Obviously the best pie on the planet is of the apple pie variety. (Don’t you dare fight me on that, pumpkin pie!) Today we’re jazzing up traditional apple pie by adding all sorts of fun like tart cranberries and the smooth & sweet flavor of almond.
This is a mega festive and indulgent pie recipe and I’ve been dying to share it with you since I first made it back in JULY.
So let’s get right into it. I have plenty of photos for you today because (1) I’m obsessed with photographing pie and (2) I want to walk you through the process start to finish. OK and (3) I can’t get enough cranberry almond apple pie. ♥
Today’s recipe is a lot like my apple cranberry pie. I’m not trying to pick faves or anything, but today’s version totally ROCKS.
We’re doing things a little differently this year. First, there’s more apples and a little less cranberry. Cranberry simply adds a POP of color and burst of freshness, rather than taking over the pie’s flavor. We want to concentrate on the almond. Which brings me to…
1 Very Special Ingredient!
We’re also using a V.S.I. (Very Special Ingredient, of course): almond paste. Do you bake with almond paste often? I mostly use it during the holiday season, but have been enjoying using it year round lately. Its flavor is deliciously awesome. My go-to? Odense Almond Paste. When I was testing recipes for Sally’s Cookie Addiction last year, it was clearly evident which almond paste brand reigned supreme in the baking aisle. I kept going back to Odense. Imported from Denmark, Odense has the best flavor, best texture, and is easiest to work with. No others compared. In fact, they don’t even come close.
Odense almond paste transforms ordinary apple pie into the apple pie that no one will stop raving about. Trust me. I tested and baked this pie 4 months ago, brought it over to my friends for taste-testing and they *still* ask me about it.
The pie’s easy. The filling combines apples, cornstarch, cranberries (fresh or frozen work, just like in cranberry sauce), sugar, and spices. You’ll spoon it all over the almond paste. See the photo above? That’s the almond paste all flattened out on top of the pie crust. It will melt down and get super friendly with all that apple and spice flavor, creating one incredibly unique filling. One that’ll make you go “wait, is this apple pie? Why does it taste better than ANYTHING I’VE EVER HAD BEFORE?” That’s the magic of Odense almond paste. ♥
Once the almond paste and filling are all set, get to work on your top crust. I encourage you to have lots of fun with this step. Get creative, take your time, enjoy it, and don’t stress!
My Lattice Topping
I made an easy lattice pie crust with 1/2-inch strips grouped together in threes. Then, with the remaining pie dough, I grabbed my leaf cookie cutters and added some pretty autumn-inspired shapes to arrange around the edges.
Oh! And I just realized I didn’t even mention anything about the pie crust we’re using. Though, if you’ve read my blog before, I’m sure it comes as no surprise to you: buttery flaky homemade pie crust for the win. I also have an all butter pie crust if you’d like to try that instead!
Brush your gorgeous pie topping with egg wash, sprinkle with coarse sugar for a little sparkle, then place the pie in the fridge while the oven preheats. Remember, cold pie dough is successful pie dough. And I can’t stress that enough.
My friend who tried this cranberry almond apple pie back in July just texted me asking when I’m posting this recipe so she can see all the pictures, save the recipe, and bake it. I’m not even kidding. It’s the pie everyone will talk about this year and I’m so excited for you to fall in love with it too. Your favorite Thanksgiving pie recipes are begging you to add this one to the lineup. And don’t forget a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream on top when serving!
Odense almond paste, you change everything. 🙂
Print
Cranberry Almond Apple Pie
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 7 hours
- Yield: 8-10 servings
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This cranberry almond apple pie is the Thanksgiving dessert that everyone will be talking about!
Ingredients
- Homemade Pie Crust (my recipe makes 2 crusts; 1 for bottom 1 for top)
- 4 large apples, cored, peeled, and sliced into 1/2-inch slices (about 7–8 cups, or 900–1000g)
- 1 cup (100g) fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw)
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (14g) cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 7 ounces (198g) Odense Almond Paste
- 2 Tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk
- optional: coarse sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- The crust: Prepare my pie crust recipe through step 5.
- Make the filling: Stir the apples, cranberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Set filling aside as the oven preheats.
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
- Roll out the chilled pie dough: 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 9×2 inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth.
- Unwrap the almond paste. Flatten it out into a 9-inch disc to fit snug into the bottom of the pie. Place on top of the pie crust. Spoon the filling on top of the almond paste, 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 arrange the lattice.
- Arrange 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 sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut 24 1/2 inch strips. Remove the pie from the refrigerator and carefully thread the pie dough strips over and under one another to create the look in the pictures pie, 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. Flute the edges or crimp with a fork. With any leftover dough, cut into fall-inspired shapes and place on top of the lattice. (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.)
- Lightly brush the top of the pie crust with the egg wash mixture and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
- 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.
Notes
- Make Ahead / Freezing Instructions: A couple ways to make ahead of time! Make 1 day in advance– after it 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. Prepared filling can also be frozen up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
- Special Tools: Glass Mixing Bowls | Pastry Cutter | Rolling Pin | Pizza Cutter | Cute Leaf Cookie Cutters | Glass Scalloped Pie Dish | Pie Crust Baking Shield | Pastry Brush | Coarse Sparkling Sugar
- Apples: I prefer to use two types of apples when I make pie. Half a tart variety (like Granny Smith) and the other half a sweeter variety such as Honeycrisp, Fuji, Pink Lady, or Jazz.
Keywords: cranberry almond apple pie
A delicious pie! I cut down on the regular sugar and added brown sugar. I decorated it with cut out pie leaves, it’s a definite win for my thanksgiving dessert table
★★★★★
I want to try this but my husband isn’t crazy about pies; he prefers crisps. Do you think this recipe would work well if I just mixed the almond paste in and then topped with a crisp topping instead?
Hi Julie, you can definitely try that! The crisp topping in this bourbon cherry crisp would probably be great on the cranberry almond apple version.
Would you suggest using almond paste with traditional apple pie or only in this pie? I am very interested in trying it!
Hi Chelsea! You can certainly use this almond paste in other pie recipes, but we love how they flavor pairs with the cranberries.
This recipe was easy to follow and the videos helped. The dough – I used Sally’s recipe – came together super easy. My kitchen was warmer, so I did need to place the dough back in the fridge at points. The balance of cranberries and apples was perfect and the dough was flaky.
★★★★★
I see that you could make this as tartlets too, could I make this recipe into hand pies (not using a mini pie dish)? If so, how many would you make? Would you double the crust recipe? And do you have any advice on it?
Hi Natalie, you could use this filling to make hand pies like we do with these apple hand pies. Enjoy!
Hi Sally,
What kind of apples would you use for this pie?
Hi Alison! Use any apples you love! We enjoy a mix of tart and sweet apples like Granny Smith and Honeycrisp.
I made this pie with homemade almond paste and my own butter crust (and all that was great) but my filling never really developed? I used Granny Smith,honey crisp apples, and frozen cranberries, but the apples were still fairy crisp after the full baking time. A friend noticed that my oven grate was not in the middle, (but on the next position up from the middle.) would that affect baking time? I love this pie and I am going to make it again, but I’d live to figure out why my filling never really happened. Any theories are welcome
Hi Leney, the oven position could be the culprit but what will definitely work is cutting the apple slices thinner. I’ve never tried this recipe with homemade almond paste– is it on the thinner side? Or quite thick?
The recipe I used made a sort of paste—similar to play dough in texture
I wasn’t sure if mine came out grainier than the product you mentioned. But I will get some of type you recommended and compare. I will let you know! I loved the recipe btw! Your blog is my favorite I will post the recipe I used for the almond paste too.
★★★★★
I made this pie and entered it into a harvest pie contest and won! It is great!
★★★★★
Congratulations, Nicole! We’re so glad this pie was a big hit.
Absolutely delicious!!!!!
It took me at least an extra 45m to fully bake. I regularly kept an eye on the bottom of the crust (glass pan) to make sure it was cooked.
★★★★★
OMG!
Made this pie for Christmas lunch and it is my most favourite pie in the entire world! It is so delicious I can’t believe it!! I used Sallys flaky crust and topped it off with a crumble instead of the lattice crust (the latter looks beautiful but I had a lot to do and a crumble is less time consuming) and I do no regret my decision, I love the crunchy buttery bits with the filling. It’s an amazing pie, do yourself a favour and give it a try!
★★★★★
I was wondering if I could change this up and make it into individual small rustic tartlets?
Yes that should work, Deborah. Enjoy!
Hi Sally! First of all, I love your blog + recipes! I’ve just made the lemon meringue pie (with your fantastic crust) so far but it was amazing! I really want to make this almond apple cranberry pie for the holidays I just have one question (which really can be applied to other pie recipes): I am a big fan of pies with a crumble topping, could use that for this pie instead of the top dough/lattice? Or does this specific recipe work best when topped with crust/ dough? Just curious, I’m sure it’s delicious either way!
Hi Marian, Yes a crumble topping would be great! You can either use the topping from this Cranberry Pear Crumble Pie or Apple Crumble Pie for more a more nutty flavor.
This pie was delicious and went over so well at our gathering. I will definitely make this again. And it is a simple alternative to add the cranberries but leaves a lasting impression. Soooo good
I recently made this pie to enter into a little community pie baking contest my apartment complex held before Thanksgiving. This was my first time including the almond paste later so I wasn’t entirely sure how it would taste, but I ended up winning first prize in the taste category! (The prize was a huge turkey for Thanksgiving – Whoo!!) One of the volunteer judges asked me if I share recipes and I told her it was from my favorite baking blog, and she was familiar with Sally’s Baking Addiction as well 🙂 Amazing recipe, I can’t wait to make it again!
★★★★★
Love this pie but could it be made, with adjustments, in 9 x 13 pan? I am feeding a crowd and would like this as an option on buffet.
Hi Kathy, I haven’t tried pie in a 9×13 pan but to feed a crowd I love making slab pies in a jelly roll pan! You can see an example of one here: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/apple-slab-pie-maple-icing/ and you can certainly change up the filling and use the almond paste from this recipe.
Delicious! I made a diy almond paste, but everything else was to the t of the recipe. It looked beautiful and tasted like it came from a bakery! Thank you Sally!
★★★★★
I made this pie for Thanksgiving and it was sooo good. I didn’t have time to make the pie crust so I used Trader Joe’s frozen pie crust and it turned out perfect. Thank you Sally for the recipe!
Hi Sally!
I baked this pie a couple weeks ago but was not able to eat it right away so I put it in the freezer to pull out later for Thanksgiving. I thawed it overnight in the frige and pulled it out a bit before dinner. I found that the bottom was a fairly most and crumbled. It still tasted great, but I was wondering if you would know why it was so moist? Note the cranberries were not originally frozen. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipes with us! I have loved making some of your dishes over the last few years.
Thanks!
Lindsey
Hi Lindsey! Are you saying the bottom crust was too moist? And also crumbled?
I assume it was this way after baking/freezing/thawing. Did you let it completely cool before freezing?
Hi Sally,
Yes the crust is moist on the bottom and as a result falls apart. It cooled completely before I put it in the freezer. I did not put it in for a couple of days in fact. I had it in the freezer for about 10 to 12 days before taking it out and thawing it in the fridge. I was wondering if it could be caused by the apples?
Thanks for the reply!
I just made this for a Thanksgiving pie sharing at my church! Smells amazing and looks even better! Thanks so much, Sally for all your amazing work!
Hi Sally!
I am a huge fan of your pie crust!! Its absolutely the BEST! I made this pie over the weekend & I was very skeptical about the almond paste & was worried that all i’d taste would be almond but that is not the case at all. It melded very nicely into the filling & was just so so tasty!! I knew i’d like the cran/apple combo as I had made that one last year but the almond paste takes it to another level!! Now I don’t know which one to make for Thanksgiving, this or the salted caramel apple….. 🙂
This sounds amazing!
Do you have a recipe for ABC pie?? It’s Apples, Blueberries, cherrries?
I’ve searched but can’t find one. What recipe could I use and substitute the fruits?
Thanks so much!!!
I don’t. Depending on how much of each fruit you use, you could use this cherry pie or blueberry pie as the base and add in your different fruits. The blueberry pie base may be the best to use. But if you’re mostly using apple, you could use this apple pie as the base and replace some of the apples with the other fruits.
One question about this. How do you cut your pies so perfectly with lattice tops? I tried that once and all the crust broke and did not look pretty like yours does. Also, where can I find the almond paste? Thanks!
Hi Kyryiann! I find almond paste in the baking aisle of my regular grocery store. Make sure your pie is fully cool when slicing it. Sometimes it will break, sometimes it won’t. Pie slices never really stay perfect!
I’ve never really cared what it looked like but if I were going to photograph a lattice pie slice, I’d use kitchen shears to carefully snip the top, then cut through the slice with a knife, if you want it to be picture perfect. Probably be easier on subsequent slices too, that first slice is always a mess haha.
If I were to leave out the cranberries (for a little who wants “traditional” apple pie) would I just add more apple? And how much more.. 1?
I would add about 9-10 cups of apples total. The cranberries don’t take up that much “room” so you can get away with just a little bit more apple.