Simple, Sweet Mid-Week Treat: Easy Cherry Pie

I am not gonna deny it.  I am a pie lover.  I love pies.  I love the flaky pie crust and the gooey, sugary filling.  I might even go out on a limb and say that I prefer pie over cake.  Unless it is a good cake.  Unless I don't have any pie and all I have is cake, then I would like cake.  Unless I was forced to eat cake...forced to eat cake, now that would be absolutely awful.

Clint likes pie, but he is rather picky about his pie.  He liked his Grandma Ollie's chocolate meringue pie and he likes cherry pie.  That is about it.  I am not even going to dare to make a chocolate meringue pie because I just don't think that I will do it justice.  There will never be enough love put in it to make it taste just like Grandma Ollie's. 

Do you have a special meal or dessert that someone makes you or made you that no matter how hard someone else tries it will never taste the same as when your loved one made it for you?

Since I dare not try to make his other favorite pie, I usually make him this cherry pie.  This pie is fairly simple and quick and is a hit whenever I do make it.

Since I usually don't have the time or patience needed to pick and pit cherries.  I buy these.  I love Oregon's Cherries (their blackberries are great too).  I usually find them at my local grocery store or Walmart in the canned fruit aisle.  (Surprisingly, they are not where the other pie fruit is in the store.) 

Drain and reserve the juice in a saucepan from only one can of cherries.

Add sugar to the cherry juice.

And cornstarch.

Combine.

Over medium heat, stir the cherry mixture continuously until it is a thick.

Once it has thickened remove it from the heat and combine with reserved cherries.  Add cinnamon.

Gently stir cherries, the thickened juice mixture, and cinnamon together.

Pour filling into pastry lined pie pan.

Dot with butter.

Add top crust to pie, seal, and vent.  Top with sugar with desired.  (I top my pie with demerara cane sugar, but only because it makes me feel fancy.)

Pop that beauty in the oven and wait.

Voila!  A quick and simple pie. 

 

Enjoy!

Easy Cherry Pie

1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar (We prefer a tart pie, so I only use 1/2 cup)

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

2 cans Oregon Red Tart Cherries

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon butter

2 crusts for a 9-inch pie

Preheat over to 400 degrees F.  Drain the cherries and reserve the juice from only one can.  In a saucepan, stir the cherry juice into the combined mixture of the cornstarch and sugar.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened.  Remove from heat.  Gently stir together cherries, thickened juice mixture, and cinnamon.  Pour filling into pastry lined pan.  Dot with butter.  Adjust crust, seal, and vent.  Bake 30-40 minutes or until crust browns and filling begins to bubble.  Let pie cool for a couple of hours to allow filling to thicken before slicing.