In the past 5 years that I’ve been blogging, I’ve gone from wildly intimidated by pie crust to this braided + latticed beauty. It’s taken some practice and even more shriveled mistakes (literally shriveled), but I want to show you that it’s possible. And it certainly won’t take YOU 5 years to get here.
This apple cranberry pie is why I love baking (and eating!) dessert so much. Not only is apple pie my favorite dessert to eat, it’s my favorite dessert to bake. Making the dough from scratch, creating beautiful decorations for the crust, and playing around with filling flavors is the best. The entire process is almost therapeutic. Do you feel that way about baking too? It soothes my soul.
To get started, you need homemade pie crust. In the sake of time and to prevent my fingers from falling off, I won’t repeat why this homemade buttery flaky pie crust is my favorite. You could use my all butter pie crust, too. I always make the crust the night before to save time the next day. Or, better yet, make the pie crust today, freeze it, then put it in the refrigerator the night before making the pie. Save even more time later!
My number 1 tip? Keep the dough in the refrigerator anytime you are not working directly with it. So after you roll out the bottom crust and place it into the pie dish, stick it in the refrigerator. When you’re waiting for the oven to preheat, stick the whole thing in the refrigerator, etc etc.
The filling is easy and made from fresh (or frozen!) cranberries, about 3–4 apples, sugar, cornstarch, and spices. You know what pairs well with cranberries? Orange. Add a little orange zest to the pie, just like I do with another Thanksgiving classic—cranberry sauce. The flavor is unreal. For even more mass appeal, dot the filling with butter before arranging the top crust. Buttery, cinnamon-spiced, and orange-scented apple cranberry filling.
You see all this? ↑ ↑ Put it in the refrigerator while you roll out the top crust.
Now, I do not expect you to make an intricate pie crust like this, but it was pretty fun! Steph, my assistant, came over and we baked this pie together. If you want to recreate this design, here’s what you need: apple cookie cutter and this ribbon cutter set. It’s actually a fondant cutter set, but works for cutting scalloped or super thin (and even!) lines in pie dough.
We used a lattice pie crust topping and braided detail. The braid is actually just placed around the edges—just slightly press it down onto the edge. We made the braid in two sections, then just placed an apple shape over where the two braids connect to hide it. (Sneaky!) Here’s my tutorial for how to braid pie crust.
If you plan to make a lattice + braid + apple shapes, I recommend having an extra pie crust on hand just to make sure you have enough pie dough to work with. You should really stock your freezer with pie dough now. You know, for braided lattice apple cranberry pie emergencies. Those exist, right?
If you don’t want to make a braided edge, you can crimp or flute the pie crust instead.
Brush the whole top with egg wash, place the pie in the fridge while the oven preheats, then bake.
But none of this detail works unless the pie tastes good. You remember that buttery cinnamon-spiced apple orange-scented cranberry business I mentioned up there? Of course it tastes good! You’ll love how the tart cranberries balance out the sweet cinnamon apples. It’s like Thanksgiving gave you a big warm hug. And then you ate it. That was a disturbing comparison, but hopefully you get me.
If you’re looking for more pie inspiration, here are all of our favorite Thanksgiving pies. Looking for an apple pie-like treat in a fraction of the time? Try my apple crisp, apple cobbler, or apple galette instead.
Other Favorite Pie Recipes
- Peach Pie & Blueberry Pie
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
- Cherry Pie
- Lemon Meringue Pie
- Pumpkin Pie
- Cranberry Frangipane Tart (naturally gluten free!)
Apple Cranberry Pie
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 7 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: 8-10 servings
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Cranberries, apples, cinnamon spice, and a buttery homemade pie crust makes this apple cranberry pie one of my favorite fall recipes.
Ingredients
- homemade pie crust (my recipe makes 2 crusts; 1 for bottom 1 for top)*
- 3 large apples, cored, peeled, and sliced into 1/2-inch slices (about 6–7 cups of slices, or 750–875g)
- 1 and 1/2 cups (187g) fresh or frozen cranberries
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (14g) cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 Tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk
Instructions
- The crust: Prepare my pie crust recipe through step 5.
- Make the filling: Stir the apples, cranberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, orange zest, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Set filling aside as the oven preheats.
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
- Roll out the chilled pie dough: On a floured work surface, roll out one of the discs of chilled dough (keep the other one in the refrigerator). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. Spoon the filling into the crust, leaving any excess liquid in the bowl (you don’t want that in the filling—discard it). Dot the pieces of butter on top of the filling. Stick in the refrigerator until ready to cut the lattice.
- Arrange the lattice: Remove the other disc of chilled pie dough from the refrigerator. Roll the dough into a circle that is 12 inches diameter. Using a pastry wheel, sharp knife, pizza cutter, or this fun ribbon cutter, cut strips 1 or 2 inches wide. Remove the pie from the refrigerator and carefully thread the pie dough strips over and under one another, pulling back strips as necessary to weave. Press the edges of the strips into the bottom pie crust edges to seal. Use a small knife to trim off excess dough. Crimp or flute the pie crust edges. See recipe notes for making the braid or apple shapes! (Alternatively, you can simply cover the filling with the 12-inch pie dough circle. Cut slits in the top to form steam vents. Trim and crimp the edges. Or crumble topping (from apple crumble pie) or streusel topping (from peach pecan crisp) would be great as well.)
- Lightly brush the top of the pie crust with the egg wash mixture.
- Place the pie onto a large baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Keeping the pie in the oven, turn the temperature down to 350°F (177°C) and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes. After the first 20 minutes of bake time, I place a pie crust shield on top of the pie to prevent the edges from browning too quickly.
- Allow the pie to cool for 3 full hours at room temperature before serving. This time allows the filling to thicken up. Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: A couple ways to make ahead of time! Make 1 day in advance—after it cools, cover tightly and keep at room temperature. The pie crust dough can also be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Baked pie also freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving. Prepared filling can also be frozen up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Peeler | Citrus Zester | Glass Mixing Bowl | Rolling Pin | 9-inch Pie Dish | Pizza Cutter, Pastry Wheel, or Ribbon Cutter | Pastry Brush | Pie Crust Shield | Fall Shapes Pie Crust Cutters
- 3 Pie Crusts: If you’d like to make the apple shapes and/or the braided edge, I recommend working with 3 pie crusts in total. 1 for the bottom, 1 for the lattice, and 1 for the braid + apples. So make my pie crust recipe twice.
- Pie Crust Apples: On a floured work surface, roll the crust out into a large circle, about 1/8 inch thickness. Using an apple cookie cutter, cut into shapes. Place directly on top of pie crust before baking OR bake separately. To bake separately, brush each lightly with the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar (that’s optional). Place onto a parchment paper or silicone baking mat-lined baking sheet and bake at 350°F (177°C) for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove and set aside to cool before decorating pie.
- Braided Pie Crust Edge: With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut six 14-inch-long, 1/4-inch-wide strips. Gently braid three strips. Brush edge of crust with egg wash, then carefully place braid around half of the pie and press lightly to secure. Repeat with remaining strips, then attach the two braids by pressing one into the other. Brush it all with egg wash. Here’s my full tutorial on how to braid pie crust.
Hey, the recipe says you can use frozen or fresh cranberries, but it doesn’t specify whether you need to thaw the frozen cranberries beforehand. Do you need to thaw the frozen cranberries first?
No need to thaw them first.
Wet fruit ruined my pie. I feel like the fruit should be cooked to reduce the liquid. I ended up with a puddle at the bottom which also soaked the bottom crust. Very disappointing.
Yummm absolutely delicious! Hav ebeen making regular apple pie for some time and my 4 yr old begged me to buy fresh cranberries because “she loves them”. Turns out fresh cranberries aren’t as sweet as they look lol. Wanted to utilize the leftovers and came across this recipe after some looking around… BEST. Recipe. Ever! Gives the pie an acidic note that plays off the apple’s sweetness well. The cinnamon and clove added a nice winter warmth and depth of flavor. Will be making again!
(I didn’t have nutmeg so omitted, used 1 large granny smith and 1 large crispy red apple and forgot to add the butter to the fruit mix- all came out great!)
Hi Sally! I have the Pampered Chef stoneware deep dish pie plate that is about 1.5″ deep. I plan to go with the crumble topping option rather than top lattice crust. Is there enough filling for my deeper pie plate? Thanks!
Hi Amy, there sure is. This yields a lot of filling, certainly enough for a pie dish 1.5 inches deep. (Mine is 1.8 inches deep!)
I have a pint of apple pie filling. I’m wondering if I could combine the canned pie filling (removing some of the liquid) with the orange zest and cranberries. Thoughts?
Hi Leslie, feel free to give it a try. If it’s apple pie filling you usually use and it sets up nicely, I can’t see why that wouldn’t work.
Sorry, I meant I had a quart of apple pie filling. Since the apple pie filling is pretty much cooked during the canning process, would this change the baking time at all?
I made this for Thanksgiving last year and it was a huge hit! Can I prep the pie Can I prep the pie and bake it the next day or will the crust get too soggy?
Hi Tina, so glad this pie was a hit! We don’t recommend prepping the pie and then baking it the next day, but here are all the ways we recommend making it ahead of time: A couple ways to make ahead of time! Make 1 day in advance—-after it cools, cover tightly and keep at room temperature. The pie crust dough can also be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Baked pie also freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving. Prepared filling can also be frozen up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.