There is just something about a good pie. A nice warm straight from the oven pie. We went to a diner near us several months back for dessert as a family. Our daughter ordered apple pie, which they served to her cold. Cold apple pie…no thanks. Funny enough she has been asking for pie for about two weeks, and I can’t wait to surprise her after work with this pie! Not only is this an apple pie, but has an added bonus of cranberries which not only packs amazing flavor but beautiful color, especially during the holiday season. After all the cookies a nice pie is a great alternative. I found this recipe while taking a tour of my friend Melissa’s blog. She is the owner of The Olive Blogger and offers a wide variety on her site from beverages to seasonal delights as well as main dishes. As soon as I saw this pie I knew that’s what I was going to make!
Funny enough the only thing I had to go out to buy were the cranberries. I had all the other ingredients in my kitchen already. It was a great day to bake as I had two hours to get something completed and wanted to clean the kitchen. Nothing like baking in a clean kitchen. Plus it filled the house with an amazing aroma and since its just days from Christmas I’ll take it! I even decided to use her crust recipe she has on her site and I’m thankful I did. I will surely use it again especially if I am making several pies because I had a good amount of dough leftover, enough for at least one more single pie crust.
One of the things I love the most about pies is that they aren’t as sweet as other desserts. I feel like fruit pies are always welcome at the end of meal and not so heavy. The sweet tart combination of this pie is a welcome change and fits the personalities of those around our table as well…sorry I just couldn’t stop myself!
Apple Cranberry Pie
4 medium to large apples (I used Granny Smith)
1 1/2 cups chopped cranberries (can use frozen, if so defrost prior to using)
2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 Egg yolk for brushing on the dough
Preheat oven to 375. Peel and slice the apples. The original recipe said to mix the cornstarch, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon and salt together then add to the apples – I just dumped it all on top because that’s kinda how I roll. Mix it all together. Add it to the prepared pie crust. Top with lattice style crust prior to baking. Crust recipe below.
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Turn oven down to 350 degrees until the crust is golden, the apples are softened and the pie is bubbly.
Click HERE for the original pie recipe.
Pie Crust
This crust is for one double crust pie or two single crust pies
2 1/2 Cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 Cup of unsalted butter cut into cubes
1/4 cup ice water (may need more, I needed almost 1/2 cup)
The original recipe makes the dough in a food processor, I made mine all by hand. Cut the really cold butter into tiny cubes. Add it to the flour and salt mixture. Using a pastry blender (kinda looks like a potato masher but sharper – if you have neither, you can use two butter knives to ‘cut’ the butter into the flour – I did this for years until I broke down and spent the $6 at the grocery store on the pastry blender). Once the mixture is all crumbly slowly add the water and mix with your had until a dough forms. Don’t overwork the dough or kneed it, just bring it all together. Then separate the dough into two pieces. The recipe called for you to chill it for an hour, but I rolled mine right away and it worked out ok – as a side note – I don’t follow instructions very well and I enjoy working with dough and have done so for a long time so I was confident in rolling it right away. Flour your board and pin prior to rolling – or place the dough between two sheets of wax paper and roll it out (my mom’s preferred method). After lining your pie pan, and filling the pie, roll out the other half of the dough, cut into strips (wish I had one of those cute cutters Melissa has, if you are in the same boat as me and don’t have one, I used my pizza cutter). Weave your strips across the top and brush with the beaten egg yolk prior to putting the pie into the oven.
For the original crust recipe click HERE
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