Your Cherry Pie Needs A Cream Cheese Layer. Here's How To Do It

Cherry pie is a classic dessert. While it's undeniably delicious as is, with juicy cherries and a buttery, sugary crust, there's an easy way to elevate this scrumptious pie even further — by adding a cream cheese bottom. If you're on the fence about it, think of the flavors in a slice of your favorite cherry cheesecake. The rich, decadent tang of cream cheese complements the tart-sweet notes of cherry. Combine those flavors with a crispy, flaky crust, and you've got a one-of-a-kind cherry pie that delights every tastebud.

Even better, making this dessert is quite straightforward. All you need to do is combine a brick of softened cream cheese with about ¼ cup of granulated sugar and a splash of vanilla extract. Stir these ingredients together until smooth and creamy, then spread the mixture evenly across the bottom of an unbaked pie crust. Once the cream cheese layer is in place, top it with cherry pie filling, cover it with your top crust, and bake as you would any regular pie.

While this version of cherry pie is undeniably delicious, there are still more ways to customize it to fit your desired effort level. For example, if you'd like to skip the mess of baking, you can still add a homemade touch to store-bought pie crust by sprinkling vanilla sugar over the top before baking, giving it a satisfying, fragrant crunch.

Another way to create a unique twist is by swapping the standard pie crust for a pre-made graham cracker crust. The result is a pie filled with buttery, sandy graham cracker pieces, hunks of ripe cherries, and velvety cream cheese — a treat reminiscent of cheesecake without the extra effort. As a bonus perk, it doesn't require baking. If you go this route, consider incorporating some sweetened condensed milk into the cream cheese mixture to make it airier and more voluminous.

For those who want to make every element from scratch, try using canned fruit for your pie filling, your favorite buttery pie crust recipe, and topping it all with homemade stabilized whipped cream featuring a dash of almond extract. The almond extract enhances the pie's amaretto notes, perfectly complementing the cherry flavor.