Easy cherry crumb pie made with frozen or fresh cherries! This is the best cherry crumb pie recipe with a delicious streusel topping for cherry pie deliciousness!
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And for more cherry goodies, try my Cherry Coffee Cake, my Amarena Cherry Chocolate Sauce, and my White Forest Cake!
Best Cherry Crumble Pie Recipe
Nothing says summertime like cherry pie! And the only thing that can make a classic cherry pie better is the addition of a buttery streusel topping. That's where this cherry crumb pie comes in! This sweet cherry pie is so simple to make and absolutely delicious. If you're a cherry lover, or if you know any, you have got to try it!
I love this pie because it's bursting with cherry flavor, from either fresh or frozen sweet cherries. And the cherry filling is rich and juicy, but not too liquidy, which ensures that the bottom of your pie won't end up soggy. The filling also sets up beautifully for slicing, and has a hint of cinnamon for a bit of extra flavor.
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Streusel Topping for Cherry Pie
The best part of this pie is definitely that crumb topping! The streusel topping just takes a few ingredients and comes together so quickly.
Ingredients
- all-purpose flour - I recommend using a kitchen scale to measure your flour to ensure accuracy, or use the spoon-and-level method.
- light brown sugar - adds a deep sweetness to the streusel topping for our cherry crumb pie.
- salted butter - your butter should be cubed and kept cold. For this step, I typically remove the butter from the fridge and cut it into cubes, then place the cubed butter in a bowl in the fridge to stay chilled while I prep the rest of the ingredients. If you prefer to use unsalted butter, just add ¼ teaspoon of salt in with the dry ingredients.
- pie crust - I used my go-to flaky pie crust recipe, but you can use your favorite homemade or store-bought pie crust!
- pitted sweet cherries - Bing cherries, for instance, are a rich mahogany color and taste sweet when ripe. They're delicious eaten fresh, and they are fantastic in this in baked goods too! So you can definitely make this cherry crumb pie with fresh cherries. I've also made this cherry crumb pie with frozen cherries, and it's my favorite way to make it! Rainier cherries also work well in this recipe.
- granulated sugar - if you don't like your pie too sweet, feel free to decrease the sugar to ½ a cup.
- fresh lemon juice - this adds a bit of tartness to our sweet cherry pie filling.
- cornstarch - thickens the filling up a bit so that our pie will set up nicely.
- almond extract and vanilla extract - flavors that taste so great with cherries! Be sure to use a high-quality pure vanilla extract. Or better yet, check out my post on how to make vanilla extract at home with just 2 ingredients!
- ground cinnamon - adds a great element of spice to your cherry crumb pie filling.
- salted butter - adds just a little richness to this cherry pie filling!
- water - you'll only need to add water if you're using fresh cherries. Fresh cherries don't release as many juices as frozen ones do, so if you use fresh ones you'll want to add a bit of liquid to start your pie filling simmering.
Equipment
If you're making this cherry crumb pie with fresh cherries, a cherry pitter will make the process of prepping your cherries much easier! You'll also need a regular-sized pie pan, and a pastry blender is so helpful in making the streusel topping for our cherry pie!
How to Make a Crumb Topping for Pie
Making the crumb topping for this cherry pie couldn't be easier!
You'll just want to mix your brown sugar and flour together in a bowl, then cut your butter into the mixture using a pastry blender! Keep cutting it together until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
Tips and F.A.Q.
This pie recipe is developed for sweet cherries, so if you'd like to use fresh cherries, the best options are sweet varieties like Bing and Rainier. You can also make this cherry crumb pie with frozen cherries, and that's an even easier option -- most supermarket freezer sections sell dark, sweet pitted cherries that work well.
You sure can! When I have time, I love to make my flaky pie crust recipe, but a refrigerated pie crust is a great option too, and makes everything so easy!
I haven't tested this cherry crumb pie with canned cherries, but if you try it, let us know in the comments how it works for you! Otherwise, I would recommend using frozen dark sweet cherries instead of canned.
Once cooled, keep your pie stored in the fridge covered in plastic wrap for up to 4 days. The pie can also be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 4 months.
If you try this recipe, I would love it if you could leave a star review rating and comment below! It’s so wonderful hearing your feedback! And don’t forget to share your creations with me by tagging @chenee_today on Instagram!
More Summer Recipes You'll Love
- Oreo Ice Cream Recipe (No Churn)
- Stone Fruit Salad with Goat Cheese and Honey-Lemon Vinaigrette
- Key Lime Cookies
- Vegan Couscous Salad with Chickpeas
- Peach Sorbet Recipe
📖 Recipe
Equipment you may need
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch pie crust - homemade or store-bought
Cherry Pie Filling
- 5 cups (690 g) fresh or frozen dark sweet cherries - pitted
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoon (22 ml) fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup (32 g) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon (2 ml) almond extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon (7 ml) pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon (1 ml) ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon (30 ml) salted butter
- ¼ cup (59 g) water - if using fresh cherries
Crumb Topping
- ¾ cup (94 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup (147 g) light brown sugar - packed
- 6 tablespoon (84 g) salted butter - cold, cubed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Place a baking sheet lined with foil in the oven while it preheats.
- Place pie crust in pie pan and flute edges. Set in refrigerator to chill.1 9-inch pie crust
Cherry Pie Filling
- In a medium saucepan, add all filling ingredients. If using fresh cherries, add up to ¼ cup of water to help the cornstarch dissolve.5 cups fresh or frozen dark sweet cherries, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 1 ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice, ¼ cup cornstarch, ½ teaspoon almond extract, 1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 2 tablespoon salted butter, ¼ cup water
- Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, stirring, until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool.
Crumb Topping
- Whisk together flour and brown sugar in a bowl.¾ cup all-purpose flour, ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- Add in cold, cubed butter and cut in with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture forms pea-sized crumbs. Place in freezer for 10 minutes while you assemble the pie.6 tablespoon salted butter
Assemble and Bake
- Pour cooled pie filling into pie crust. Top with chilled crumb topping, pressing with your fingers to form larger crumbs if you like.
- Place pie on preheated sheet pan and bake at 400°F for 45 minutes, or until crumb topping is golden brown and filling is bubbling. If necessary, cover edges of pie with aluminum foil during baking to prevent overbrowning.
- Cool completely to allow to set before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Last Updated on March 15, 2025 by Chenée Lewis
Caroline Lewis says
When placing the pie in the oven on the baking sheet, should I leave the pie inside the glass pie pan?
Chenée Lewis says
Hi Caroline, yes place the pie (in the pie pan) on top of the baking sheet to bake.
SS says
Hands down the BEST cherry pie I've had yet!
Chenée Lewis says
Wow that is high praise! Thank you!
Anita says
Have you ever tried using this mixture in any other kind of dessert?
Chenée Lewis says
This mixture is very similar to the filling in my Cherry Coffee Cake 🙂
Sydney says
One of my favorite pies I’ve ever tasted! The smoothness of the filling is so delightful!!!
Chenée Lewis says
Thank you so much!! 😊
Lynda says
Hello - do you drain the frozen thawed cherries or keep the juices? Thank you!
Chenée Lewis says
You can keep the juices -- just make sure you cook down the cherry filling until it's thickened. 🙂
Justine says
Oh my goodness, does this look amazingly delicious. I cannot wait for cherries to be in season again!
Chenée Lewis says
You can also make it with frozen cherries in the meantime!
TAYLER ROSS says
This cherry crumb pie is incredibly delicious! I brought it to a potluck and everyone was asking for the recipe!
Chenée Lewis says
Yay!! Thanks so much!
Kim says
OOH how yummy! It's almost cherry season, too! I can't wait to make this!
Chenée Lewis says
It's great with frozen cherries too! 🙂
Casey says
The crumb topping adds such a nice texture to this dish. It's a winner in my book!
Chenée Lewis says
That's my favorite part!
Shelly says
Hi Chenee. I need to make this on Sunday for a birthday on Tuesday. Should I freeze it? Thanks.
Chenée Lewis says
It should be fine at room temperature or in the fridge for those two days 😊
Joy says
Loved it! Best I've ever made, and I'm no spring chicken. And best of all, you gave all the metric measurements. So much easier, especially when I found that my bag of frozen cherries is 64% of what your recipe calls for. (Thank goodness, someone in the household is able to remember the math for percentages!) With my handy phone calculator, it was a snap to adjust all the ingredients. I had bought a package refrigerator roll-out tart size crusts in an attempt to control portion sizes, and your crumb top recipe was perfect when reduced to 64% for half of the tarts (made 7 in a cupcake pan).
Chenée Lewis says
Thank you so much! I'm so glad to know that the recipe works for mini tarts too!
penny a applegate says
Excellent Recipe. It is even better than the one that the orchard gives out after picking!
Chenée Lewis says
Yay thank you!!
Nicolette says
Used canned cherries, would 10/10 recommend <3
Chenée Lewis says
Thank you for the feedback! 🙂
Sharon says
I was so excited to find this recipe because it could use frozen cherries which I had tons of. Came out perfect! Thank you.
Chenée Lewis says
Wonderful! Thank you for the feedback!
Dana says
I've always loved both cherry pie and apple crumble, and for some reason, never thought to bring the two together. I'm obsessed!!
Chenée Lewis says
Me too! Glad you liked it!