Print Recipe

Cranberry Apple Holiday Pie

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pie dough for two 9 inch crusts You can also use a crumb topping if you want to
• 6 medium-large Granny Smith apples sliced about 1/4 inch thick
• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• zest of one orange
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar Use 3/4 cups if your crowd likes a sweeter pie
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg fresh grated is really nice, but ground nutmeg is fine too
• 2 teaspoons fresh orange juice I just squeeze half of the orange I zested
• 3 tablespoons corn starch

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Roll one round of dough into a 12 inch circle, placing it into a 9 1/2 inch deep dish pan and leaving a bit of overhang. Roll second round of dough to a 12 inch circle and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Put both in refrigerator to chill.
3. Peel and slice apples about 1/4 inch thick. To help the apples lay more compactly, I cube some and leave others sliced. Toss with cranberries, 1/2 cup sugar, orange zest, and orange juice. Let stand for 5 minutes. Mix cornstarch, cinnamon, and 1T of sugar in a small bowl. Toss apple/cranberry mixture with the cornstarch mixture.
4. Optional - over the years, I have started to make any apple pie filling on the stove first. You can stick to the method above or you can do this. Place sliced apples, the 1/2 cup sugar and the orange zest into a skillet or large pan/dutch oven. Cook down over medium heat until the apples start to give. If they produced a lot of juice, you can pour some off. Add the cranberries and let them cook for just a bit. They should still hold their shape. Add the cornstarch/spice/sugar mixture and stir until thickened and well blended. This only takes a minute or two. Remove from heat and place into a bowl. Add orange juice and cool completely.
5. Place contents into chilled pie shell.
6. Now the fun part – the top crust. You have a lot of options for what you want to do here. You can leave it in-tact and vent it with decorative slits. Or you can do a lattice crust. This pie is so pretty and should not be hidden by a full top crust! For this pie, I played around with a peek-a-boo crust, cutting holes in the top crust with a small round cutter. I didn't love it, but it was fun to experiment. I won’t go into a lattice tutorial on this post, but there are plenty on the internet or on the Black and Blue pie recipe here. I also will not judge you if you opt for a crumble top - big fan over here.
7. Once your have secured your top crust and formed your edges, brush lightly with milk and sprinkle turbinado sugar over the crust.
8. Bake for 25 minutes at 425, then lower the heat to 350 and bake for another 30. I usually place the pie in the lower third of the oven to encourage a fully baked bottom crust. When the juices bubble, your pie is ready! Let the pie cool completely before serving.