As the weeks rushed by I found myself without any cooking plans for Thanksgiving. I know I’ve mentioned I’m not the best planner, but I do always have a menu written out somewhere at least a week before the big day. There are usually some amazing recipes that have caught my eye printed out or the magazine pages bookmarked. I do really love trying new side dishes for Thanksgiving and Christmas. But this year I just couldn’t get into the menu planning groove. Family things came up and food wasn’t on my mind like it usually is. I didn’t even bake my desserts until the morning of Thanksgiving.

It was a beautiful afternoon spent with my family and my parents and my brother and his children (sorry, I know the holiday is way over and most of you are already on Christmas but my mom reminded me I didn’t even mention Thanksgiving in my last post!). My mom made her usual delicious turkey and hubs and I made some sides. I made an incredible sweet potato recipe from November Bon Appetit. I promise to share it with you because it was THAT good!

I was considering which pies to make from some magazines from last year. Last year I baked an apple-grape pie and it was really good. This was a pie I found in Cooking Light November 2011. I used the crust recipe I normally do and did the filling a little different.

My favorite apple pies I’ve shared here:
Grape and Apple Pie
Apple-Limoncello Pie
Salted Caramel Apple Pie

Some cranberry apple pie baking tips

I am a huge pie lover. My heart skips a beat for an amazing apple pie. If you love cranberries, you have to give this recipe a try. The filling has that little tart surprise in each bite from the cranberries. The crust is the same crust I always make that I found in an older Martha Stewart book. It never fails me. Well, it did fail me a little this Thanksgiving. It really wasn’t the pie crusts fault. It was my fault. I was rushing and I made two different pies.

My pumpkin pie crust turned out dreamily. This crust had some major technical issues. I dealt with it and tried to roll it out the way it should roll out. It just wasn’t happening. I couldn’t fight it any longer and decided to just press the bottom into the pie crust before I tossed the whole thing away. I had much better luck with the lattice strips.

Probably because I found a little patience and let it chill a little longer before working with it. But if you do come across an issue with the bottom of your crust, it’s totally fine to press it into the pie plate. Nobody will notice the difference. If you aren’t inclined to make your own crust, go ahead and use a ready made one. I got plenty of compliments on a pie I thought almost wouldn’t be. Would you like to see some photos on how to roll out the crust? I shared some here last year with my grape and apple pie.

How to make cranberry apple pie?

Cranberry-Apple Pie

Yield: Makes 1 double-crust for a 9-inch pie

Pie Crust Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons margarine or chilled vegetable shortening
1/4 cup ice water

Filling Ingredients:
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 Tablespoons butter
2 1/2 pounds Gala apples (about 6), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
2/3 cup grade B maple syrup

For Egg Wash:
1 lightly beaten egg

Directions:

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Cranberry Apple Pie

Cranberry Apple Pie is my new favorite fall pie. A tender flaky lattice topped pie crust is loaded with a fresh cranberries, apples, warm spices. This delicious traditional apple pie with added cranberries makes for a spectacular holiday dessert!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time1 hr

1 min

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: apple pie, Baking, cranberries, Thanksgiving

Servings: 1 9-inch pie

Author: Lora

Ingredients

• PIE CRUST
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons margarine or chilled vegetable shortening
• 1/4 cup ice water
• FILLING
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 2 1/2 pounds Gala apples about 6, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
• 2/3 cup grade B maple syrup
• EGG WASH
• 1 lightly beaten egg
• turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top

Instructions

• CRANBERRY PIE FILLING
• Dredge all the apple slices in the freshly squeezed lemon juice to prevent browning and to add flavor. Toss the apples in the flour. Set the prepared apples aside.
• In a medium-sized skillet on medium heat, toss in the brown sugar and butter. When the butter has melted, add the apples into the brown sugar mixture. Cook them in the mixture for about 5 minutes. Fold the cranberries and maple syrup into the apple mixture and set aside to cool for about ten minutes in a small bowl.
• HAND METHOD
• In a large bowl, sift the flour and salt. Cut the chilled butter and margarine into 1-tablespoon bits and add to the flour. With a pastry cutter, work flour and shortening together until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the ice water little by little pressing the pastry together into a ball. Wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
• It is very important to work the pastry as little as possible. Don't over handle. A secret to light, flaky pastry is to keep the mixture cool, add as little water as possible, and mix only as much as necessary.
• FOOD PROCESSOR METHOD
• Put flour and salt in bowl of machine. Cut butter and margarine into flour. Process a few seconds until mixture resembles coarse meal. Drop by drop add the water, processing very briefly. The whole process would take 20 to 30 seconds. Wrap and chill the pastry for at least 1 hour.
• If pastry has been chilled for a long time, let it sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before rolling.
• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• Lightly flour a pastry board, marble counter, or kitchen counter. Divide the pastry in half. Pat each piece of pastry into a flat round. Lightly flour the rolling pin. Roll pastry in one direction only, turning pastry continually to prevent it from sticking to the surface.
• Using pie plate as a guide, measure rolled-out pastry -- it should be slightly larger than the pie plate and 1/8-inch thick. Fold rolled pastry circle in half so you can lift it more easily. Unfold, gently fitting the pastry into the pie plate, allowing pastry to hang evenly over the edge. Roll out the second half and carefully cut out lattice strips. Fill the pie crust with the filling and gently place the lattice strips on top of the filling.
• Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle on a little turbinado (raw) sugar. It makes the pie sparkly and really pretty.
• Place pie on baking sheet.
• Bake pie until crust is golden brown and juices bubble, 50 minutes–1 hour.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Notes

DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Serve with ice cream, if desired.

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