Apple Cranberry Pie
What I Love About This Cranberry Pie
Apples and cranberries are a classic pairing for a reason, especially once fall baking season rolls around. I freeze cranberries so I don’t have to wait until winter when they show up at the store. That way, I can make this pie in the fall.
- Cooking the filling on the stovetop first, rather than baking raw fruit straight in the crust, gives the filling a thick, jammy texture that holds together in a slice instead of turning watery.
- Sweet apples mellow out tart cranberries, and the cranberries keep the apples from tasting one-note sweet. Neither fruit overpowers the other.
- The streusel topping means there’s no second crust to roll out, so this comes together faster than a traditional double-crust pie.
Key Ingredients and Tips
Fresh cranberries – if you can’t find fresh, frozen cranberries work here too, straight from the freezer with no need to thaw first.
Sweet apples – Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji or Golden Delicious all work well, since they’re sweet but still firm enough to hold their shape once cooked. A tart baking apple, like Granny Smith, on top of tart cranberries would make the whole pie taste too sour.
Cornstarch – thickens the fruit filling so it holds together in a slice instead of running out onto the plate.
Butter – melted butter binds the streusel topping together. Unsalted lets you control the overall sweetness of the pie.
How to Make Apple Cranberry Streusel Pie
- Cook the filling – Combine the cranberries, apples, cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar in a sauce pot over medium heat, covered, until the cranberries release their juice and start to pop. Uncover and cook until the apples soften.
- Thicken the filling – Mix the cornstarch with the cold juice, stir it into the pot, and cook until the filling thickens. Take it off the heat and let it cool to room temperature. I make this part a day ahead sometimes, since it keeps well in the fridge until I’m ready to assemble.
- Fill the crust – Preheat the oven to 350°F and fit the pie crust into a greased 9-inch deep pie dish. Spread the cooled filling evenly inside.
- Make the streusel – Combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a bowl. Pour in the melted butter and fold it in gently with a fork. Stop as soon as it looks like large crumbs. Overmixing turns streusel into a paste instead of keeping it crumbly.
- Top and bake – Spread the streusel evenly over the filling. Set the pie dish on a baking sheet and bake for 35-38 minutes.
- Let it rest – Let the baked pie rest for 2-3 hours before cutting. I know that’s a long wait, but the filling needs that time to fully set, or your slices will fall apart instead of holding their shape.
Apple Cranberry Pie Recipe FAQs
About 2 medium apples, once they’re peeled, cored, and chopped, gets you close to 12 ounces. Weigh your apple at the grocery store so you know how much they weigh, to make sure you get enough.
Yes. I freeze bags of fresh cranberries every fall so I always have some on hand, and I use them straight from the freezer, no need to thaw them first.
Yes. Make sure to store it in the freezer safe pie dish, like aluminum. Let it cool completely, then wrap it airtight in plastic wrap, followed by a layer of foil. A freezer bag can add extra protection if you have room for it. Label it and freeze for up to 3 months.
Storing Leftover Cranberry Pie
- Storing: store in the same pie pan or transfer it into food storage container. Keep in the refrigerator, covered air-tight, for up to 4-5 days.
- Before serving: pull it out of the fridge about an hour ahead of time if you’d rather not serve it cold.
More Pie Recipes From Me
- Brownie Pecan Pie
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie
- Caramel Apple Pie with Cookie Crust
- Dutch Apple Pie
- Sweet Potato Pie
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Apple Cranberry Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust dough (1 round pie crust is about 7 oz.)
Filling:
- 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries
- 12 oz sweet apples peeled, cored and diced
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp cold cranberry juice (or apple juice)
Streusel Topping:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 4 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
Instructions
Filling:
- Combine cranberries, diced apples, cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar in a sauce pot. Mix well and turn the heat on to medium. Keep covered with a lid until cranberries give out juice and start to pop. Take the lid off.
- Mix well and cook uncovered until apples soften.
- Mix cornstarch and cold juice together and stir it into the sauce pot.
- Stir well and cook until thickened.
- Take the mixture off heat and cool down to room temperature.
- You can refrigerate the filling and keep it covered until ready to use. Filling can be prepared ahead of time.
Pie:
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and grease a 9 inch deep pie dish.
- Place pie crust in the pie dish, gently fitting it in.
- Spread cooled apple cranberry filling evenly in the pie shell.
Streusel Topping:
- In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, white granulated sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Mix well until all ingredients are incorporated evenly.
- Pour in melted butter and carefully fold it in with a large fork. You will want to be careful so you don’t over-mix. Streusel should look like large crumbs and not paste.
- Spread streusel topping over the cranberry pie filling.
- Place the pie dish on a baking sheet and bake for 35-38 minutes.
- Let the cooked pie rest for 2-3 hours before cutting.
Nutrition
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Categories:
Apple Recipes, Christmas Baking Recipes, Cranberry Recipes, Dessert Recipes, Fall Recipes, Pie Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
For those that don’t have a food scale, about how many apples is 12 ounces?
Great question! Twelve ounces of apples is usually about 2 medium apples once they’re peeled, cored, and chopped.
I didn’t fully follow directions but this pie looks and smells amazing. I did sample the filling and tastes wonderful. Can’t wait to try it.
Glad you liked it, Toni!