Fresh Cherry Pie Filling

Fresh Cherry Pie Filling

This easy homemade cherry pie filling can be used for any recipe calling for canned cherries. Use sweet or tart, or make a blend!

Ingredients :

• 4 cups fresh sweet cherries , pitted
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt* , optional
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch , dissolved in 2 tablespoons water to create a slurry
• 1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract

Directions

1. Prepare your cherries by washing and removing the stems and pits. The simplest way to do this is to use a cherry pitter, but you can also use a metal straw.
2. how to pit a cherry
3. Add the cherries, lemon juice, sugar, water and salt into a medium saucepan and heat over medium-high heat stirring occasionally until boiling and the sugar is completely dissolved.
4. Reduce heat to low and add in cornstarch slurry and mix until well combined and the mixture starts to thicken. About 2-3 minutes.
5. cherry pie filling in a saucepan
6. Remove from heat and whisk in almond extract and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
7. Use after cooling or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.