Easy Vegan Cherry Pie (8 ingredients)

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Tangy, sweet, cozy, this Vegan Cherry Pie is made with a satisfying cherry filling with a whole wheat crust, all made with only 8 ingredients!

I know it might sound like a cliché, but I’ve really been thinking about making a vegan cherry pie for a long time, well, long enough that I cannot remember.

And this time the push is one of the themes in an Instagram photography challenge. The theme is about Wayne Thiebaud, an American painter known for his colorful works depicting different kinds of desserts.

When I was browsing his works online, the cherry pie caught my attention, and it stayed on my mind for the following days. That’s how I made my mind to make this cherry pie.

Ingredients You Need

This vegan cherry pie is made with 8 simple ingredients. They are:

• Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: I like to use whole-grain flour if I can, and I got a big bag of whole wheat pastry flour in my fridge, so I used it. You can just use all-purpose flour.
• Cane Sugar: I use vegan-friendly finely granulated organic cane sugar.
• Coconut Oil: I use extra-virgin coconut oil. If you don’t like the coconut taste, you can use refined coconut oil.
• Maple Syrup: I add just a little bit to give it more flavor.
• Cherries: The hero of this pie. I use frozen cherries because that’s what I have. You can also use fresh ones, but you might need to add some water in that case. Oh, and I use sour cherries because that’s what I have.
• Cornstarch: It’s the thickener for our filling. Some parts of the world also call it cornflour (?)
• Vanilla Extract: You know everything is (almost) better with a hint of vanilla.
• Lime juice: I know cherries also have a tangy, fruity flavor, but I found that the adding of lime juice will bring out more flavor from the cherries. You can also use lemon juice.

Oh, we also need some ice water and salt, which I bet you already have in the kitchen.

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How to Make Vegan Cherry Pie

I know when we talk about pie, some people might think it’s hard. But the truth is NO, I mean, at least not for this pie.

Here are the steps along with the step shots that I took while risking dropping my camera into the cherry filling.

First, we need to make the pie crust. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together.

Then add the melted coconut oil and maple syrup. Mix to bring the liquid into the flour. Then add the cold water 1 tablespoon at a time and press it into a dough.

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Place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll the dough out into a flat pie crust. Save the rested dough for later.

Gently transfer the crust onto a greased pie dish. Use a for to poke a few holes on the crust. Place the crust into the fridge to rest for 10 minutes. Then bake the crust in the preheated oven at 180 C / 356 F for 15 minutes.

Remove the pie dish onto a wire rack to cool a bit. Turn up the temperature to 190 C / 375 F.

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In the meantime, let’s make the cherry filling. Add the cherries to a small pan over medium heat. Add the sugar and cook to let the cherries release their juice.

Once it’s boiling, scooping out the cherries into a bowl. Cook the cherry juice until it reduced to about half.

Turn off the heat. Add the cornstarch and whisk to incorporate. Cook again while whisking until it’s thickened. Turn off the heat.

Add the cherries back to the juicy. Let the filling cool down a bit while we prepare the topping with the leftover dough.

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Roll out the leftover dough into a roughly shaped rectangle. Use a knife to cut the rolled-out dough into thick strips.

Pour the cherry filling into the prebaked crust. The cherry filling should be pretty viscous.

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Layer the strips on the filling. You can go as simple as I did or do it the fancy way.

I just put them all on the filling as it was because I was just lazy at that moment and busy with all the photo shooting and layering the strip. I mean, I was terrifyingly stressed. So I think you will do better than me.

Bake the pie at 190 for 40-45 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the topping is golden brown.

Transfer the pie onto a wire rack to cool down completely. This way it will be easier to cut and take out, especially the first slice.

If you’ve cook the cherry filling long enough, the filling should be able to hold it’s shape.

Reheat the cherry pie slice before serving.

How to Store Vegan Cherry Pie

You can store the cherry pie in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3 days or 2 weeks in the freezer. Just reheat it in the oven before serving.

Questions You Might Get

Can I use other flour?

Yes, you can use all-purpose flour for the flour part. I haven’t tried with the gluten-free flour though.

Can I cut down the sugar?

I want to start by saying this is already a deducted-sugar recipe. Because I use sour cherries, which is, well, sour, sugar is here to balance the tanginess. And I personally don’t eat very sweet things, if you know me.

I’ll recommend to make it according to the recipe and adjust if you feel like it.

Can I use another oil?

No, other oil will not work the same as coconut oil, but you can use vegan butter. It’s not easy to find vegan butter in Taiwan, so I usually just use coconut oil.

Can I make it gluten-free?

Yes, you can use other gluten-free pie crust recipes to match with the filling, like the one from the Vegan Apple Pie, which will be a little bit crumbly, though.

That’s it! I hope you enjoy this recipe. If you’re looking for more cozy vegan desserts, here are:

• Vegan Apple Crisp with Light Caramel Apple Sauce (Gluten-free)
• Vegan Pecan Pie
• Vegan Apple Pie (Gluten-Free)