Vegan Cherry Pie

Does anybody else adore cherries? I bought 12 pounds of the stuff and spent naptime pitting them. My hands were stained, and my belly was full. Ha! Cherries are just American! They grow so well here and at $1.99 / lb how can you not get caught up in the love of all things cherry every summer.

It has actually become a thing where I make a cherry pie every summer. This year, I had to alter our recipe since we are now vegan. Turns out, we like it better then the other. It has less sugar, no cholesterol, and still tastes so good!

Pair this cherry pie with a scoop of dairy free ice cream and you have yourself an All-American dessert. This is even BBQ ready. Don't tell anybody and see if they notice. After it has been demolished (because it will be) tell everyone it is vegan. I guarantee they will all be surprised.

Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I normally don't do white, but I was trying to use up what I had)
1 cup (2 sticks) Earth Balance butter, diced and put into the freezer
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar (I used turbinado)
1/4 cup ground flax seed meal
5-6 Tbsp cold dairy free milk (almond, soy, coconut, rice)

• Put flour, salt, sugar, and flax into the food processor and pulse til combined.
• Add in the butter and run until the largest pieces are no larger then peas.
• Pour in milk 1 or 2 Tbsp at a time until it comes together. The drop your dough into a bowl.
• Make the crust into a ball and refrigerate at least an hour.
• After the hour split the dough into two and roll out using a generous amount of flour.
• Keep one crust full and lay it into the dish. Pour in Cherry Pie Filling (recipe below).
• Pull or cut off dough that falls over dishes edge and then fold over pinching as you go to create interest.
• With the second crust, use a star shaped cookie cutter and cut out stars laying them on the cherry filling. I made a circle of stars and then did another circle laying atop the first layer of stars. Then put one in the center.
• Brush with cold milk for browning.
• Bake pie at 375 F for 40-55 mins. Check often so pie doesn't overbrown.
• Rest the pie for an hour to let filling set. Serve warm with your favorite vanilla ice cream.

Cherry Pie Filling

6 cups pitted cherries
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
Juice of 1 orange
1/2 cup sugar (again, i used turbinado)
2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp corn starch

• In a saucepan combine cherries, cranberries, and sugar and put on medium heat. Squeeze orange juice into the pan and bring to a boil. Let boil until cherries become tender, about 5-10 mins.
• Pour half the juice into a cup. In cup, stir vigorously while adding cornstarch to avoid lumps. Then, add back to the sauce pan.
• Bring back to a boil. Let boil until sauce begins to thicken, another 10 mins. 
• Stir in vanilla and let cook another minute more.
• Take off heat and let cool about 10-20 mins. Add to pie crust.

*Note: We used the leftover pastry dough for a treat. We cut it into chips then baked until golden brown. Serve pie crust chips with tofu cream cheese and if you make a double batch of pie filling, you can pour over cream cheese and have a tasty dip, party worthy.

Enjoy!

And be sure to link up all your cherry posts to the Linky Party HERE!