This recipe for Cranberry Apple Pie is perfectly festive and a favorite for anyone who likes things a little tart. It combines the zing of Granny Smith green apples and cranberries inside an easy homemade buttery crust.
Why Cranberries?
Why not? If you’re a fan of cranberry sauce, this pie will hit all the right notes for you. It’s the warm cozy apple pie experience with a whole bunch of cranberry zip!
Shape Matters?
You’ll see I did this as a square. The recipe works just the same if you do it in a round. The trick is to keep it at around 9inches in diameter for the proper proportion of crust and filling. But, otherwise, the shape doesn’t matter and is all personal preference.
The Truth About Pie Crust
This recipe utilizes my favorite basic pie crust. It only requires flour, butter, salt and water. But, I’ll be honest, that pie crust, though simple, has taken a while to really master. Yes, the recipe is simple and straightforward, but the finesse of getting it just right does come after having made several dozen and getting the “feel” for it. That’s how grandma made pie and that’s when it tastes the best.
But, the two non-negotiables for me when it comes to crust are brushing it with egg wash (just straight egg, whisked and brushed on the pastry) and then a sprinkling of coarse sugar.
The big questions is, ice cream or whipped cream? Either one works for me!
Cranberry Apple Pie
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
A homemade pie recipe with a foolproof pie crust and a cranberry apple filling perfect for the holidays.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 16 tbs cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes (1/4 – 1/2 in pieces)
- Salt
- 1/4 c water
- Flour for work surface
- 7 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and thin sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
- Juice of 1 lemon (approx 2 Tbs)
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbs coarse sugar
Instructions
- Place butter, flour and salt into a food processor and pulse until butter is mixed with the flour into a small gravely consistency, then add in water gradually until completely mixed in and dough is soft, not tacky.
- Remove dough from processor onto a floured work surface and work dough into two balls and then flatten into a thick disk. Cover in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill at least 1 hour, up to over night.
- After your dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 375F.
- Place apples, cranberries, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt in a large sauté pan and cook until apples are soft and red sauce forms. Let the filling cool 10 minutes before the next step.
- Roll the first dough disc out onto a floured surface into a large round sheet, large enough to cover your 9’’ pie plate past the rim. Roll out the second dough into a large round and cut into strips for a lattice top.
- Place the rolled dough over the pie plate, pressing it down into the plate and rolling over the edges.
- Pour apple filling into the crust then create a lattice pattern on top with the strips of dough, pinching along the edges to seal.
- Brush the lattice top with a beaten egg and sprinkle on the coarse sugar and bake at 375F for 15 minutes, rotate and bake another 15, continuing to rotate and bake at 5 minute intervals until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling (approx 40 total bake time).
- Allow to cool at least 30 minutes before serving to thicken the filling.
- Prep Time: 90
- Cook Time: 45
- Category: dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
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