Description
This is my apple cranberry crumble pie. Underneath a delicious brown sugar and oat crumble topping you’ll find layers of sweet spiced apples and juicy tart cranberries… all atop a perfectly buttery and flaky pie crust. No need to pre-bake the crust. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries in this pie recipe.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 unbaked Flaky Pie Crust (what I used) or All-Butter Pie Crust*
- egg wash for pie crust: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon milk
Crumble Topping
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 6 Tablespoons (46g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, very cold and cubed
- 1/2 cup (40g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
Filling
- 6 cups (750–800g) 1/4-inch-thick apple slices (about 5 large peeled and cored apples)*
- 1 and 1/4 cups (130g) fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw)
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (31g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- The crust: Prepare my pie crust through step 5.
- Make the crumble topping: Whisk the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or forks until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the oats. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- After the pie dough chills, preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Place a baking sheet on the bottom oven rack, to catch any juices that may spill over the sides of the pie.
- Roll out the chilled pie dough onto a lightly floured surface. Remember, when rolling out the pie dough, always use gentle force with your rolling pin. Start from the center and work your way out in all directions, rotating the dough with your hands as you go. Roll it out into a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough in a 9-inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it’s smooth. For a beautiful edge, fold the overhanging dough back over the edge and use your hands to mold the edge into a nice thick rim around the pie. Crimp the edges with a fork or use your fingers to flute the edges. For visuals and a video of this, see how to crimp and flute pie crust. Brush the edges with egg wash. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes as you prepare the pie filling.
- Make the filling and assemble: In a large bowl, stir the apple slices, cranberries, brown sugar, flour, orange zest, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg together until thoroughly combined. Spoon the filling into the chilled crust. Sprinkle the cold crumble topping all over the filling.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Then, keeping the pie in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C). Place a pie crust shield (see Notes for homemade shield) on the edges to prevent them from over-browning. Continue baking the pie until the filling is bubbling around the edges, 35–40 more minutes. If you want to be precise, the internal temperature of the filling taken with an instant-read thermometer should be around 200°F (93°C) when done. Tip: If needed towards the end of bake time, remove the pie crust shield and tent an entire piece of foil on top of the pie if the top looks like it’s getting too brown.
- Remove pie from the oven, place on a cooling rack, and cool for at least 3 hours before slicing and serving. Filling will be too juicy if the pie is warm when you slice it. Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.
- Cover and store leftover pie at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: A couple ways to make ahead of time! Make 1 day in advance: After the pie cools, cover tightly and keep at room temperature. The pie crust dough can also be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Baked pie also freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving. Note that the topping will taste a bit mushy after freezing/thawing. Prepared filling can also be frozen up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Apple Peeler | Glass Mixing Bowl | Silicone Spatula | Rolling Pin | Pie Dish | Pastry Brush | Pastry Cutter | Large Baking Sheet | Pie Crust Shield | Cooling Rack | Instant Read Thermometer
- Pie Crust: Both linked pie crust recipes make 2 crusts. You only need 1 crust for this pie, so freeze the 2nd half for another use or another one-crust pie like pumpkin pie, pecan pie, or ultra creamy banana cream pie.
- No Oats in Topping: If you want to skip the oats in the topping, use the same topping from my apple crumble pie.
- Apples: See blog post above for the best apples to use. For this pie, I usually use 2 Granny Smith and 3 Honeycrisp or Pink Lady apples.
- Aluminum Foil Pie Crust Shield: You can purchase a pie crust shield or make one from aluminum foil. Cut a 14-inch square of aluminum foil. Fold in half. Cut out a 5-inch semi-circle on the folded edge. Unfold. Carefully fit the aluminum foil over the pie crust edges, securing down on the sides as best you can (careful, the pie is hot!), leaving the center of the pie exposed.