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👍 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Excellent way to use fresh or frozen sour cherries (or sweet cherries) and sourdough discard.
Pre-cook the cherry filling so it sets better and reduces the baking time.
Flaky and buttery sourdough pie crust with a lattice topping.
Almond extract and lemon zest brings out the cherry flavor.
Perfect served with ice cream or whipped cream.

Buckwheat with freshly picked sour cherries.

Cutting a slice of sourdough sour cherry pie with a lattice crust.

🔍 Tips for Making Sourdough Sour Cherry Pie

Chill the dough for at least a couple of hours or up to three days in the refrigerator.
Pre-cook the filling to your desired consistency, which will reduce baking time and ensure it sets.
Cool the filling on a baking sheet to increase the surface area so it cools faster.
Keep all of your pie dough ingredients cold for a flaky crust and chill throughout.
Don’t overmix the pie crust or it will be tough.
Line your baking sheet with foil to catch pie drippings.

Sourdough sour cherry pie with a lattice crust.

🛠 Tools Needed

Baking scale
- Flour and sourdough starter can weigh differently from person to person, so weighing your ingredients is the best option! Measuring your ingredients by weight will make your baking more consistent and accurate.
Cherry Pitter
- A cherry pitter is one of the only single-use kitchen items I recommend having. Every summer, I’m so glad I have one when I make this pie, jam, or other cherry desserts!
Mixing Bowl
- I mix the sourdough pie crust by hand with a fork, but you can use a food processor as well.
Bench Scraper
- Helps bring the pie dough together.
Rolling Pin
Pastry Wheel, or pizza wheel or knife for cutting the lattice strips
Pastry Brush, for egg wash
Pie Pan
- For best results, use a 9″ aluminum or ceramic pie pan. They cook more evenly than glass, cause less crust shrinking, and won’t break in your oven from thermal shock.

🛒 Ingredients Needed

See below for my ingredient recommendations and possible substitutions for the flaky sourdough pie crust and filling below.

Sourdough Pie Crust

All-purpose flour
- You can substitute some or all of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour.
- Substitute ½ cup with almond flour to bring out even more almond flavor that pairs well with cherries.
Salt
Unsalted butter, cold
- Keep your butter cold when making flaky pastry like Sourdough Pop Tarts. The cold butter creates steam in the hot oven, ensuring you get a flaky crust.
- For a richer flavor, use a European-style butter such as Kerrygold or Cabot Extra Creamy, like I do for Sourdough Croissants.
Granulated Sugar
- Sugar in the crust assists with browning and a little sweetness.
Sourdough Discard
- Like adding vinegar to pie dough, sourdough discard adds acidity to the pie crust and reduces gluten development, leading to a more tender crust. It also adds a slight more depth in flavor.
- If you don’t have an active sourdough starter, learn how to make one in a week following my how-to guide. See my top sourdough starter tips and other sourdough discard recipes.
Ice Water
- Helps bind the crust together.
Egg, for egg wash
- The egg wash gives the crust a perfect golden brown sheen and helps create a protective barrier to prevent fruit juices from leaking.
Raw sugar, for a sparkly and crunchy crust

Sour Cherry Pie Filling

Sour Cherries
- You can use fresh or frozen cherries for this recipe. I recommend a cherry pitter to make pitting easier.
- Substitute the sour cherries with sweet cherries like Bing cherries. You can reduce the sugar and add more lemon juice if using sweet cherries.
Granulated Sugar
- Sugar balances out the tart cherries and helps the filling set like making jam.
Salt
Cornstarch
- The cornstarch serves as a thickening agent for the juicy cherry filling.
- For gelatinization, the filling needs to reach 203ºF (95ºC) or be bubbling, so precooking it will always ensure it reaches your desired consistency.
- Substitute with tapioca flour or arrowroot flour.
Lemon Zest & Juice
- The zest and juice add brightness and freshness to the cherries, just like I use in my Sourdough Blueberry Yogurt Muffins, Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Pound Cake, and Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake.
- You can add spices like cinnamon, cardamom, or ginger instead of lemon for a more warming pie.
Vanilla Extract
- I use both vanilla and almond extract in cherry pie for flavoring, warmth, and aromatic depth.
Almond Extract
- The almond flavor complements and brings out cherry flavor with a hint of nuttiness. It makes any cherry dessert taste better!

🍒 How to Make Sourdough Sour Cherry Pie

Follow this detailed recipe guide as you make the best sourdough cherry pie.

1. Make the Sourdough Pie Dough

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Toss in the cold, cubed butter and use your hands or a pastry cutter to cut it into pea-sized pieces.

Then, pour in the sourdough discard and toss it all with a fork to start forming clumps (image 1). Drizzle in the ice water until larger clumps form, but you still have a shaggy, dry dough.

Dump the pie dough out onto a work surface and use a bench scraper to chop the dough, which will distribute the liquid (2 & 3). Then, use your hands and bench scraper to gather the dough together and gently knead it a few times to bring it together. Add any dry bits on top to incorporate, and only add more ice water if it’s not hydrating.

Divide the dough in half and bring each together into cohesive discs, and wrap them in plastic wrap (4). Press the dough to the edges of the plastic wrap to shape it.

Chill the sourdough pie doughs for at least two hours and up to 3 days.

Make Ahead Tip: Store the sourdough pie dough in your refrigerator for up to 3 days ahead of baking or freeze it ahead of time! Thaw in the refrigerator for a day.

To Make Extra Flaky: This pie crust is already flaky, but to add extra layers, you can laminate the dough by adding a couple of folds. Follow the extra instructions for extra flaky Sourdough Pie Crust.

Collage of making sourdough pie crust using sourdough discard.

2. Cook the Sour Cherry Filling

Pre-cooking cherry pie filling ensures that the filling sets by activating the cornstarch, cooks down some of the juices to make it less runny, and reduces the overall baking time in the oven. These are benefits I do for most of my fruit pies!

Rub the lemon zest in a bowl with the sugar, salt, and cornstarch with your fingers until fragrant.

Add the pitted sour cherries and lemony sugar mixture to a Dutch oven or large pot and stir until coated.

Simmer the cherries over medium heat for 10-15 minutes until the filling thickens, stirring frequently to prevent burning. This is similar to making fruit jams like Strawberry Rhubarb Jam or Blueberry Jam.

Remove from the heat, stir in the extracts, and let cool to room temperature.

To Cool Faster: Increase the surface area and spread the cherry filling on a large baking sheet to cool much faster.

Make Ahead: Store the pre-cooked cherry pie filling in an airtight container in your refrigerator for 4 days in advance. Cornstarch doesn’t freeze well for pie fillings, so use tapioca starch if you plan to freeze the filling.

Mixing sour cherries in Dutch oven with spatula and sugar.

Start of cooking sour cherry filling in Dutch oven with spatula.

3. Roll Out the Pie Doughs

Remove one chilled pie dough disc from the refrigerator and let it rest for five minutes at room temperature to become pliable. Then, use a rolling pin to roll out into a large 12-13″ round. While rolling out, rotate and flip the dough, flouring in between as necessary to prevent sticking.

Transfer the dough to a large plate or baking sheet and chill it in the refrigerator while you roll out the second crust.

Repeat the same rolling out process for the lattice crust into a large round, but use a pastry wheel, pizza cutter, or knife to slice into 1″ strips. This should make 12-14 lattice strips, but you can adjust the size depending on your design and if you want bigger or smaller lattices.

Chill the lattice strips on a large plate or baking sheet until ready to assemble the pie.

To Make a Crumb Topping: You can skip the woven lattice topping to make a simple cherry crumb topping instead. Double the oat crumb topping for these Sourdough Strawberry Muffins or the Biscoff cookie streusel on my Sourdough Apple Butter Muffins. Both are great on this pie!

Rolled out sourdough pie crust in a large circle with a rolling pin.

Lattice strips for sourdough pie crust cut with a pastry wheel.

4. Assemble the Sourdough Cherry Pie

Preheat the oven to 400ºF (204ºC).

Beat an egg with a splash of water in a small bowl to make the egg wash.

Drape the chilled bottom pie crust on a pie plate and trim the edges so there’s about an inch overhang around the pie pan. Brush an egg wash around the excess trim, which will help seal your lattice crust on top (save the rest for just before baking).

Pour in the cooled cherry filling.

Remove the lattice strips from the refrigerator and weave them in a pattern on top of your pie. There are many methods of doing so, but this video from King Arthur is helpful if you’ve never done so before.

Trim the lattice edges to match the 1″ overhang, pinch down to seal with the egg wash, and roll the overhang up and over to create a thick border. Then, crimp or flute the edges with your fingers for a decorate touch, or seal the edges with the tines of a fork.

Finally, freeze the pie crust for at least 15 minutes while your oven preheats. The dough needs to chill and rest to create the flakiest crust.

Sour cherry filling in pie crust with a pastry wheel.

5. Bake

Just before baking, brush more egg wash on the exterior lattice of the crust and sprinkle with raw or turbinado sugar for a sparkly, crunchy topping.

Transfer the sourdough cherry pie to a baking sheet to catch any drippings and bake for 55-65 minutes or until the crust is dark golden brown and flaky. The filling may bubble some and you can tent the pie with foil if any spots are browning too quickly.

Remove from the oven to cool on a wire rack for at least 4 hours before serving. It’s a long time, but fruit pies take a while to cool so the filling can set, and it’ll be much easier to slice.

Egg wash and raw sugar on a lattice topped sour cherry pie before baking.

Sour cherry pie with a lattice sourdough pie crust.

🥧 How to Store and Serve

The sourdough cherry pie is best served at room temperature for the first couple of days or in the refrigerator for up to five days.

The crust will become more soggy over time, but you can reheat for a couple of minutes in a toaster oven to re-crisp the top crust.

To freeze the baked pie, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and foil for 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for at least a day. However, I recommend using tapioca starch if you plan on freezing your pie as cornstarch can separate when frozen.

I enjoy this summery cherry pie with a dollop of whipped cream, mascarpone, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It’s an excellent summer dessert for BBQs and cookouts, along with my Sourdough Brioche Hamburger Buns or Sourdough Hot Dog Buns.