Easy Homemade Cherry Pie Filling

My husband loves Cherry Pie.  Well I can't really even say that, he loves all pie.  But he really loves cherry pie.  Surprisingly I don't really make it often.  In fact, I think I have only ever made it one other time and it was a disaster.  I used fresh cherries so I didn't have any cherry juice so I substituted grape juice which didn't really taste right plus it never set up fully.  He was a sweet heart and ate it anyway but I know it was not my best performance.  So, as I went to grab my 2 cans of what I thought was cherry pie filling, I realized that they were in fact simply cans of cherries in syrup.  While that's great cherries are fabulous, they were not going to do the trick for pie.  So, I took some creative license and modified another pie filling recipe that I have from my Mother-in-Law and made this.  Let's just say I will not shy away from making Cherry Pie again.  It was amazing.  Try it out and tell me what you think!

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Cherry Pie Filling

2 15 oz cans of Cherries, drained (reserving the liquid of 1 can)
water (about 3/4 cup)
2 Tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 Tbsp butter

Drain the cherries, reserve the liquid from 1 can.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan combine the sugar and cornstarch.  Pour the reserved cherry syrup into a liquid measuring cup and add enough water that the combined liquid is equal to 1 1/4 cups.  Add the liquid to the sugar mixture and stir with a flat whisk.  This is my favorite tool for making sauces/gravy, if you don't have one use what you have, even if it's a wooden spoon.  

Turn the heat on to medium high and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.  Boil for an additional minute to fully cook the cornstarch.  

Remove from the heat, add the butter, lemon juice, and almond extract.  

Stir well with the flat whisk until the butter is completely melted.  

Add the cherries and stir until combined.

Fill prepared pie shell or use as desired.