This apple cranberry pie is the perfect combination of tart, sweet and fruity. It’s best wrapped in buttery, flakey dough with a lattice crust topping.
Oh boy, you guys KNOW I hate playing favorites with pie. I truly do. However… this apple cranberry pie takes the cake for my favorite fruit pie of the moment. My other favorite is still my chocolate silk pie.
Apple and berries pies have always been my favorite, but what’s so special about this one is the tart flavor the cranberries add to the filling. It adds another level of interest that I can’t get enough of.
It’s one of those desserts you can eat (and keep going back for) after a heavy meal. So, make sure you put this one on your holiday baking list.
I’m going to go over a few troubleshooting tips and tricks and answer a few frequently asked questions below. If you need more info, be sure to drop a comment down below and I’ll answer!
What are the best apples for apple-based pies?
Granny Smith all the way. I like tart apples for my pies, and green does the trick. Sometimes, I throw in one Macintosh or Gala for a hint of sweet, but I always have almost all or all Granny Smith!
Dried or fresh cranberries for apple cranberry pie?
Fresh! I use fresh because you can control the level of sweetness in the pie, and the bursts of cranberry juice are delightful. With dried or even canned cranberries, there is LOADS of added sugar.
When you use fresh, you add the sugar and can control how sweet the pie turns out. And believe me, you want this one to be just right for maximum enjoyment.
Fruit pie troubleshooting tips:
Juice a lemon in your bowl before you slice your apples
If you juice your lemon and add it to the bowl you’re slicing your apples in, you prevent the apples from browning while you cut the rest and make the filling. So, each time you cut an apple, toss it in the lemon juice and you’ll have perfectly fresh slices.
Always overfill fruit pies
Don’t believe any recipes that call for only 4 cups of fruit in a pie. For standard pie plates you need at least 5-6 cups and for deep dish, 6-7! Your fruit will dome on top but it will cook down in the oven and give you plenty of filling. No one likes a skimpy pie!
Place a baking sheet under your fruit pies when you slide them in the oven
When a fruit pie is finished cooking, you’ll know because the edges will be bubbling with fruit juices (and most likely spilling and burning in your oven). The baking sheet (with a lip) will catch the juices and help you out!
Got move questions? Leave a comment! And go check out this lattice top tutorial if you need help!
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Apple Cranberry Pie
This apple cranberry pie is the perfect combination of tart, sweet and fruity. It’s best wrapped in buttery, flakey dough with a lattice crust topping.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
- Yield: 8–12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 unbaked pie crusts – here’s my recipe which makes 2 crusts
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 5–6 cups peeled and sliced apples
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup coconut or brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp. arrowroot powder or tapioca starch
- 2 tsp. apple pie spice
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp. water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F.
- If you’re making your own crust, once your pie crust has been made and it has rested, roll out 1 of the crusts and lay it in a 9-inch pie plate.
- Roll out the other half on a piece of parchment on a flat cookie sheet until it’s about 10 inches in diameter. Place both the pie plate and the cookie sheet in the fridge to rest again while you prepare the filling.
- Juice the lemon and add it to a large bowl. As you peel and slice the apples, add them to the bowl, tosing frequently so they don’t brown.
- Then, mix together the apple slices, cranberries, 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar, brown sugar, arrowroot powder or tapioca starch, apple pie spice, and cinnamon.
- Remove the crusts from the fridge, and pour the apple filling into the pie plate.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut strips of dough out of the rolled out piece of crust on the cookie sheet. Having this dough cold will make it easier to work with.
- Lay half of the strips of dough lengthwise across the pie, evenly spacing between each strip.
- To make the lattice, take the longest remaining piece of dough and lay it across the center of the pie horizontally.
- Lift every other piece of dough running vertically to cover the piece laying horizontally to create a basket weave look. Refer to this post for a photo tutorial.
- Repeat this with each remaining piece of dough until you have a lattice top.
- Trim the excess crust from the edge and pinch the dough together using your fingers or a fork.
- Place the pie on to a cookie sheet with a rim* and slide it into the oven for 15 minutes.
- After the 15 minutes is up, remove the pie from the oven and reset the temperature to 350F. Cover the pie with foil.
- Whisk together the egg and water to make an egg wash.
- Bake for 45 minutes before removing the foil and brushing the egg wash all over the pie. Sprinkle with the remainig sugar and bake for 15 minutes uncovered.
- Let the pie cool for 3-4 hours before serving. Best served with vanilla ice cream and wipped cream!
Notes
- this keeps your oven clean if the pie bubbles over during cooking. A great tip for all fruit pies.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 307
- Sugar: 26 g
- Sodium: 216 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 56 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 27 mg
Keywords: pie, apple pie, apple cranberry pie, pie crust, thanksgiving, Christmas, holiday
