Cranberry Pie Recipe

This delicious cranberry pie is totally worthy of your holiday table! The best part is it’s an all-natural pie recipe, and the pie is so good everyone will be raving about it.

The November and December holidays are here, and I admit to having poor timing. Leave it to me to try to sell my house right when the jingle bell frenzy is starting to kick in.

My house is about 70% packed and ready to move. This means I need an easy dessert to make with minimal tools and dishes, and one I can prep ahead of time to share with family is an absolute necessity right now. I simply can’t do a lot of cooking or baking this year. Make-ahead meals and easy dessert recipes like cranberry pie are seriously amazing. They are responsible for saving my holidays this season!

I was able to put together a cranberry pie between appointments to show my house. It’s fast and easy, and one of the best parts is dessert is prepped and ready to be baked fresh for the holiday meal. It doesn’t get much easier for this busy girl, and the taste is out of this world.

Cranberry lovers everywhere will appreciate this delicious cranberry pie. It has the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Top a slice of the pie with a little honey-sweetened whipped cream, and you’ve got a wholesome, amazingly delicious holiday dessert!

Cranberry Pie For Thanksgiving And Christmas

This is a wonderful pie option for the holidays. It’s a unique pie that I can pretty much bet nobody else will bring to share. Cranberry pie isn’t the most predominant dessert you’ll find on holiday tables, but it totally should be. Cranberry lovers will flip for this pie recipe!

What Is A Cranberry Pie?

Much like blueberry pie, it’s a fresh fruit, double-crusted pie made with fresh cranberries. It’s worth mentioning that you should never try to make this with dried cranberries. You need the fresh berries to make this pie work, and you won’t regret giving it a shot.

Choosing Your Crust

The crust you choose is important. It plays a big role in the overall flavor of the finished pie. You don’t want a crust that is flavored, so avoid nut-based crusts or cookie crumble crusts. You want a basic crust that will allow the cranberry flavor to shine. Here are two suggestions for making your own homemade pie crust recipe quickly, easily, and with great basic crust flavor:

1. Whole Wheat Pie Crust
2. Oat Flour Pie Crust – For gluten-free folks

Can You Use A Streusel Topping Instead?

You can! A standard streusel topping will involve the use of light brown sugar, all-purpose flour, and a few other things that my readership here tries to avoid. So, in the interest of using better quality ingredients, opt for unprocessed sugar such as Sucanat, coconut sugar, date sugar, or Monk fruit. Nobody will notice the switch, and it will sweeten the top of the pie in a way that perfectly balances the tartness of the berries.

The Pie Pan

This recipe is formulated for an 8-inch standard pie pan. If you want to make this a deep dish pie, opt for a slightly smaller pie pan, if you can find it, or add some of the above additions to make sure you have enough filling to fill a deep pie plate.

In either case, any of the above two mentioned pie crust recipes should give you enough pie dough to also handle a deeper dish.

What To Serve With Cranberry Pie

The best pie sides are usually the most simple. Serve this with a bit of freshly whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Recipe Additions And Variations

If you want to try adding to the flavors of this cranberry pie, try adding one or two of these suggestions:

• Add 1 tbsp. orange zest and maybe 1-2 tbsp. orange juice. Just a small splash.
• Add 1 tbsp. lemon zest
• Add ½ cup chopped walnuts.
• Add ½ cup chopped pecans.
• Add ¼ tsp. almond extract.
• Add 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract.

Cranberry Pie Ingredients

Fresh cranberries – I use organic because berries tend to carry a lot of pesticides.

Unsweetened apple sauce – This should be 100% pure apple sauce. Nothing else added. Not even cinnamon.

Honey – Any type you like. You can use maple syrup, too, but the pie won’t be as sweet. You may want to add a few drops of liquid stevia to help with that.

Lemon zest – Fresh lemon zest grated from a fresh lemon.

Arrowroot powder – Or cornstarch, in a pinch.

Ground cinnamon

Salt – Optional. Add a small pinch of salt to help bring out the sweetness of the pie. No more than an eighth of a teaspoon at most.

Standard pie crust – Any type you are comfortable using.

How To Make Cranberry Pie

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix all cranberry filling ingredients in a large bowl and stir until well mixed.

Transfer the pie filling to a food-safe bag or container if making ahead of time.

When you’re ready to make your pie, simply thaw the cranberry mixture (if frozen) and pour the contents into your pie crust.

Top with crust.

Vent the top of your pie by making 3 to 4 small cuts in the top crust. You can brush on an egg wash using one beaten large egg if you want that glossy look to your crust. This is optional.

Transfer the entire pie dish onto a baking sheet and bake for approximately 1 hour or until you see juices bubbling around the edges or through the vents.

Cool on a wire rack, cut, and serve.

Storing Cranberry Pie

Before baking – If you made the pie ahead of time, you can store the unbaked pie in the fridge for up to 2 days. I recommend storing the crust and the filling separately. Otherwise, your crust may take on too much moisture.

After baking – Wrap the pie in plastic wrap or put it into a covered pie container. Store the pie in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Freezing Cranberry Pie

Before baking – If you make this ahead of time, I recommend freezing the crust and filling separately.

After baking – Wrap the pie well by covering it in plastic wrap and then putting it into a freezer-safe container or zipper-top plastic bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Reheating Cranberry Pie

Frozen unbaked – Preheat your oven, and then put the frozen filling into the pie crust. Place the pie directly into the oven; do not thaw first. In this scenario, it’s best to either thaw the top crust ahead of time so you can mold it onto the frozen pie or don’t use a top crust at all. It won’t be as pretty, but it’s really the only other option.

Frozen baked – You’ll want to thaw this in the fridge for at least 24 hours, maybe a little longer. Then, you can cut and serve as needed straight from the fridge.

Fridge unbaked – Mold your top pie crust onto the pie after filling it, and place it directly into the preheated oven.

Fridge baked – This pie can be served cold, straight from the fridge. But if you want to warm it, your best bet is to do so in a microwave. If you must warm it in the oven, make sure to put a loose piece of foil over the pie so that it doesn’t burn the already-baked crust.

More Pie Recipes

• Pumpkin Pie
• Apple Pie
• Pecan Pie

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