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. Or if you want to skip the top crust completely, try this apple cranberry crumble pie.
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.
Apple Cranberry Pie Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Instructions
- Prepare my pie crust recipe through step 5.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
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