait 3-4 hours before cutting.
Hint: I have found that when you pre-cook fruits for pies, they shrink by half (they lose water weight/volume). So in order to figure out the perfect amount of fruits I need, I simply fill my pan TWICE with raw fruits. No measuring cups or scale to find the exact amount, and it will work for any size pie pan!
Substitutions
The allergens for this recipe are: milk, eggs, tree nuts.
The best thing about owning my own cottage bakery is that I get to experiment with my recipes, like... A LOT. I have made this gluten-free cherry pie dairy-free and/or egg-free many times successfully, here's how!
- Dairy-free - you'll need to make your own DIY gluten-free pastry mix, using either coconut milk powder or oat milk powder. These are structure and taste enhancers. Then, use vegan butter to make the pie crust, preferably one high in saturated fats, like a coconut-based vegan butter.
- Egg-free - good news, that's an easy swap! The only egg in this recipe is for the egg wash, which you can replace by brushing melted butter on the crust, and sprinkling with coarse sugar.
- Tree-nut-free - the almonds in this recipe are there because cherries and almonds are a totally winner combo, but you can absolutely substitute it out with vanilla extract.
Variations
There's lots of flavors that compliment cherries really well, so I'll just write down a few here to inspire you to play with flavors!
- Pineapple - add pineapple juice to the saucepan when you're reducing the cherries, those two juices are going to thicken into such a flavorful slurry!
- Chocolate - add two teaspoons of cocoa powder (or even better, dark cocoa powder) in the pie crust... wow!
- Cinnamon - you can use a dash of cinnamon and salt to bring out some warmth from the cherries, which I think works nicely in the winter. That's what I did for my gluten-free blueberry pie, yum!
Whichever twist you give this recipe, trust me when I say vanilla ice cream is going to be your friend when serving!
Equipment
Because I sell my pies, I use disposable 9-inch pie pans, which is how this recipe was designed. However, in each of my recipe cards, you have the option to change the recipe to a 10-inch pan. Either way, you'll need:
- pie pan
- saucepan
- colander
- baking tray lined with aluminum
- rolling mat and pin
- pizza wheel cutter
- optional: cherry pitter, if using fresh cherries
Storage
Good news, gluten-free cherry pie is shelf-stable. It can be stored on the countertop, covered with a tea towel or plastic wrap, for up to three days.
If you haven't finished it by then (I admire your restraint!) you should freeze it. Wrap the leftovers tightly in plastic and store in the freezer in an airtight container for up to a month. Thaw at room temperature and enjoy!
Top tip
Don't be tempted so skip pre-cooking the cherries. That's how you achieve a thick filling that won't be runny. It's really a selling point of this recipe!
FAQ
Most should be, but you should always read the labels carefully for hidden sources of gluten! The brand Duncan Hines states their cherry pie filling is gluten-free. I promise making your own cherry pie filling from scratch with fresh cherries is worth the experience though!
If you follow my pie crust recipe and use one of my recommended pastry flours, that's not going to happen. It will give you a dough that's a pleasure to roll and shape. The culprit(s) for brittle dough or crust is likely coarsely ground gluten-free flours that do not absorb a lot of water, an insufficient amount of hydrocolloids, or using the wrong combination of starches for structure.
That's an interesting question! Gluten-free formulations typically use a lot more liquids (which activate the hydrocolloids, mentioned just above). So yes, gluten-free baked goods should take slightly longer to bake, because there's more liquids to evaporate.
Related
Looking for other recipes you can make with the gluten-free pastry flour you'll need for this recipe?
Gluten-Free Cherry Pie
Equipment
- 1 pie pan
- 2 saucepans
- 1 colander
- 1 Baking Tray lined with aluminum
- 1 rolling mat
- 1 rolling pin
- 1 pizza wheel cutter or sharp knife
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 2 gluten-free homemade pie crusts
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 sprigs thyme
For the Cherry Filling
- 908 grams cherries fresh or frozen, and pitted
- 110 grams sugar
- 1 sprig thyme
- 40 grams corn starch
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 30 grams sliced almonds
- 1 egg wash
Instructions
Making the Crust
- Follow the instructions in the gluten-free homemade pie crust recipe linked in the ingredients, but add the almond extract and thyme leaves to the dough.
- Refrigerate 90 minutes to 48 hours, covered with plastic wrap.
Making the Filling
- Add cherries and sugar to a saucepan, and cook on medium heat about 5 minutes, until the cherries release their liquids.
- Add the thyme, and cover while cooking for 10 minutes.
- Remove the thyme and drain all the juices into a separate saucepan using a colander.
- Set the cooked cherries aside.
- To the saucepan containing juices, add the almond extract and corn starch.
- Cook on medium heat and whisk constantly, until the juices thicken, about 3 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and cool.
- The cherries and thickened cherry juices can be left on the counter to cool if baking immediately, or stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
Assembling and Baking the Pie
- Preheat the oven to 375 °F (191 °C)
- Roll and laminate half the dough, as shown in the video in the instruction section of this post.
- Add almond slivers on the bottom pie crust.
- Add the cooked cherries, and top with the thickened juices.
- Roll and laminate the top crust and decorate as you please. The dough is sturdy, you can use pie cutters or create a lattice.
- Brush the top with egg wash, and sprinkle sugar.
- Place the pie pan on an aluminum-lined baking tray.
- Place in the middle of the preheated oven, and bake 20 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 350 °F (177 °C) and bake an additional 25 minutes.
- After the pie has been in the oven a total of 25 minutes, check the color of the crust's edge. If it is browning faster than the middle of the crust, you can wrap the aluminum around the edges to create a protective shield.
- After 45 minutes, the pie is ready. Cool it on a rack fully before cutting. This takes 3-4 hours.
- Enjoy with ice cream!
Angela
The perfect pie recipe for Summer. I served it with custard and it was a hit!
Naelle @ GlutenFreeDIYers
What a great suggestion!
Charah
Love this recipe, easy and very detailed. Thanks for sharing
TAYLER ROSS
This is the BEST cherry pie recipes I've ever had! I've tried lots and this is my favorite by far
Lauren
This cherry pie was so delicious! The gluten free crust was so good too - a great substitute for us now that we are cutting gluten out - thanks for this recipe!
rebecca
love the thyme addition! such a wonderful flavor addition