Cherry Heart Pies

When it comes to romantic desserts, strawberries tend to get all of the attention. While we love those sweet berries as much as the next person, this Valentine’s Day, we’re turning to another red fruit that spices up the day of love with just the right amount of tartness: cherries! They’re baked into mouth-watering little pies shaped like – of course! – hearts for a dessert that really shows you care. Don’t worry— they’re pretty simple to make! Watch how, and show your valentine some home-baked love.

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CHERRY HEART PIES
Makes 8 heart-shaped pies

You’ll Need
– ½ cup granulated sugar
– Pinch salt
– 2 tablespoons cornstarch
– 2 tablespoons water
– 1 tablespoon lemon juice
– 16 ounces frozen cherries
– 2 refrigerated pie crusts (typically 1 box)
– Egg wash (1 beaten egg)

How To

  1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, salt, cornstarch, water, lemon juice and cherries. Stir until the cornstarch has dissolved, and bring the cherries to a boil. Let it boil for about five minutes, until the cherries have released all of their juices and the cornstarch has thickened the liquid into a sauce.
  2. Cool the cherry filling completely before proceeding. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  3. Unroll one of the pie crusts on a lightly floured surface. Using a 3½-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 6 hearts from the dough. Repeat with the second crust. Reroll the scraps and repeat again; you should be able to get 4 more hearts from the scraps! You should end up with 16 pie crust hearts in total.
  4. Using a 1-inch heart-shaped cooking cutter, cut out a small heart-shaped opening in the middle of one of the pie crust hearts. This piece will be the top crust! Continue to punch small hearts inside half of the larger hearts. You should end up with 8 top crusts and 8 bottom crusts.
  5. Brush the egg wash around the edges of one of the bottom crusts.
  6. Place 2 tablespoons of the cherry filling into the middle of the bottom crust and spread it slightly to fill the whole heart, leaving a ¼-inch border around the edges.
  7. Place a top crust over the filling and press down around the edges to seal shut. Crimp the edges with a fork. Repeat steps 5 to 7 with the rest of the bottom and top pieces of dough.
  8. Brush all of the pies with the remaining egg wash.
  9. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Expert Tip
In step 6, leaving the ¼-inch border around the edges allows the pie to seal completely. If you try to add too much filling to the pies, the juice can leak out of the sides or the crust can tear.