Gluten-free cherry pie is the perfect combination of sweet cherries and crumble topping! Originally I wasn’t a huge fan of cherry pie, but after making this allergy-friendly version, I was hooked! The sweet, slightly firm, juice texture of the cherries is complimented nicely by the sweet, oaty crumble topping that graces the top of this gluten-free cherry pie. It is super easy to make (with the help of a handy little tool!) and uses simple, wholesome ingredients to make it the perfect modern pioneer pie recipe!
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Modern Pioneer Recipe
Cherry pie is a modrn pioneer recipe, but fruit pies were definitely popular during the early pioneer days. Apple pie was the most common since it could be made using fresh or dried apples. However, as homesteaders started planting more fruit trees and bushes, fruit pies became an easy, simple dessert to make for special occassions. I’ve heard the cowboys especially would come riding from miles just to get a slice of apple pie!
What makes this gluten-free cherry pie a modern pioneer pie is the fact that it is allergy-friendly and uses wholesome ingredients. No artificial flavors, not chucked full of refined sugar, and no inflammation causing grains. This modern pioneer pie is….
- gluten-free
- nut free
- dairy-free
- egg free
- refined sugar free
- corn free
Fruit pies are so much fun to make and eat! I love the fact that they have pioneer origins, and you can pretty much make a fruit pie out of anything that is in season at the time! Fresh fruit is always the best, but I have made fruit pies using canned apple pie filling or frozen berries. Check out this delicious grain-free blueberry pie recipe or this peach pie recipe for more fruit filled deliciousness!
Sweet or Sour?
When speaking of cherries, you generally hear of two kinds.. sweet cherries or sour cherries. Of the many varieties of cherries, each cherry variety can be classified as sweet or sour. Sweet cherries are generally bigger, have a more heart shaped appearance, and come in a wide range of colors from golden red to a deep blackish red. Sour cherries are smaller and are more round in appearance. They are the classic bright red cherry color and have a tart flavor that often makes them less delectable for eating raw.
When cooking and baking with cherries, sour cherries work best in recipes with lots of sugar. Since I wanted to make this cherry pie into a more healthier version, I chose to go with sweet cherries so that I could use less sugar overall in the pie.
Cherry Nutrition Facts
While it may seem like a cherry should be considered a berry, cherries are actually in the peach and plum family. Cherries have only one seed (pit), unlike berries which must have 2 or more seeds. These delicious little fruits are great for eating and baking with, plus they also contain some beneficial properties!
- Cherries are high in anti-oxidants which help promote good health.
- The melatonin contained in cherries helps with inflammation and oxidative stress.
- Anti-inflammatory properties in cherries aid with many inflammation caused health issues.
- The vitamins in cherries help promote a healthy metabolism.
- Potassium levels in cherries can help you maintain your blood pressure levels.
- Cherries are naturally alkaline, which helps control the pH level in your body.
- Cherries are considered one of the most energizing fruits, they stimulate circulation and help build healthy blood cells.
The health benefits, vitamins, and minerals contained in cherries are numerous. I love eating cherries knowing that they are beneficial for me as well as being delicious!
Fun Facts About Michigan Cherries
Michigan is well known for its cherries. The Cherry Capital of the World is located in Traverse City, MI. Michigan produces nearly 75% of the United States tart cherries and 20% of the United States sweet cherries each year. In total, Michigan produces nearly 250 million pounds of cherries! Traverse City is also home to the world’s largest cherry pie which was 14 feet 2 inches in diameter, 2 feet deep, and weighed 7 tons! The pie used 4,950 pounds of Michigan cherries in the filling. Here are some other fun facts about cherries:
- There are about 3.8 million tart cherry trees and .5 million sweet cherry trees in Michigan.
- The world record for the farthest spit cherry pit is 93 feet, 6.5 inches!
- An average tart cherry tree grows about 7,000 cherries.
- A cherry pie requires about 250 tart cherries. If you do your math, that means a tart cherry tree can produce enough cherries for about 28 pies!
- The record for hand picking the most cherries is 1,225 pounds of cherries within a 12 hour time span!
Serving and Storing
Gluten-free cherry pie is good enough to be served by itself, but it can also be topped with some extras to compliment the taste and texture of the pie! Cherry pie is delicious when served with dairy-free whipped cream (homemade or store-bought) but it can also be served with dairy-free vanilla ice cream and be just as delicious!
Turn your cherry pie slice into a cherry ice cream split by topping it with dairy-free ice cream, some chocolate chips or dairy-free chocolate syrup, and placing a fresh cherry on top! This cherry pie can be served warm, however, I usually like to wait until it cools before slicing and serving the pie. With fruit pies, it helps the slices hold their shape better if the pie is cooled before it is cut.
No matter how you serve this pie, it is sure to be a hit for modern pioneer cherry lovers!
Gluten-free cherry pie can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days. Stored in the fridge, cherry pie will last 3-4 days. Always make sure you cover the pie with an airtight lid and make sure the pie is completely cool before securing the lid over the pie.
Recipe Tips
Cherry pie, like most fruit pies, is super easy to make! The longest part about making this pie is pitting the cherries…. but I have a helpful little tip to make this process go quickly! Thanks to the handy-dandy cherry pitter that screws to the top of a canning jar, pitting cherries can go quickly and relatively mess free. I use this cherry pitter all the time when enjoying fresh cherries or preparing them for baking.
This cherry pitter also makes cherries more appealing to younger modern pioneers who may not be a huge fan of getting the pits out of the cherries before enjoying them! Plus they often find that pitting cherries is super fun when they get to use this cool gadget!
Here are a few other quick tips for making cherry pie:
- This recipe is the best when you use sweet, ripe cherries.
- The cherries should be washed, pitted, and sliced in half before being mixed into the pie filling.
- Maple sugar would also work great in place of coconut sugar!
- You can use cassava flour or arrowroot flour in place of tapioca flour in both the filling and topping for this pie.
- Your coconut oil MUST be very cold in order for a proper crumble to form!
- To make this pie grain-free, you can use shredded coconut or coconut flakes in place of the gluten-free oats.
- For a grain-free pie crust, check out these two options!
Making this gluten-free cherry pie is super easy and super fun! Recruit some help with pitting the cherries using the handy cherry pitter to make the process go quickly and to help teach younger modern pioneers some modern pioneer lifeskills! Everyone will love this allergy-friendly pioneer pie!
Gluten-free Cherry Pie (nut free)
Ingredients
Filling
- 4 cups organic cherries washed, pitted, and sliced in half
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 2 T. lemon juice
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1 unbaked pie crust
Topping
- 1/4 cup cold organic coconut oil or cold butter if you’re not dairy free
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 cup cassava flour
- 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten free oats
- 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Gently stir together the cherries, coconut sugar, lemon juice, and tapioca flour. Pour into the unbaked pie crust.
- In a food processor, pulse together the oats, tapioca flour, cassava flour, coconut sugar, and salt.
- Add the cold coconut oil (or cold butter). Pulse until crumbles form. Evenly sprinkle the crumbles over the cherry filling.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes. The cherry filling should be bubbly.
- Allow the cherry pie to cool before cutting and serving! Store the leftovers in the fridge.
Where to Find the Ingredients
- Bob’s Red Mill gluten free oats
- Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
- Otto’s cassava flour
- Nutiva coconut sugar
- Nutiva coconut oil
- Supplies: 9″ glass pie plate, Cuisinart food processor, cherry pitter
Gluten-free cherry pie is full of anti-oxidant rich cherries and low inflammation ingredients! The texture and taste of this pie is amazing! The sweet cherries are aided by a little more coconut sugar to make a perfectly delicious cherry filling that is topped with a gluten-free, oat-based crumble topping which compliments the cherries perfectly! Enjoy a slice plain or top it off with some dairy-free whipped cream (Anna’s favorite way to have pie), either way, this allergy-friendly modern pioneer cherry pie will be a crowd pleaser!
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by Alexa
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