Sweet Cherry Pie Stars

The other day at the grocery store I walked by the cherries. Then I turned around and stood in front of the cherries. All I could think about was making a sweet cherry pie. My summertime favorite. So I bought them.

About a year ago, I bought a pie mold from Williams Sonoma. I hadn't tried it, so I thought today would be a good day to try it with cherry pie. While they are delicious, they are from "pretty". I think next time I would cut the cherries up in 4th's not in half. It was hard to fit the filling in the small spot for dough.

ANYWAYS! I will definitely make these again. Maybe I will try Apple Pie next time. I did cheat, I used refrigerated dough. I didn't have the energy today to make my normal crust, I just really wanted cherry pie.

First things first, I had to pit all the cherries. Thankfully, I have a contraption to do it for me...4 cherries at a time! Then cut them. I used the recipe I found at Smitten Kitchenfor the filling.

All you do is cut the dough with the pie mold. Then you place the dough in the mold, fill it with cherry goodness and add a top piece of dough. Close. Freeze for 30 minutes, then bake for 10-15.

Sweet Cheery Pie Filling:
4 cups pitted fresh cherries (about 2 1/2 pounds unpitted)
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 to 3/4 cup sugar (adjust this according to the sweetness of your cherries)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small bits

1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water
Coarse sugar, for decoration

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Stir together the cherries, cornstarch, sugar, salt, lemon and almond extract gently together in a large bowl.