Cranberries are, for me, one of the best things about late fall and they show up right in time, just as all of the other colors disappear. The ginkgo trees, always one of the last November holdouts, simultaneously ejected their green/yellow leaves last week and ever since, pretty much everything outside is looking rather… greige, but not like the charming shade of the boots I want. And then, out of nowhere, perfect red berries appear and things look up.
I love cranberries the way I do sour cherries in June, except cranberries are easier to come by (here, at least), keep longer, cost less, have less of a blink-and-you-missed-them season and freeze seemingly indefinitely perfectly. I think it would be chromatically impossible to find a more stunning shade of red than the one they collapse into when cooked. Yet taste-wise, I know they scare people because they’re aggressively tart and sour — they could make your average Eureka lemon seem like a wimp.
But this can be the best part. My favorite foods embrace contrasts — savory against typically sweet, salt against decadent desserts, caramelized crunch atop a rich casserole — and cranberries, especially twisted with sweet, rich ingredients like this ice cream I need someone to make for me right now, really get to shine.
You rarely see straight-up cranberry pies. They’re usually cut with chunks of apples or pears, seemingly afraid of their own intensity but I vowed this year to tackle my own at last. I found that the trick to making a palatable cranberry pie was to, yes, sweeten them more than I would other fruits, but also to provide a great contrast, here a thick cinnamon-scented, oat-and-pecan crumble on top, that’s finished, like all things worth eating, with a shower of powdered sugar, a good dollop of sweetened vanilla whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top.
Thanksgiving is on Pinterest this year: The Smitten Kitchen Pinterest page is all decked out for November and December. Need more Pumpkin ideas? Savory or Sweet Thanksgiving ideas? Homemade Food Gifts? Or maybe just All The Cookies? So do we, and we’ve got you covered.
One year ago: Parsley Leaf Potatoes and Sweet Potato Cake with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting
Two years ago: Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette
Three years ago: Dijon-Braised Brussels Sprouts
Four years ago: Sweet Corn Spoonbread
Five years ago: Gingerbread Apple Upside-Down Cake
Six years ago: Walnut Tartlets and Cauliflower Gratin
Seven years ago: Chile Garlic Egg Noodles
Eight years ago: Wild Mushroom Pirogies and Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake (which I make every year, always)
And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Carrot Salad with Tahini and Crisped Chickpeas
1.5 Years Ago: Two Classic Sangrias
2.5 Years Ago: Rhubarb Snacking Cake
3.5 Years Ago: Spring Salad with New Potatoes
Cranberry Pie with Thick Pecan Crumble
Despite the contrast from the brown sugar, oat, cinnamon and toasted pecan crumble on top, the shower of powdered sugar, the sweetened vanilla whipped cream or ice cream that I know you wouldn’t serve this without, this is still, at its core, a tart pie. It may not be for everyone, but it is definitely for us. Cranberries are excellent pie berries, it turns out, so high in pectin that you’re at little risk for a sloshy pie or “soggy bottom” (crust!). Par-baking the crust is optional, but of course will keep the base the most crisp. I like to cook this filling for a few minutes on the stove; it will probably be okay without it (just needing 10 to 15 minutes more baking time) but it gives you a chance to get the berries a little loose and lightly crushed, while reducing the overall baking time, which is, delightfully, under an hour. Note: Your topping will look less messy and loose than mine. I was a little distracted while baking this, and added too many oats.
Yield: 1 standard 9-inch pie (not deep-dish)
Crust
1 1/4 cups (155 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons (6 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) fine sea or table salt
1 stick (4 ounces or 115 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/4 cup (60 ml) very cold water, plus an additional tablespoon if needed
Filling
4 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (from 1 1/2 12-ounce bags)
1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 to 2 more tablespoons, if desired, to taste
A few gratings of orange zest (yes, clementine zest works great here too)
A pinch of salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Streusel
2/3 cup rolled oats or 1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon coarse or sea salt
3/4 cup pecans, toasted if you have the time
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
To serve
Powdered sugar, sweetened whipped cream with a splash of vanilla extract or vanilla ice cream
Make the pie dough:
- By hand, with my one-bowl method: In the bottom of a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. (Some people like to do this by freezing the stick of butter and coarsely grating it into the flour, but I haven’t found the results as flaky.) Add 1/4 cup cold water and stir with a spoon or flexible silicone spatula until large clumps form. Use your hands to knead the dough together, right in the bottom of the bowl. If necessary to bring the dough together, you can add the last tablespoon of water.
- With a food processor: In the work bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt and sugar. Add butter and pulse machine until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. Turn mixture out into mixing bowl. Add 1/4 cup cold water and stir with a spoon or flexible silicone spatula until large clumps form. Use your hands to knead the dough together, right in the bottom of the bowl. If necessary to bring the dough together, you can add the last tablespoon of water.
- Both methods: Wrap dough in a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 48 hours, or you can quick-firm this in the freezer for 15 minutes. Longer than 2 days, it’s best to freeze it until needed.
Form the crust: On a floured counter, roll the dough out into a 12 to 13-inch circle-ish shape. Fold dough gently in quarters without creasing and transfer to a 9-inch standard (not deep-dish) pie plate. Unfold dough and trim overhang to about 1/2-inch. Fold overhang under edge of pie crust and crimp decoratively. Return to fridge until ready to fill.
[Optional: If you’d like to par-bake the crust, once you’ve rolled it out, freeze it for 10 minutes inside your pie tin, until solid. Prick unbaked crust with a fork several times. Line it with lightly buttered foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans or pennies. Bake at 400°F (205°C) on rimmed baking sheet 15 minutes. Remove paper or foil and weights, and bake 5 to 10 more minutes until crust is golden brown and lightly crisp.]
Heat oven: (Or reduce oven heat, if you just par-baked your crust) to 375°F (190°C).
Make the filling: Combine all filling ingredients — no need to defrost frozen cranberries, they’ll just need a couple extra minutes to warm up — in a medium saucepan over medium heat. After about 5 minutes, berries will begin to leak juices. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes more until filling is loose. If desired, you can lightly crush the mixture once or twice with a potato masher, but try to leave most berries intact. Transfer filling to a bowl to let it cool slightly for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the crumble topping.
Make the topping: If using whole oats, grind them to a powder in a food processor. Add pecans and coarsely grind them too. Add remaining ingredients except the butter, pulsing a few times to combine. Add butter, pulsing until crumbles form. Sprinkle topping over cranberry filling.
Bake pie: For 45 to 50 minutes, until juices are bubbling enough that they splash a bit onto the crumb topping. If pie browns too quickly, cover top with a piece of foil for remaining baking time. Transfer to a wire rack to cool a bit before serving showered with powdered sugar and alongside whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
I would be so proud to bring this dessert to the the Thanksgiving table…..like swelling with pride proud. Wow. I love the red too. Red brings so much to the Thanksgiving & Christmas table. And I was just reading that cranberries have among the most anti-aging, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory anti-oxideants of any fruit!
This looks amazing! I love the tartness of cranberries. Do you have any suggestions for a substitute for pecans? They’re a bit harder to come by in my area. Thanks! (and thanks for all of the recipes–each one I have made has been a hit with the stomachs around me!)
You can usually use walnuts interchangeably with pecans.
This looks amazing! I love super tart crisps and pies. The thick streusel to balance the tartness is so smart.
Any way to avoid the pecans? Nut-allergic here…just wondering what I could substitute.
That looks wonderful, and a very interesting addition to the Thanksgiving pie repertory.
Instead of pecans — Walnuts or almonds, for sure.
To avoid the pecans entirely — I’d make more of just an oat-flour streusel. I don’t have the proportions off the top of my head, but you can make everything as-is minus the pecans, and add additional spoonfuls or oats or flour (or alternate each) until the mixture comes together. You’ll be just fine without the nuts.
Yes! I love cranberries, my sister and I were just talking about possible cranberry desserts the other day, so thank you!
How do you think this would work without the crust, as a crisp/crumble? I love cranberries – my favorite part of Thanksgiving is the cranberry sauce – and this sounds great. Thanks!
I know this is a suggestion for Tgiving, but could you use raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or peaches???
The magical ice cream link isn’t working.
Jacob looks amazingly mature in the elevator photo. We see him grow a little bit older about twice a week, but there’s something about this photo that makes him look like he’s a young man all of a sudden.
I like the cranberry to topping ratio. Might have to convince my very traditional father to branch out in the pie department this Thanksgiving. He is strictly apple, pecan, and… mincemeat (!?).
Can I have this right now? Cranberries are honestly one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving too.
Couple of link issues: the link ” savory against typically sweet/a>” has the ending tag in it, and then the cranberry ice cream link doesn’t work because it also has some HTML in it.
A whole pie of cranberries? I can only dream of such an indulgence here in Australia! They are so hard to find, let alone find fresh ones. However when I do track them down I am saving them all for this pie. This pie couldn’t be more perfect for season!
Do I need to pre-back the crust, or can it bake with the filling? Thanks!
Sorry, pre-BAKE*
This looks amazing. I thought I already had my pie choices for the year sorted out, but I think I may have to reconsider…
“Soggy bottom” hahahahahahahahahahaha! You are the BEST! Thanks for the laugh,( I LOL’ed) and oh yeah, for the pie too. P.S. Don’t sit in any puddles! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
What a great pie! Perfect for Thanksgiving:)
We have a ton of cranberries in Finland right now! I’m so making this recipe over the weekend!
Thank you Deb!
Do you have a favorite vegetarian stuffing?
I love the smell of my family’s non-veg stuffing (sage, thyme, whatever is in that turkey seasoning box…), but never get to eat it!
Or maybe something with a really flavorful mushroom (shitake?), some (hazel)nuts…?
O.M.G. Seriously. My mouth is literally watering just from the pics. You are wreaking havoc on my Thanksgiving menu with all these last minute recipes!
This topped with cranberry ice cream. I think that needs to happen.
She’s poised — I like this stuffing. You can use vegetable stock.
Ariel — It’s completely up to you. In the headnotes, I mention that this is a pretty un-soggy pie, so if you’re looking to save time, you can skip par-baking the crust. If you’d like it the most crisp, and any softness in a bottom crust bothers you, you’ll want to use the parbaking instructions in the recipe.
Link issues — Should now be fixed. Thank you!
I was all set to make your cranberry pecan frangipane tart for Thanksgiving but this is giving me second thoughts! Do you have a favorite between the two? I am also making a maple syrup pie (from Cook’s Country) in case that helps influence your recommendation!!
Happy Thanksgiving Deborah- you deserve all good things.
Absolutely!
Deb, thank you, thank you! I just bought cranberries with no plan for them because I love them so (!) but also feel they often get the shaft compared to other, sweeter fruits. And pecans and oats are some of my all-time-favorite things to eat. I’m thinking of a way to incorporate a vanilla bean I just got an excellent deal on at a bulk goods store – short of making my own ice cream. Perhaps it will go in the filling…
Oh my gosh, do you watch the Great British Bakeoff? (From whence, “soggy bottom.”) This Brit would love to know what you think!
Now where to find cranberries in Paris…. Must have this pie at all costs.
I agree that cranberries are a seriously underrated pie fruit. I created a recipe for fresh cranberry pie last Thanksgiving (I added marzipan) and it was a huge hit – like a sour cherry pie, but much easier – easier to obtain, and no pitting!
Ahhhhhh, this is amazing and gorgeous and everything I want to eat!!! Question: I work holidays, so I won’t be with my family, but I want to send a pie to their table. Can I make this one in advance, or does it have to be freshly baked?
I love cranberry pies! The Hoosier Mama Pie book has a fantastic cranberry chess pie that balances the cranberries with a sweet vanilla-scented custard (was a hit last year at my family Thanksgiving).
One of my favorite recipes on your site is your cranberry pecan frangipane tart. I can’t wait to try this one.
In lieu of spending Thanksgiving away from home for the first time ever (and I’m 32!) because my travel budget will not support it, I’m finding myself drawn to breaking tradition from apple pie. This pie just made my list! Of course, I will have to also make the traditional apple pie for my mom… but tempted to also throw in some of your salted apple cider caramel for a surprise! Tradition, beware!
This looks wonderful! I’m in charge of apple pie on Thanksgiving and am wondering if you could combine apple and cranberry for the filling instead. Or make it just an apple filling? If so, is there anything you’d change with the crust or topping? Thank you!
Could this be made ahead at all? Or at least partially so?.. It looks delicious and I will most definitely be trying it!
Thank you! I will also definitely be trying the breakfast stuffing… P.S. Had your crispy egg for breakfast this morning. The purchase of the metal “fish flipper” spatula has changed my life.
WOW! This looks amazing! I love pecan pie in very small doses but find it too sweet and full of my arch nemesis, the egg. I think I’ll be trying this topping on every pie and crisp I make this year!
This looks amazing! I love cranberries and I love streusel, and why have I never thought about putting them together??
Cook’s Illustrated made a cranberry-ginger pear pie with a streusel top that is really intriguing, but I have never seen a straight cranberry pie. You have pointed out that it might not be for everyone, but I am one of those who will always take sour cherry pie over sweet cherry if given the chance. The idea of sour cranberries versus sweet, rich vanilla ice cream sounds very tempting. Hope you and your entire family have a delicious and relaxing Thanksgiving! Looking forward to more holiday dishes in the near future.
Love this Deb – the colour is gorgeous too!
One of my favorite dishes from my mom’s side of the family is cranberry pie. It’s just a simple double crust pie, with a very similar filling to yours. A slice of that with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to balance the tartness of the pie is the best thing ever. We are making it for Thanksgiving dessert and I cannot wait…
Agrees that cranberries are one of the best things about fall/winters. I’ll take cranberries over pumpkin any day of the week. Gorgeous pie, Deb! Happy Thanksgiving!
That looks AMAZING! I’m going to make it for Thanksgiving. Cranberries are one of my favorite Thanksgiving flavors but I never thought to put it in a pie.
This recipe looks and sounds wonderful! Any thoughts on turning this into a bar cookie? I might have to experiment so I can share more easily with coworkers & friends…
Don’t you think this would work as a cobbler if one was feeling too lazy to deal with crust? Just thinking…
Phoebe — Well… since you mentioned it, in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook I do have a fresh cranberry crumb bar with mulling spices (very subtle ones). A little different. I am sure you can Google around and find the recipe.
I just made my first cranberry pie but mine had a lattice crust. It was absolutely delicious, not too sweet or too tart. I will definitely add it to my Thanksgiving menu.
Oh my. I adore cranberries and this looks amazing. Personally, I love the tartness so I can’t wait to try this. Happy Thanksgiving!
I love cranberries and last year I made a homemade version of the cranberry bliss bars from Starbucks as part of Thanksgiving dessert options. But the sweetness sort of overshadowed the tart cranberry taste that I really enjoy. This looks much closer to the kind of cranberry dessert I was envisioning. Can’t wait to try it.
My Winter CSA has cranberries fresh from Vermont and I’ve been collecting them in my freezer. I wasn’t sure what I was making until I saw this recipe. Now, I know for sure! Thanks for this, it’s perfect.
wow, that is brave to make an all cranberry pie! Cranberries are so tart! It looks delicious though!
I completely forgot about that recipe! I will check it out when I get home and grab your book (that you so kindly signed for me) from the top of the fridge where it’s been living. I memorized (sort of) the roast chicken and potatoes recipe so I haven’t been flipping through it quite so often :)
Thanks so much for the reminder!
That thick pecan crumble looks fantastic! I adore this pie!
Cranberry pie?!?
Cranberry
Pie
?!?!?
I am so onboard for this.
Now you see? Cranberries don’t do it for me. BUT…I finally see a way for me to try and experiment with pomegranates. The pecan crumble sounds like a brilliant contrast with the tarty pomegranate arils. Never occurred to me. I will be trying this for the holiday!
I am unable to find fresh or frozen sour cherries here in the SF Bay area, so I used canned cherries when the craving strikes. My cheat is to use a cup of frozen cranberries (that I stash away in the freezer during the season) to brighten up the color of the filling. They are so tart that they fit right in with the cherries, and if you didn’t get the occasional cranberry skin, you’d never know they were in there!
Love that there is a crumb topping on this pie. I’ve been making apple crisps a lot this season, but have been using a crisp topping without the oats. In fact, It found that tweaking your crumb topping for the NY style crumb cake to work really well as a crisp topping. More of a crumble topping than a crisp, but it’s buttery clumps give it the flavor of a pie crust without the work. And it is crisp enough. I love that your recipes have components that I can use for other purposes!
i have quick cooking steel cut oats. do you know if I’d be able to use them in place of the rolled oats?
I am loving all of your Thanksgiving recipes. You rock, Deb! :)
Looks divine! Do you think this would hold up well if the entire pie was made a day in advance?
In the great Thanksgiving Adventure, there was no road untaken . You gave.us both the side dish AND the pie , and both beautiful . Thanks Deb, and a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Made it tonight! So good….nice and chart…,sour cherry or tamarind. No pre-bake worked just fine!
This is a nice change from the ordinary:-) Looks beautiful as always.
Cranberry pie?! COOL! This sounds like a total treat!
Sour cherries are one of my favorite fruits as well, as are cranberries (I’ve perfected those pickled cranberries and moved on to pickled sweet cherries :-) ). One great discovery I made this summer though is that the amazing red color and setting quality of cranberries (they have a ton of pectin) is a fantastic complement to strawberries. Great for getting ruby red strawberry jam that actually has the consistency of jam (instead of strawberry sauce) and the tart cranberries make it a little more interesting than straight strawberry.
Essentially what this is making me think is a cranberry-strawberry pie might not be a half bad idea. You’re ever a source of inspiration :-)
Love love love this recipe! What a great way to get lots of cranberry goodness in!
I’m traveling for Thanksgiving this year. Do you think I could make the cranberry filling in advance and preserve it in a jar, then just dump it in the pie shell to bake when I arrive? This sounds too delicious to pass up!
I can’t get fresh cranberries here – do you think frozen would work?
I made this just a few hours after you posted it! I’ve had a jumbo bag of cranberries in the deep freezer forever and just never found a use for them until now – I am so looking forward to having a pie besides apple or pumpkin this week. :)
I made a few tiny adjustments to the streusel topping out of sheer laziness and trying to bake with a 2 year old at my feet. I just mixed everything together by hand instead of pulverizing in the food processor so it has a coarser texture. I also used walnuts instead of pecans and it baked up gorgeous and bubbling and oozy-red. Can’t wait to dig in – thank you as always, Deb!
Finally…someone who appreciates the beautiful tartness of cranberries! Fall for me means fresh cranberries in scones, quick breads and compotes. Your pie looks like the ideal addition to my cranberry obsession. Thanks!
Oh, my heavens, Deb. I think you’ve found Nirvana! I think this is my favorite of your recipes ever. I will make this one tomorrow! Just in time for Thanksgiving. I fully expect it to upstage my mother-in-law’s traditional pumpkin pie. Dare I do that?
When I was growing up we always went to my mother’s parents for Thanksgiving with the extended family (and somehow I always was big enough to skip the kiddie table). One of my favorite memories from those days was going into my grandparents’ bedroom, where every dresser and chest of drawers was topped with pies. I think Grandma made at least 5 or 6–several pumpkin, maybe a pecan pie–and mincemeat, which I never liked. Does anyone still make mincemeat pie?
Hello. This looks lovely. A family member of mine has a nut allergy. Would you please suggest a different topping that might work well with this recipe. Can’t wait to serve it on our thanksgiving table.
Re: mincemeat pies- yes! In Australia, for Christmas, my family can’t get enough of them. Small ones, not a whole big slice. We often make them in mini muffin tins and cheat with jar fruit mince.
Hi Deb. Does this piecrust recipe make enough for a 9″ double-crust pie? If so, should the dough be divided before chilling? Or are these proportions, for a single crust? Questions, questions….Happy Thanksgiving!
If I made the day before, should it be refrigerated? I don’t want to lose any of the crust’s deliciousness from fridge ‘softening’, but I also don’t want to feed people anything that’s been sitting out longer than it should!
Finally – in-your-face-cranberry-pie! I’ve been shy for too long — co-mingling with the apples and pears you mentioned above. No more! I’m loving this one!
Cranberry pie is a favorite of mine, also. The first one I ever baked was a rift on Lemon Meringue by Anne Willan in her Perfect Series, Perfect Pies and Tarts. She makes a cranberry curd and then tops it with meringue. Lovely. Yours looks beautiful also–I think a side by side taste comparison will be going on at my house this upcoming Thursday.
“Thick pecan crumble” definitely caught my attention! Yes please!
Do you have any idea, how would the european cranberries work? They are much smaller and I would say juicier, with sharper taste. But I have recently seen a all-cranberry fruit cake in a german bakery, so maybe I just give it a try. BTW, I adore another cranberry recipe of yours – the orange-cranberry rolls. Very unusual for me to make a recipe from cookbook/blog more than once /because the results are mostly good but never spectacular/, but your recipes mostly become part of our family repertoire! Thanks a lot.
Deb,
No recipe for turkey this year?? :-(
Love the pie and sweet potato recipes, thought!
Thank you for these.
Uh, though.
Deb! You have no idea how happy it makes me to see this. I have been trying, very unsuccessfully, to crack the code on this merry berry beauty for over a year now. http://emporiumpies.com/pie/merry-berry Instead of a crumble top, the top crust is a cross between a sugar cookie and chess pie filling, and the result is tear-inducing joy in my mouth. On my next attempt, I’ll be using your filling recipe, though adding some chopped pecans to it. if you have any pointers on how to make a sugar cookie/chess crust that doesn’t sink into the cranberries, i’d be much obliged. Happy Thanksgiving!
This pie is so perfect and definitely a cheery addition to all things white going on outside right now!
My husband “invented” a cranberry-walnut pie several years ago that was sort of similar to this… then we had a nut-allergic kid and never made it again!
So, for Lianne #4 and any other nut-allergic folks, if you can eat coconut, we have had good results substituting unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut for nuts in similar crumb toppings (including for Deb’s “healthy” apple crisps!). Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds/pepitas might also work, but I haven’t tried them yet.
Deb – I love reading your blogs and your cookbook! Thanks so much for sharing all your wonderful recipes – especially this cranberry pie the day before Thanksgiving when I am sure you are so busy!
I’ve been dreaming up a cranberry pie for years- while also in fear of its aggressive tartness being just a tad too much. I am glad you have embraced it! If I hadn’t already made your insanely delicious cranberry bars from the SK book, this would definitely have been on my Thanksgiving menu. Perhaps for December?!
I love love love your recipes! I’m not a great cook, but I can make them, and they come out great every time. My favorites are Kale and Quinoa Salad and Valerie’s French Chocolate Cake. I can’t wait to try this one for Thanksgiving! Have a wonderful day!
I can’t wait to try this. Back when I made pies all the time I kept cranberries in the freezer year round so I could add a bit of tartness to every pie.
PS: If you handle your dough like you are }making bread”, your pie will never be flaky. You must handle the dough very gently in order to get that tender flakiness and using too much flour for dusting makes the crust even tougher. I use waxing paper to sandwich the dough and a lot less flour dusting while rolling the dough out.
Hmm, I wonder. What kind of turkey do you do? Brined? Fried? Smoked? Breast down? Baste? Butter under skin? So curious, since you are my kitchen guru…
This pie looks amazing! I’m not very familiar with cranberries – they have only started popping up in supermarkets around Germany in recent years. But they sure look amazing in this pie!
Well, this looks amazing & my husband has requested it for Thanksgiving. I’m wondering, can I make it tonight or tomorrow & will it be fine? It appears so, but I just want to double check. I’m concerned it will get soggy.
Thank you!
I always find cranberries are SO tart that I’m not sure how I would like a cranberry pie. But that colour and that crumble?! They look so good that I’m pretty sure I may need to try it!
Thanks for the nut work-around in the comments. My mom loves cranberries and I’d love to be able to make this for her.
I’m cheating with frozen piecrust, but this is smelling great. What a great welcome home for my college kids tonight!
Thanks for this recipe, Deb. I plan to make this for my relatives this Thursday.
My wishes to you and your family for a great holiday where we are reminded to say “thanks.”
Definitely still do mince pie on Turkey Day. Some traditions die hard. It was my mother’s favorite, as were the turnips, so we always do them to give thanks for all she did for us.
Rebecca — You might like this more cookie-ish lid I used over here. It does sink a little but it shouldn’t get, like, eaten or absorbed by the cranberries. You might then skip the bottom crust altogether.
Liz — I know! I totally failed you guys again. It’s okay, I think I volunteered to host next year and it will be huge. I’ll get those turkey tests going in October.
Klara — I’ve never tried them but I bet they’d work just fine here. If you’re nervous, you can always bump up the sugar by 1/4 cup.
lynn — This recipe is for a single-crust pie.
Sorcha — Yes, you can use either; I mention this in the ingredient list.
al — I think so but can you show me a link to them/the brand? It would help me to see what they look like or if I know the product.
Hi Deb. Basic question. Are the Pecans left whole or chopped? crumble sort of implies chopped, but really whole pecans are so pretty and fabulous . .
Thanks for the guidance.
I made your marbled pumpkin gingersnap tart (from your book) today. The only trouble I had was trying to do the marbling because my crust was very full and almost too full to move it from the counter to the oven, but it turned out quite well. I just can’t let my daughter see your book to compare mine to yours! Still, I think it will be delicious for Thanksgiving Day. Thank you for all the great recipes you have taken the time to share. Have a happy Thanksgiving!
Do you think using your ginger snap crumble topping from your pear and cranberry crumble recipe would work?
Yes, but that would need less baking time so I might add it later.
Deb, wow thanks so much replying. This is the steel cut oats I have at home: http://www.amazon.com/McCANNS-Steel-Oatmeal-24-Ounce-Canisters/dp/B001DIM8NK
al — Ah, I haven’t fiddled with them before. I’ve bought instant oat packets from McCann’s before which were, if I remember correctly, indistinguishable from Quaker Instant (I was bummed! I am totally going to try these next time instead.) so I’d wondered if these were the same; if so, I’d have told you to use them without hesitation. Do they feel coarse? How does it taste if you eat a grain or two raw? If it’s unpleasantly crunchy and uncooked, I don’t think you’ll like it in the oat topping because it’s not really going to soften much in the oven.
Hi Deb, wondering if/how this can be made a day in advance? Or perhaps just the crust can be done in advance, and the filling/final baking should be done the day of? Any advice you can give would much appreciated! Thanks for your help and your recipes– we are basically having a smittenkitchen Thanksgiving :)
Sara — Ours has kept very well in the fridge for days. I definitely think this is a good make-ahead pie. I did par-bake the bottom crust here; it will give you extra insurance. However, cranberries are so high in pectin that they’re not likely to easily sog even a crust that’s not par-baked. I hope you have a great holiday — and thank you.
Happy Thanksgiving Deb… To you and your family!! Your blog gives me much joy and many good recipes to try… Thank you!!!
This sounds delicious! I’m a tool and I missed the part about cornstarch and have none. I also don’t have tapioca, arrowroot or any of the other substitutes Google tells me I can use :( And I live in the mountains so I’m already getting snowed in. Am I basically out of luck with trying to make this or can I forgo the cornstarch and still have it come out alright?
masha — To be honest, I think you could forego it. I wanted to test it without and ran out of time. I’ve only made it with the 1T but cranberries have so much pectin, the pie filling was quite firm from the fridge. You’ll likely be just fine without it.
I’m making this pie today! I can’t wait to taste it. Question for you: I made the crust and weighed out the measurements instead of using the cup measurements. The dough came out very wet, instead of flaky as pie crust is. I added more flour until it came together. Did this happen to you? I am wondering if I should add more flour to make sure I get a flaky crust. Thanks.
Rose — Hm, I often use the weights instead so it hasn’t, but if you can tell it’s definitely on the wet side, another tablespoon of flour probably wouldn’t be an issue. Too much and the crust gets tough. I don’t think being a little shy on flour would hurt the flakiness too much. It just makes for a dough a little peskier to work with, more prone to getting soft as you roll it out. Hope it all works out!
This is in the oven right now. I saw in one of your comments that you kept your pie in the fridge…does it need to be in the fridge, or will it be okay on the counter? Fridge space is tight this time of year…Thx!
Sara — Nope, it can totally stay on the counter. Mine is now several days old; best in the fridge for more than 2 days.
Pie is without a doubt my favorite thing to bake (and let’s be honest–eat!), and your recipes are always gems. My family asks me to provide the pie every year for Thanksgiving, and I love bringing something unique and surprising each time. Thanks for surpassing my expectations once again! This is currently in the oven and I can’t wait to try it. I wanted to make it in my favorite deep dish pie plate, so I added 8 oz. of fresh raspberries, stirring them into the filling after removing it from the heat. I wasn’t brave enough to go the all-cranberry route, but I applaud your boldness and I’m sure it tastes as stunning as it looks! Thanks again, and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your lovely family.
I’m taking the plunge and doing this. But, dumb question first…. I only have an Emile Henry pie dish and have not clue if it is deep dish or not. Help? Thank you!
Anna — Emile Henry are, I’m pretty sure, all deep dish.
Drat. Ok, I’ll need to buy another pie pan then. Thank you for such a quick response! Happy Thanksgiving!
I love seeing all the different pies people make during this season. I love your combination of cranberries with streusel topping!
I want to try this but am dreaming of using a cupcake pan and making mini cranberry with crumble tarts instead. Suggestions? will it work? cooking time change?
Deb. This pie! It’s incredible! And EASY! I made it about an hour ago and just ate my first slice and it is just delicious with a perfect amount of tartness. It came together so easily. I will definitely be making it again. I used a pre-made pie crust (I hate making pie crust) which made baking it a snap. I accidentally purchased a deep-dish premade crust and Just added an extra handful of cranberries into the recipe. The pie came together just fine. Thanks!
Thanks for your reply Deb! I really appreciate it. I’m going to bake this tonight. Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
I’m making this right at this very minute! I think I heated the filling incorrectly though. There are lots of rock-hard crystallized sugar bits throughout kind of like shards of lollipop. I’m hoping they’ll dissolve while it bakes, but I doubt it. Maybe I heated the cranberries too quickly? Or maybe I should have added a bit of liquid before heating? Eh. I’m sure it will still be delicious. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Hi Sally,
I know this was a VERY long time ago, but do you remember if these rock-hard sugar bits dissolved in the oven? I made the filling of this pie tonight and had this issue. Trying to decide what to do before I bake it tomorrow. If you remember, I’d love to know what happened! Thanks!
An update: I went ahead and baked the pie with the rock-hard sugar bits in the filling. We’re four slices slices in, and there have been absolutely zero tooth-shattering bites, so the sugar appears to have melted! And the pie is delicious!
What a great pie!!! I made it tonight for Thanksgiving dessert tomorrow, and I can’t wait to taste it. The only change that I made was to substitute walnuts for pecans b/c I already had them in the freezer. The color is gorgeous and the smell is AMAZING.
I’m having trouble with the cranberries. The cranberry mix has been on the stove top for over 20 minutes now and my cranberries still aren’t leaking juices (much less turning into a loose filling), while the sugar is hardening up like it’s going to melt into caramel soon. Also, do you think another flour would work here? I have oats, but no food processor or oat flour.
Louisa — Don’t worry about the cranberries breaking down on the stove, if it’s not happened. Cool it a little and get it baking. It will all be fine in the end. To make the topping without oats, just use more flour until it comes together in clumps. Good luck!
perfect pie, nice recipes ,great website thank you
Just finished making this for TG dinner tomorrow. I could have eaten the filling by itself is how good it is. Thank you so much for posting this and ALL of your recipes! You are a true inspiration. PS my pie is bubbling!!!!!!!!!! :)
Just baked this tonight and it looks beautiful and smells great. i cannot wait to eat this tomorrow! I actually went and got actual rolled oats instead of using my steel cuts for this recipe and I’m glad I did!
SALLY: i had the same EXACT problem as you. I found some bits of really rock hard crystallized sugar (or maybe it was the cornstarch) forming so i had to take those pieces out. Hopefully I took out all of them!
I made it and it was delicious. I was proud while I was making it and I was proud while I was eating it. I will def make this again. Thanks so much for sharing.
@ Louisa #118 – Did your cranberries look like the ones in the 2nd picture? If you accidentally used dried cranberries, they won’t work. I have my pie in the oven baking now and the cranberries really did start to pop very quickly on the stovetop.
I was so exited, I made the pie, whilst making I had a few wines and too much distraction, and I burnt the pie :(
It still tastes pretty good though!
I’ll have to make it again lol!
Your delicious cranberry pie with thick pecan crumble recipe has been chosen as one of the best 50 Thanksgiving pecan pie recipes on the net.
Happy Thanksgiving! :)
I absolutely love cranberries! this pie looks great :)
Happy Thanksgiving! In Canada we celebrated a month ago, but I really love seeing all these great recipes to use for Christmas! Happy eating :)
I added just a tablespoon or two of water to the saucepan of cranberries, just to keep the sugar from burning, and they did finally (around the 30 minute mark) break down some. They were insanely fresh, but for some reason just really did not want to leak out any juices. As you predicted, they came together beautifully in the pie though. Also, I dug out my blender and made my oat flour that way. We haven’t eaten it yet (soon!), but it looks and smells wonderful…
Made this for today and we loved it! What I really loved is that it is not too sweet – the filling almost reminds you of sour cherries. It really needs the ice cream to provide the contrast with the tart berries. My 9yo son liked this one more than the pecan pie I made!
Made this recipe today for Thanksgiving, and it was a huge hit! My partner’s family couldn’t stop talking about it. The pie is beautiful, delicious, and out of the ordinary. I could see tart cherries or rhubarb being excellent substitutes for the cranberries in other seasons. Thank you for this magic, Deb!
Made this for Thanksgiving a couple of days ago and it was a major major hit!! I was a little worried while making it, as before you put on the crumble, the pie looks a little…empty, but the crumble fills up the pie nicely. I thought the pie was actually better day 2, as it had solidified a bit. We also added a bit more orange zest as well as some fresh grated ginger (my family are ginger-crazed, so we put it in everything)! Agree that it’s especially good with vanilla ice cream.
I made this for our dinner today, and it was a big success! Served with vanilla ice cream, it’s absolutely scrumptious. Thank you!
Wonderful, love the tartness, wouldn’t change a thing.
I made this pie today and it was a big hit! I adore cranberries, but thought it might be too tart for others. Not so, the crumble works great in balancing the two. I had to use flour as a substitute for corn starch and it worked fine. The only problem I had was the same as a few others, where the sugar crystalizes in the bottom of the pan while cooking the cranberries. Since it stayed on the bottom of the pan it wasn’t an issue for the pie filling but just meant my husband had to scrub the pan harder. Thanks, Deb, I love your cookbook as well as the blog!
wow, that thick crumble tho…
I made this pie for Thanksgiving and it is perfect. I just ate the last piece for breakfast this morning before anyone else awakened!
Made this.. It was great.. Agree that it is just as good for breakfast.. Thanks.. BER
Deb, this pie was the HIT of our Thanksgiving. Thank you!!
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was EXCELLENT. I will definitely make it every year from now on. I parbaked the crust. Sugar crystallized a bit at the bottom of the pan while making the filling; I stirred in a tablespoon of butter, which helped deglaze a little bit and definitely didn’t hurt the taste. My new favorite holiday dessert.
Thanks for this recipe! I took a gamble and made it for Thanksgiving at the last minute, and my family absolutely loved it. There’s a tiny piece left in front of me right now that will certainly not last the afternoon.
I did need to add a little bit of water to the pan while making the filling, because the cranberries didn’t seem to want to burst or break down otherwise – no ill effect on the texture. I also had less filling since I only had one bag of berries (reduced the sugar & cornstarch proportionately), which probably gave the crumble topping a little more attention – not that that’s a bad thing! I’ll definitely make this again.
How much sugar would you add if you didn’t want it too tart?
ATG — You might add 1/4 cup extra.
Frances, lingonberries would be a fine aubstitute. Can you get those in Paris? Mmm, lingonberries and almond crisp. — Awesome recipe, Deb. I knew there was a reaon to stash extra cranberries in my freezer.
The heavy sour tang of cranberries mixed with the sweeter elements of this pie make me want to try it out ASAP. I might have to add this to my Christmas pie lineup if it works out well like I think it will!
I made this with toasted walnuts instead of pecans for Thanksgiving this year, and it was a huge hit. Nicely tart, with plenty of streusel topping. It’s really pretty, as well, even though I forgot the powdered sugar. It will definitely go into our regular Thanksgiving line-up! Thanks!
This turned out wonderfully. Thank you so much.
Any suggestions on the topping for those of us who *gasp* do not own a food processor? I have no problem cutting the butter in by hand with a pastry cutter, but for the oats and pecans?
Sarah — Just chop them as much as you’d like with a knife. The butter is melted, so it’s really just mixing after that.
I lusted after this pie. In fact I pinned it a couple of days ago. But I gotta comment. That topping is sooooooooooooo over the top—-yep that was a lame pun—-making myself laugh—–but I truly am sincere for the real meaning of the term. Delicious!
This is a really fantastic (and innovative!) pie. I made the topping with almonds cause I had those on hand, and it was perfect. I find the recommended amount of sugar to produce a bright-tasting filling which is certainly not over-the-top tart, even for my picky husband. Thanks so much!
Hi dear Deb,
Totally perfect! Except I’m going to use red berries (that’s what they call partridge berries here in Labrador) and my fella picked buckets of them. I put them in everything (smoothies, on oatmeal, in yoghurt, even in your blondies!). I make red berry jam and a sort of sauce to go with savouries. I love their tart taste (they are much like a cranberry) and think this pie will really put them where they belong -at centre of stage! Thanks my dear.
I cut the sugar to 3/4 C. and added in 1 1/2 very thinly sliced apples and a dash of cinnamon (I know).
This was the perfect pie. Of the eight gracing our Thanksgiving table, this one was the first one gone.
Oh and that generous topping!
I made the cranberry pecan crusted pie for Thanksgiving as well as your sweet potato buttermilk. My husband loved the sweet potato! The cranberry was good but very tart, i want to make it again with blueberries instead of cranberries. thanks a million!!!
can this be made with the all butter pie crust from your sitE? I made the sour cherry pie and it was amazing! So I still have the other 1/2 in the frezer.
Susanna — Absolutely. That’s what I use/used.
Made this for Thanksgiving and absolutely loved it. A nice, tart (which I love) addition to our usual apple and pumpkin pies. Didn’t parbake the crust and it turned out fine. I think I would like a little bit more cranberry filling and a little less streusel topping, so I may fiddle a little next time. But overall, a great pie! Thank you!
I made this pie for Thanksgiving. Needless to say, I now have the official title…Pie Star! It was AMAZING. I added a bit more sugar and the family raved! I’ve been instructed to have repeat performance for our annual Thanksgiving leftover dinner (Sunday night) when family and friends return. The crumble was abundant and fabulous. Thanks for the recipe!
excellent. we made it exactly as written and it was great, as promised. not for everyone? if you love sour cherry pies (i do, i really do), then you’ll love this pie. THANK YOU!
My 14 year old son made this for Thanksgiving. First off, we loved it, but we thought next time, because yes this will be a new Thanksgiving staple, we would double the filling and half the topping. For us tart cranberry lovers, the topping tipped the balance a little too sweet. A winner either way! Thanks again for a great recipe.
Thank you for a wonderful, delicious addition to our dessert table!! Everyone loved this pie. My son wants me to make another one today, since we finished it off yesterday. I think I found the perfect Thanksgiving dessert selection: this cranberry pie, pumpkin cheesecake (since none of us are pumpkin pie lovers) and pecan pie. Yummm…
Update: The stuffing was everything I have ever wanted in a stuffing (which shouldn’t surprise me, given that it came from this site). Thank you again!
Deb, your blog is a lifesaver! Please keep publishing recipes, and talking about your adorable family, your stellar entertaining and hosting skills, your ability to withstand hate for being severely overweight, and your indomitable passion for food and life.
Another fabulous recipe Deb! Made the recipe as written and the pie was devoured in no time. Can’t wait to make it again for the upcoming holidays!
This pie was excellent on Thanksgiving Day. Even better on Pie For Breakfast Day. Definitely a new staple in my family.
Excellent! I ate it at room temperature with vanilla ice cream the first night and finished the leftovers cold from the fridge. Yum both ways!
For those who don’t have a food processor, I just made this and don’t have one either. I put the oats in a blender and broke the walnuts up by hand. The rest I just mixed with a spoon in a bowl. It turned out great, since the blender breaks down the oats. Everyone loved it… great recipe!
We had this pie for thanksgiving; almonds instead of pecans and brown sugar instead of the white for the filling and topping- I’m not sure who runs out of white sugar over the holidays, but apparently I do. It was lovely, but definitely tart and did not suit the tastes of all at the table (I may experiment and try to sub a few blueberries and raspberries in next time- the topping was wonderful and even those with tender palates should experience it.) However, it suited me just fine! Thanks!
Just chiming in to say I made the linked cranberry sauce ice cream and if you make it Cleveland in the next 3-4 hours you’re welcome to some :). It’s terrific and I imagine this pie would be delicious as well.
This was amazing! Even my in-laws loved it :)
Thank you so much for this recipe (and many many others)! I made this pie sticking exactly to your suggestions (a bit of clementine zest in the filling, serving with whipped cream – absolutely necessary), turned out terrific. I wouldn’t change anything. Delicious.
I made this for Thanksgiving, and it went over huge – I think it got more compliments than the hosts’ main courses. Thanks for the recipe!
I usually dial back the sugar in most desserts/etc., which I did on my first attempt with this, but it was just too tart. Made it with the recommended amt of sugar for the holiday and it was perfect.
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a hit and a half- thanks for the gorgeous recipe!
I’ll admit that I don’t care for cranberry sauce, in any shape or form. (I think fruit alongside a savory dish is odd – pineapple and ham, applesauce and pork chops, cranberry sauce and turkey – no, no, and no. I always wanted a way to enjoy cranberries at Thanksgiving, and this pie is perfect! Easy to make and delicious. Thanks for this recipe!
Hello! I made this without par-baking the crust and it was still crispy and delicious on day 1 and day 2. I like more texture in my crumble topping, so I mixed the topping ingredients with whole oats and lightly broken-up pecans instead of grinding them in the food processor. The pie was amazing, and everyone loved it! Thank you!
This is a great recipe to help out the cranberry growers, who have grown more this year than ever before.
I made this pie for Thanksgiving but added dried cherries to the cranberries. It will now be added to the “must make” list for thanksgiving futures.
Libby — That was such a wonderful article! I’d meant to link it out the next day when it was published. I immediately wanted to go and create about 50 more cranberry recipes (which I happily would, if I could convince more people to love them as we do). Also concord grapes. I don’t think blueberries, however, need any help being loved.
Jenny — I will be right over!
For those that found this too tart — To be honest, I actually worried that more of you would and I’m breathing a sigh of relief that it’s been a hit for the most part. Anyway, I think the two best fruits to “cut” the tartness with are either apples or pears. Peeled in 1/2-inch chunks, you could start by replacing 1/4 of the cranberries with them. Once it’s baked, they’ll be as red as the berries — barely anyone will know.
Will be on my Thanksgiving menu always!
Thank you for a fantastic and creative pie recipe. This pie was a delight at our Thanksgiving table, and gorgeous plated on our holiday china. The balance of tart/sweet was perfect for us. I over-pulsed my processor when making the topping and next time will be sure to leave larger pecan pieces as it was my favorite part.
One curious thing – the first time making the filling, I had it on the stove as directed, with the sugar, cornstarch and a little grapefruit zest (it was what I had). For some reason I ended up with small, hard white lumps (sugar? cornstarch?) mixed in and am still wondering what I did wrong. Thankfully I had bought an extra bag of cranberries (always buy two and freeze one, right?) so I remade the filling with a tiny bit of water in the pan, and mixed in the other ingredients after the berries started leaking and it seemed to work just fine. Any thoughts on what I was doing wrong? Thanks again for this wonderful pie!
I’m thinking: since there’s no top crust could the whole thing just be a cranberry crumble/crisp? Most of my family don’t eat crusts (don’t ask), so just using the cranberries and the streusel would likely go over very well in our house.
This beautiful pie was a total hit at my in-laws. And my “I don’t eat sweets” boyfriend was SUPER bummed that someone snagged the last piece at breakfast before he did. Thanks again Deb for another homerun.
Thanks! I saw this the day before Thanksgiving and felt inspired. It was a big hit! The tartness and well, everything about it, just worked. Easily too.
I subbed almonds for pecans due to an allergy. In my opinion, almonds hold their crunch a little better than pecans, which was a win for the leftovers. We liked it so much that on Saturday my husband pulled a magnanimous, “I love you so much that I’ll settle for the last of the pumpkin cheesecake and you can have the last slice of cranberry pie.” I almost teared up a little-both for the expression of such selfless love and the end of pie . . .
Have you thought about adding a little Cointreau to the cranberry filling? I put it in my cranberry sauce and it goes great!
I made this for a late thanksgiving dinner and we all loved it! This was definitely the pie that everyone wanted, and the color is so beautiful. I was amazed at how much it really tasted like cherry pie! Thank you for the recipe!
Cath– I was also thinking Cointreau when I made this pie! It’s one of my favorite liquors and seems it would go with the orange zest. Next time I’ll go for it.
My family and I loved this pie on Thanksgiving. I have half a bag of cranberries left. To even it out, I should probably buy one more bag and make this pie again… You know, to not waste cranberries.
I made this last night having never made or tasted a cranberry pie. Twenty four hours later there’s hardly a slice left. A friend stopped by who didn’t even like cranberries and managed to gobble down a whole piece. I started this pretty late in the evening and realized I didn’t have the steam to finish, so my cranberry filling sat at room temp all evening….I like to think this just added to the pie but who knows! It sure didn’t hurt.
Followed the recipe exactly and can’t wait to make it for Christmas and add it as the new Thanksgiving staple.
I’m already a huge fan of your cranberry vanilla coffee cake, so I was very excited to make this for my tiny, otherwise nontraditional Thanksgiving (I had work; my Canadian husband and his friend made lamb). The night before, I made all the components (crust, filling, topping) and packaged and refrigerated it all separately. It was quick to put together late on Thanksgiving evening and it cooked in the time we ate dinner.
The pie is beautiful, and it’s really perfect with vanilla ice cream. I didn’t par-bake the crust, and all was well. I’ll be making this again.
Would this work OK without the crisp — a la a Cranberry Crisp?
I doubled the recipe today and made this as a slab pie in a half sheet pan for the annual early holiday party. Thanks for another hit!
This may sound like a silly question, but how cool does the melted butter have to be, and what’s the reason for doing that? Thank you! Can’t wait to try this later tonight :))
very easy to make,looking so much pretty and authentic , very much fun to make with the kids for Christmas cookie for Santa they loved it.
For those who are reducing sugar intake: I made this using Splenda in the filling and Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (only, no other sweetener) in the topping. It turned out GREAT. The pecan crumble will be made and used on a variety of crumb-top pies in the future.
Now this is my kind of pie, wow!
This pie was delicious. I LOVE the crumble topping and will likely use this on other pies. Thanks!
This pie was wonderful served warm for breakfast with coffee. Thank you!
For various reasons including a power outage, we had a sub-par Thanksgiving. I made this pie today, and suspect I’ll have to make it again for our do-over meal at Christmas. Smells great!
I made this for our staff potluck and everyone LOVED it.
I didn’t have orange zest so I used a splash of orange flower water and that was lovely.
Thanks for this!
I made this pie last night and it was amazing! I never would have thought to grind up the oats – I actually had some left over from making my son’s baby oatmeal. The crumb topping is fantastic. Thanks for another holiday recipe for the books!
Wow, made this and it was wonderful. I had sticky crust syndrome the first time, so I had to gather all the sticky bits together again for another try. The gluten forming made an intersting texture out of the crust, turning it into a hint of a puff pastery. This was a hit. Thank you for a wonderful recipe to celebrate the Cranberry.
Hi Deb! I made this for a work breakfast (it’s a fruit pie with a crumble…that’s breakfast food, right?) and it was a total hit! I was also making a quiche, so I used a savory pie dough (basically, I just omitted the sugar) and I didn’t notice a difference at all. My crumble wasn’t nearly as thick, I’m wondering if I should have drizzled in the butter or maybe was a little aggressive in my food processing? Also, I forgot to pick up an orange and while I think it would have added some nice citrus, it’s totally a-ok if you don’t add the zest. Great recipe, thanks so much!
I tried in multiple ways to mess up this recipe and the pie still turned out beautifully. No time to make pastry so I used a pre-made crust; no utensils to chop up topping so kept it chunky. No powered sugar so did without. And still ended up with a delish pie for Christmas dinner!
I made this pie for a dinner with friends, and everyone LOVED the flavor of it! The only problem was that it was VERY soupy. I cooked the cranberries on the stovetop as directed, so I’m not sure where I went wrong (should I have cooked them more to release more juices, or cooked them less to make them less juicy? Should I have strained out the juices and only added the cranberries themselves into the pie crust? Maybe I should have added more corn starch, or cooled the cranberries longer?) … Any insights? I want to make this again, but want a pie that will hold together and cut into slices more cleanly..
Amy — I’m so surprised, because mine was so thick, it was almost jell-o; cranberries have so much pectin. Anything that seemed different about yours that I might mull over? Also, often if you chill it in the fridge, it can help the pie set. It can always be rewarmed by the slice if you prefer to eat it warm.
I made this pie last night, and only a fourth of it remains (popular!). I didn’t have ice cream, which definitely would have improved it, but I’m really impressed with the recipe, especially how well the crust came out! Unlike Amy above, my filling was very thick. I used walnuts instead of pecans because walnuts were on sale–no problems. Thanks for the recipe! Too bad it took me so long to get around to it.
Any thoughts on whether cranberries could be replaced with redcurrants in this recipe? Here in Norway cranberries are scarce in the shops and fiendlishly expensive, but my garden is heaving with redcurrants right now and I’m on the lookout for good things to make with them. They’re also high in pectin, like cranberries, which makes me inclined to think they might work as a substitute.
Siri — I’d expect them to work.
I have to make some ahead-of-time desserts this year. At what stage of this process could I put this in the freezer? Thanks!
Last year, I had a ton of blueberries and tart cherries we’d frozen from the summer so I made this pie with 1/3 cranberries, 1/3 montmorencys and 1/3 blueberries for Thanksgiving. It was freaking incredible. I’ll be making it exactly the same way this year. I call it “Antioxidant Pie.”
A few commenters above have already asked this but I don’t see an answer – wondering if anyone has tried making this as a crisp/crumble, so that there is no bottom crust (just the fruit + topping)? Deb, any thoughts? Would love to make this for tomorrow and not sure I’ll have time to make crust.
Ahhhhh! Deb, your timing is perfect. My husband brought home a large (not-on-my-list) bag of cranberries from Costco yesterday, I had no plans for making anything cranberry, BUT then you posted this recipe on Facebook….. I just had to make it! Honestly, my pie list was short today, pumpkin & Apple, both from your website. So I used the top crust from the apple pie for this cranberry pie’s bottom (ha ha!) & made streusel for the top of the apple pie! Now we have three pies, one of which is “extra” (is there such a thing as extra pie?) maybe “unplanned” is a better word, anyway, we ate it TONIGHT, yippe hooray for Thanksgiving EVE pie!!!! Yumm!
I made this last year, but with hazelnuts instead of pecans, and it was a bit hit! So, working on another one for this year. I also cut down the sugar a bit, both in the filling and in the streusel, because I prefer things less sweet, but this is an awesome recipe. Thanks!!
Oh and this year I will be serving some homemade cinnamon ice cream alongside. Mmmmmmm!
Just want you to know that despite not remembering the powdered sugar on top, this will be the new family favorite for thanksgiving!
Really it was delicious and I served it with whipped cream. Yum!
Thanks for all your wonderful recipes.
Had extra fresh cranberries (because they were so cheap at the store), so I made this pie! It was very good. Not too sweet, not too tart. The only changes I made was that I used a frozen store bought crust, added 2 chopped granny smith apples with the cranberries (only has 12oz) before cooking, and only had sliced almonds on hand. I really didn’t think it needed any additional sweetener, like Powdered sugar, ice cream or whip topping.. it was perfect as is.. Thanks again for a wonderful recipe; I will be making this again for sure.
I made this and I was the only one that ate it, loved it, but too much pie for just me!
Just wanted to say how absolutely amazing this pie is. I was excited to see cranberries in the shops again just so that I could make it again this year! The crumble topping is so gorgeous that I’m trying it out on a standard crumble with different types of nuts too. Thank you!
Hi Deb. Looking forward to making this for Christmas, but I’m wondering what you think about adding a thin layer of chocolate to the crust like you suggested for your pecan pie a few weeks ago. Would that be too much or might it be a wonderful variation on a recipe that seems irresistible?
Amy — No harm would come of it!
I made this last year and it was a huge hit. I LOVE it. However, I am trying to make this for a friend who is dairy free. I am going to try doing a lard crust, but I wonder if I could substitute something for the butter in the pecan topping???
Any ideas?
Also, have you ever frozen this pie? The largest chunk of time I have before christmas is saturday, unfortunately. I was thinking I could freeze it and thaw it out Christmas Day, which is Friday.
Thank you!!
Deb,
You have now appeared at the last two family events – Sweet Potato Buttermilk Pie at Thanksgiving, and this cranberry pie at Christmas. I now am renowned as a pie maker.
I did add pears because I didn’t have enough cranberries, and it was good, but not your original vision which I must try sometime.
I froze it and it might have been better if I didn’t – it did not serve perfectly neatly, but that also might be my tool use.
Thanks!
Thanks for a fantastic recipe! I love all things cranberry and all things pie and I was so happy to put them all together. I used more cranberries, more sugar, and more cornstarch in the filling, but then drained some of the liquid before filling the crust. Once baked the consistency of the filling was perfect – neither runny nor gelatinous. Also hit the perfect tart-sweet balance. Mmmmm. A perfect Christmas dinner pie! This recipe will definitely be added to the holiday line up for years to come.l
Thanks for a great holiday pie! I knew we were having ham, and I love cranberry sauce and knew there wouldn’t be any — this pie was perfect and delicious! I followed the recipe pretty exactly, except I used a blender instead of a food processor, which was fine. And also (controversially) vodka instead of water in the crust.
Wonderful recipe, thank you, and relatively easy to make. I used less than half the sugar in the filling, which came out nicely. With the streusel it was still a bit too sweet for my taste — but apparently not for anyone else, as it was eaten up! I will experiment next time with a greater cranberry-filling-to-streusel ratio (or a less-sweet streusel). I also parbaked the crust, which I would skip in the future in favor of a less-browned crust.
Dear Deb,
Yesterday I made this pie as a treat for my co-workers. It turned out wonderful!
This got me into pie making – I am already making plans for more pies this weekend – and made me realize that I need a pie pan (small kitchen notwithstanding). As far as I have been able to find, these are not sold in shops here, in the Netherlands. Therefore, I would like to order them online. Which brand do you like to use and how do you differentiate between a deep dish and standard pie pan online?
For example, what whould this one be: http://www.chicagometallicbakeware.com/bakeware-20/type-of-products/pie-tart-pans/easy-as-pie-pan.html
I know this is an old post, but am hopeful that you might get a notification of this reply.
Thanks for your wonderful site, by the way. My boyfriend and I have already enjoyed the results of many of the recipes.
Hi Eline — That’s a standard pie pan; a deep-dish would usually say so. It’s fine if you have one, but this pie won’t entirely fill it and the crust could come up short; I mostly want to save people that annoyance. Hope that helps. I’m glad you’re enjoying the site.
I’m American but have been living in Amsterdam since the summer. I had the same thoughts about a pie pan. I’m happy to see there are some other Smitten Kitchen enthusiasts in my neck of the woods!
I really love this pie. I have made it a few times now and it is quickly becoming my favorite! It was also easy to substitute ingredients to be gluten free. Thanks for another awesome recipe.
What did you sub in for for the flour in the pecans?
You could sub coconut or rice flour for wheat flour.
Hi Deb, just dreaming about pie season right around the corner. I was wondering if you think the cranberry part of this pie mixed with the black bottom pie oatmeal topping would be good together?
I think you can use the black bottom part on any pie you’d like a chocolate base for.
Hi Deb! I am starting to plan my thanksgiving menu and this pie looks amazing! I have one question for you…could you substitute almonds for the pecans? Or is there something other than nuts that could be used in the crumble on top? My son is allergic to all nuts except almonds. Thanks!
Living near a Cranberry Bog I am always looking for new recipes that include this amazing fruit. So I tackled this recipe. As I had no oranges I used Lemon Zest and it worked just fine. I expected this recipe to be more tart but it was not. This recipe is a keeper for the upcoming holiday season. Thank you.
I’d like to make this but I have a problem. My local store only carries 9-1/2″ pie plates or the foil ones that are 8-3/4.” So one pie plate is a bit too large and the other is a bit too small. Does this pie expand much? When I made your Caramelized Onion and Cauliflower Tart, I used the larger one and cut the time; would that be the better option for this pie? Thanks!
If the 9 1/2″ isn’t deep-dish, you should be just fine with it. If it’s deep-dish, it might seem underfilled and I’d go with foil.
I’m definitely making this for Thanksgiving! How far in advance do you think this can be made?
I love that you bring these fantastic recipes out of the archives and post them on instagram to remind us they exist. There are so many recipes in there that things get lost. I’d never noticed this cranberry pie but I will definitely be making it sometime this Christmas. Your multilayer, sour cream covered honey cake that you posted last month is on the list for a Christmas event. That’s a very special occasion cake.
This looks delicious. Can I make it like the pear/cranberry gingersnap crumble?–without the bottom crust.
Oh, this looks so good! Thanks for sharing with us! I plan to make it this week!
How far ahead of thanksgiving could I make this pie? So excited for a tart pie option!!
I feel like it should be fine in the fridge for a bunch of days — 5? Probaby safe to eat for a week, easily but texture might be somewhat compromised. Should be fine at room temperature for a day or so too.
I just made this pie this afternoon and it is incredible! It’s like the perfect cross between tart, sweet, buttery, and with just a hint of salt to balance it all out. Will definitely be making again!
I really just wanted to say thank you for being so perfectly clear in your notes and descriptions that you have actually made me a confident cook and baker! I had never made a pie in my life but you make it sound manageable and it was – this wasn’t pretty (all I had was a deep dish pie tin) but it was delish and a hit with my entire family (picky 7 year old included). I wish you and yours a very happy holiday season. And truly, thank you. You changed my life in the kitchen!
Can the pie be assembled and then frozen and then baked later?
I haven’t done it but it will probably work.
I made this pie this afternoon. Alas, when I was cleaning up, after I had the pie in the oven, I realized I had forgotten to add the flour into the crumble mixture! Too late now to fix! Do you think it will make much difference? The pie overflowed the pan, leaving a red mess on the baking sheet, but I easily cleaned that up. Did anyone else have an overflow?
Made this for Thanksgiving. Of the six pies served after dinner, this was the HIT of the night. Will try it again for Christmas. I am going to amp up the orange zest in the filling. I will also try to give a little breathing room in the crumble – make it a little more like a cobbler with some exposed filling here and there. The crumble was really thick – really delicious – but also a little overwhelming.
Thanks for the delish recipe! I love cranberries and this is right up my alley. I made this pie asmy contribution to Thanksgiving dinner and it was a hit. I made it exactly as the recipe stated, except I used a premade frozen crust from Trader Joe’s (I did not prebake it). It turned out great!!!
After Thanksgiving, I have a disk of crust still chilled in the fridge, plus a lot of cranberries. Do you think I could sub buckwheat flour? I can’t imagine why not, but was hoping for some corroboration.
Thanks for all the great recipes and anecdotes. Some of my favorites are from your site and book.
And our kiddos are similarly spaced, with mine each a bit less than a year older. I hope big brother is a bit gentler than mine with his newly 2yo brother! He’s going to have birthday on Thanksgiving every few years and I am hoping that he likes pie as much as me so that I can make him a birthday cake to go with the other desserts we’re enjoying. I’ll consider this research for next year!
I saw your response to Phoebes question about a crumble but I’m wondering about your thoughts on using this recipe without the crust. Another thought I had was about the baking dish. I cook a lot (mostly recipes
from this site!) and trust my judgement there but not so much with baking. Any thoughts on using a similarly sized, but oval shaped dish for this (with the crust)? I hope it is okay to ask a question on an old post! I often find myself digging around in the archive and have tried to avoid asking questions. Luckily, I can usually scroll through the comments and find what I’m looking for though :)
For those wondering about making it as a crisp/crumble, I tried it this weekend and it absolutely works.
Made this today and it was perfect! The perfect cranberry flavor plus pie plus a delicious crumble! It is just so good. I’m giving the recipe to everyone I know.
I made this pie for christmas eve. It turned out really well. I used a deep dish pie pan and it worked fine. I thought the pie was better after the second day.
I made this as written except that I used a springform because that’s all I had a pie plates aren’t easy to find here in Amsterdam. The crust and filling worked out perfectly. I haven’t made many pies so I was really pleased. I loved the flavor of the topping but I found it entirely too sweet. I usually like sweet things but I felt like I could have cut the sugar in half! Perhaps I missed something. I am going to try it again and cut the sugar and see what happens.
I made this for our Christmas dessert. It was wonderful. I have never been a fan of pumpkin pie and after eating this pie, I will never again make pumpkin for any holiday. The flavors play so well together and after all the holiday sweets it was nice to have a bit of tart. I liked the recipe well enough to share a link to your website with the recipe with someone in Bandon, Oregon, where they grow thousands of acres of cranberries, and it was posted today, 12-28-16, on the Bandon TV website. Anyone who likes cranberries in anything should seriously consider making this. My pie set up beautifully with only a little juice. I did bake it in a deep dish pie pan after looking at the volume of berries and crumble topping. I think it would have run over in the oven in a regular pie pan as even in my deep dish it was level with the top of the dish.
Question: I blind-baked the crust first, following the instructions.. And then it burnt when I baked the whole thing with the filling :/ what was I doing wrong?
Perhaps a bit too long… Did it seem already tan when you took it out from par-baking? What kind of pie dish were you baking in?
I cannot thank you enough for this recipe!! I LOVE cranberries and was so thrilled to find a just-cranberry pie! Will be making this for the third year in a row for our family’s Thanksgiving dinner. (And an extra one for breakfast the next morning because I can’t get enough!)
I should mention I omit the pecans as my son is allergic, but the crumble still turns out well.
Thanks again and Happy Holidays!
This pie ❤️ I am a baker and there is nothing I would change about this, it’s perfect and I will be making it for every Holiday and probably my birthday ….
So delicious ☺️🥧
A conflicting opinion on the necessity of par-baking: from my experience, I DEFINITELY recommend par-baking the crust. I had already made this pie a couple of times (it is, heretically, my favorite thanksgiving pie! No offense to pumpkin and pecan!) and always par-baked, but yesterday I decided to give it a shot without. I ended up with a severe soggy bottom situation and some leakage, too! Overall, it still tasted pretty good because the flavors are so spot-on, but I would strongly recommend par-baking! Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful for this amazing cooking blog! :-)
I made this pie for our Thanksgiving dinner and it was a big hit. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out looking just like photos here. And everyone agreed that it was delicious!
I served it with vanilla ice cream and it was attractive.
I usually cut the sugar, but I made this almost as written, and it’s my new favorite pie. I left the pecans finely chopped and the oats rolled for texture. And I used the vodka pie crust, which is my other new favorite.
Unfortunately, my pie was a write-off. If I were to do it again, I would add far more sugar to temper the sheer tartness of the filling, because I don’t think the pecan crumble was enough to compensate. I would also add 1-2 tbsp of cornstarch and maybe let it set overnight in the fridge; my filling was extremely runny.
I’m not sure where I went wrong, but if I were to make this pie again, I would add far more sugar to temper the tartness of the filling (the pecan crumble wasn’t enough) and maybe 1-2 additional tbsp of cornstarch as well as letting it set overnight.
Oops, double-commenting! Apologies, I thought my first comment was deleted.
Cranberry pie has been in our family for generations, made with cranberries and raisins roughly ground together and cooked a bit to thicken, spices (goodies like cinnamon and nutmeg) added (sometimes a wee drop of brandy or such for hidden character) and baked in between regular or lattice-topped crusts, a sprinkling of coarse sugar on top of the crust. And you are right: ice cream or whipped cream goes so well. But the relatives preceding me always felt a piece of cheese was best. To quote my grandmother: a piece of pie without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze….. Happy Thanksgiving!
I absolutely adore cranberry anything and can’t wait to make this! I’m thinking a little blobby of Grand Mariner whipped cream might be a nice addition!
Could you add some clove or allspice to the filling to give it a little more festive flavor??
This was phenomenal! I was so surprised that this pie was THAT GOOD. I made it for a dinner party because it looked quick and pretty and a little different, and now I’m standing in the kitchen at 10pm slicing slivers off “to even it out” before wrapping up the tiny slice that’s left. I served it with Whole Foods pumpkin spice whipped cream (I know, I know…) and it was fine but ice cream or homemade whipped cream would have been better to cut the sweetness. This was a homerun!
Made this today, delicious!
Deb–I love a straight up cranberry pie. Maybe 40 years ago, I found a recipe in the Washington Post when I lived out there for a cranberry pie and it is basically just sugar, cranberries and heavy cream–they make their own thickener. No one in my family is that crazy about it, so on the rare occasions I make it, I have to limit myself and freeze pieces for later! Thanks for introducing to a large audience.
Hi Deb! Could I make this with frozen cherries? How much less sugar do you think? Thanks!!
Maybe make this pie? Or this one? They’re formulated for cherries so should be more straightfoward.
This pie was a huge hit. I asked my picky husband how he liked it, he said he loved it. Loved it. Yes the flavors are intense, but in a good way. Didn’t hurt that I topped it with Ginger Gelato……you aren’t the only one who can guild a lily!
The flavors were delicious, but for some reason my pie crust is basically cemented to the glass pie dish. I had followed the instructions for pre-baking the crust, but I am a novice pie crust maker. Any idea what I might’ve done wrong or what to try I’m the future to prevent that?
Hi Robin, just wanted to say that I had this problem when I baked this pie as well. It was the first time that this has ever happened to me – I don’t anticipate making this recipe again, but I’ll pre-emptively very slightly butter my pie dish as well as very lightly flour my rolled out pie dough the next time I bake any kind of pie.
It’s the day after Thanksgiving and I am eating this pie for brunch. It’s divine! It was also a huge hit last night at dinner. I’m from Cape Cod, and I brought this pie to share with my family on the Cape. Everyone loved it! I used a 9.5 inch pie pan, used the freeze-and-grate butter method, did not par bake the crust, and processed the topping till very fine and uniform. It came out absolutely perfect – crisp, flaky crust, tart but sweet filling, and the nutty crumble topping. We ate it plain, no cream or ice cream – us Cape Codders love the natural tartness of the cranberry and it was wonderful to find a recipe that features it so prominently and highlights it so well. Thanks, Deb, for our new family Thanksgiving tradition – I’ll be making this every year.
I made this pie for Thanksgiving this year since I wanted something I could make vegan that would feel festive and not rely on tofu or flax seeds (like so many vegan pumpkin and pecan pie recipes). It was excellent! Rave reviews from myself and many omnivores- I just used vegan butter in the crust (and used Kenji Lopez’s food processor technique) and then substituted melted coconut oil for the butter in the crumble. I have leaned heavily on your recipes for years and continue to use your recipes for inspiration now that I eat vegan
I made this without the bottom crust as a cranberry crumble (or cranberry crisp?) twice now – it’s delicious and fast! We also substituted walnuts for pecans because that’s what we had on hand, and it was also great. For the second batch, I also added the juice of the orange I was zesting, which was a great addition. My husband insists this needs to become a regular part of our Thanksgiving dessert line-up. Thank you, Deb!
Hi! this looks amazing and I am thinking of making it for christmas! However I am a bit worried it may be too tart for my family, is there another fruit I could possibly cut the cranberries with? say cherries? Thanks!
Maybe! You could also use diced apples or pears. They’ll still be very red.
This pie is spectacular! We eat more than our fair share of pies and this was met with exclamations by all, even the 7 year old. If you are looking for a showstopper for the holidays, make it this, in all its crimson glory! Just wow.
Oh my goodness, where has Cranberry Pie been all my life? This is delicious. Hands down one of the best pies I’ve ever made! My husband LOVED it.
Not that the recipe isn’t perfect – but I think if I don’t want to mess with the crust, this would make a fabulous cranberry crisp. So, so good. I’m freezing a stash of cranberries so we can enjoy this well into spring and beyond!!!
This pie was awesome and looks beautiful! So glad I made it. It is quite tart but I thought the amount of sugar was just right. I added a 1/4 tsp of cardamom to the topping but the flavor didn’t come through – might add more of that and more orange zest (to the filling) next time. I parbaked the crust and was glad I did.
This was really good!! My husband was skeptical–he doesn’t usually like desserts without chocolate very much–but he proclaimed it one of the best pies he’s ever tried. I served it with brown butter ice cream, which was a perfect pairing.
I used just the 1 C of sugar and thought it was perfect with the ice cream, but I think I might want a touch more sugar if I was serving with just whipped cream.
This was my favorite dish at Thanksgiving this year. Next time I will not add the sugar all at once, as it was a little too sweet actually. (Though my husband thinks it would be better with a little more sugar and the addition of apples; to each their own.) But really a gem. Thanks, Deb!
I made this the lazy way… as a crisp without the pie crust and served it for brunch with good vanilla ice cream and it was such a hit!!! So yummy.
Vanilla yogurt! Not ice cream.
Well, didn’t make this exactly, but it was so good! I made the cranberry filling scaled down for 1 bag cranberries (all I had), but then it looked like too little filling in the pan (parbaked crust) so I covered it with a layer of frozen strawberries before topping with crumble and baking. A very successful combo, would recommend.
One can hardly ever buy fresh cranberries here (in the UK). The dried ones are soaked in sugar, so I could presumably leave out all the sugar in the filling part of the recipe.
I don’t know how long to cook them for on the stove, though; can you clarify that, please?
Hi all – I saw people say that this pie is good the second day. How would one store it and then reheat if made the day before thanksgiving?
I will not use the dough recipe again. I followed everything exactly as written, although I did not blind bake given that the recipe did not say it was a necessity- I baked on a pizza stone instead. I ended up baking the pie for an extra 20 minutes. Even after that the bottom was undercooked. But the biggest disappointment was that the crust along the sides was very tough and is actually far less appetizing than the underbaked bottom. The filling was beautifully bright and flavorful, I just should have used a tried and true pie dough recipe. Be wary if you are just a casual pie baker, this dough is not in your favor.
Mmmmm! I made this (twice!) last night. I can’t eat eggs right now and am already gluten free (so sad to miss pumpkin and pecan pie this year) so I was looking for a seasonal alternative and this popped into my Instagram feed. I made it once according to the recipe but the orange was overpowering to me (I probably put way too much in, to be fair) and my love of almond extract was calling. So in the next batch I added 1/2 t almond extract and 1/2 t cinnamon to the filling (and omitted the orange). We are half done with both pies already – it’s so tart it feels like it’s perfectly acceptable breakfast food (and we ate it for dinner too). Gluten free flour works just fine in the crumble. – Another Smitten Kitchen recipe going in to our permanent holiday roster!
Slam dunk – tart but not too tart, perfect cross between a pie and a crumble. On the thanksgiving menu from now on!
This is absolutely the best pie ever. I cannot thank you enough for making this deliciousness possible. Happy Thanksgiving!
I was concerned after reading other comments that this pie would be too tart, but after my first bite my fears were allayed. This was so delicious. I made it quicker by using a pre-made dairy free crust that I parbaked for 10 minutes. The filling and streusel came together nicely without any substitutions. This is a keeper!
I made this in mini graham cracker crusts – perfect and super simple. The filling was enough for 10 mini pies; perfect for takeout Covid Thanksgiving.
Hi Deb, did you change this recipe? I’ve made it year after year and always halve the sugar in the filling. This time it was bitter and I’m thinking you must have changed the amount of sugar.
No, I haven’t touched it since it was published. I wonder if the cranberries were more tart this year.
Hi Deb, I also have to tell you all the pie snobs in my family who have never heard of cranberry pie raved over this and begged me to make it again for Christmas, and it got decimated. This is really one of my favorite recipes. It was a little tart but it must have been the cranberries and no one complained, served with jenis brown butter almond brittle.
It was pleasingly tart and a big hit at our Thanksgiving for two! My one issue is that the pecan crumble was too loose. If I add more butter will it stick together more?
I made this pie for our mini thanksgiving this year. When I added the sugar to my frozen cranberries, some of it crystallized into hard pieces, so I strained them out. The tartness of the cranberry filling was too much for me, but the pecan crumble topping is DIVINE. We can’t stop eating it. I toasted my pecans which gives them a nice, deep nutty flavor. I don’t think I’d make this exact pie again, but the pecan crumble will definitely be used again on other pies. It will work great with apple and berry fillings. Yum!
Hi Deb,
Thoughts on how the ingredients for one pie would spread amongst 5” pie tins?
I made this for thanksgiving it was phenomenal. I want to make mini pies as gifts for neighbors over holidays.
Thank you!
It will make between 4 and 6 smaller pies. Glad it was a hit.
Hi Deb, Truly love your recipes. This crumble is delicious on it’s own — how can it be made into a cookie?!
I have a family member with a nut allergy, and was in an experimental baking mood, so subbed in 3/4 C unsalted pepitas for the pecans. That turns out to be too much pepitas (they pack more densely in the measuring cup), but the general principle was very promising. They toasted nicely and had some of that same nutty richness.
With the full 3/4 C, there was too much crumble, it didn’t quite hold together, and the less browned sections had an overt pepita-y taste that didn’t really go with the rest of the dessert. Next time I’ll probably do 1/3 C pepitas, and then add oat flour until it’s an appropriate streusel-y texture. I suspect 1/2 C pepitas is the eventual correct amount…
Hi! This pie was a huge hit! My husband loves blueberry pie too. I am wondering if I made a blueberry version, how would I alter the filling? Lemon zest instead of orange? More or less sugar and cornstarch? If impossible, I’ll try to find a whole new recipe, but this one is just so easy and the crumble part can’t be beat! Thank you!!
I don’t have a food processor, but this recipe was too tempting to resist. Instead of grinding the oats to powder and coarsely grinding the pecans, I chopped them as finely as I could with a knife and then proceeded with the recipe as written. It worked well! I blind-baked the crust, and I was very happy with the results. Thanks, Deb!
I loved this pie! I need to accommodate a dairy allergy, so I used a vegan pie crust with coconut oil, and vegan butter in the crumble. Both subs worked great (although I recommend allowing an hour or two for a coconut oil crust dough to warm enough to be pliable if you make ahead and refrigerate like I did…). I was a little worried when I saw how loose the filling was after cooking, but it thickened up nicely during baking and the whole pie holds together well. Served with a dusting of powdered sugar, it was overall delicious! I bet it would be even better with some barely sweetened whipped cream.
I made this pie for Christmas dinner 2020 and it’s our new favorite dessert! It is perfect in every way! I used a frozen Gluten free crust( wow! That’s easy!) and GF flour as my daughter is gluten sensitive. This pie is so easy and delicious and GORGEOUS!! Vanilla ice cream (Haagndaaz and a dairy free) took it to the next level!🥰 Thanks for another amazing recipe!!
Do you think this can be fine overnight? I am going to a friends-giving and need to bake the day before. I assume it will be fine but wanted to know!
Absolutely! You can keep it cold or at room temp.
Made this specifically for my own breakfast and Pie for Breakfast Day (aka the day after Turkey Day) is still a week off. It’s so good, and banging out a pie on a weeknight Just Because is very fun.
Made this with an apple and 2.5 cups of cranberries, turned out incredible. Family’s new favorite pie. We couldn’t wait for it to cool.
Made this for Thanksgiving. I tweaked slightly with the addition of diced crystallized ginger and zest and juice of a couple of clementines, and left the pecans out of the streusel due to a guest who is nut allergic. It was AMAZING. The sour/sweet balance reminded us of a good sour Cherry pie, but maybe better (if such a thing is possible). This is a new new “must make” Thanksgiving recipe, and maybe Christmas too. Thanks for a brilliant recipe.
This is really good but I found there to be too little filling for the amount of crumble. In the future I would use more cranberries and just make a little more filling. Otherwise, totally yummy.
My family adores this pie so much, I decided to make it more lunchbox friendly so I subbed a 3/4 batch of this filling recipe into the cranberry bars recipe from the first sk cookbook since I loved the cookie part of those bars but I just couldn’t get the filling to be like the blueberry bars, mine was always dry instead of luscious like this pie filling. I baked it in a 9×9 and I just had a warm bar and then are going to be as much of a staple for cozy season as the blueberry ones are for summer. So awesome!!
Mmm… I love cranberries. I need to make this pie. But I need lower carb version of it. Can the sugar in the filling and streusel be substituted, in whole or in part, with a non-carb substitute (like from stevia or monkfruit)?
If you don’t want to use plastic wrap for chilling the crust, wrapping the dough in a silicone bowl cover works just as well…
Deb,
When I read your recipe notes, and see you beautiful pictures, I feel like I’ve come home!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
StephenKMackSD
My new favorite dessert! I make it as a crumble, not a pie. No pie shell to make, and very easy to convert to GF if needed. Otherwise, I follow the recipe for the filling and topping pretty closely. SO good served with vanilla ice cream. The crumble topping is so good, might be my new go-to for all fruit desserts.
This is ridiculously delicious. Added 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses instead of the extra sugar, and blind baked a storebought pie crust (sorry, sacrilegious I know) and it’s genuinely one of the best desserts I’ve ever had. Whole family was raging about it — highlight of our thanksgiving, thank you!!
You had me at cranberries… I am a big fan of tart fruit desserts and this pie is beyond perfect.
I somehow ended up buying a 9 1/2 in pie plate, so used all of both bags of cranberries but kept the amount of sugar and cornstarch the same. I also didn’t grind the oats up into a powder. Just threw in all the topping ingredients, pulsed a few times and done.
I am leaving now to buy ALL the cranberries so I can make this year round.
Hi! Can I make the filling for this pie ahead and freeze it until I m ready to do the pie? Thank you, Patricia
I was wondering how far in advance you could make this pie?
Thanks!!
I’ve made this pie several times and we love it. Has anyone baked it, then frozen it to serve later?
I have made this pie for years! It is a must for my family at the Thanksgiving table. While I love cranberries, some people in my family are fearful of all cranberries that do not come out of a can. I tried to combat that by putting a thin layer of almond paste in the bottom of the crust, and then using almonds in the crumble. It really elevates it to something spectacular. I cannot recommend this pie enough.
I really want to make this for my family, but will be traveling and want it to be as fresh as possible. I know I can make the crust ahead of time, but do you think I could make the filling and the topping ahead as well, say Tuesday or Wednesday this week, and bring all the components to put it all together and bake Thursday morning (or even Friday if we decide to have it over the weekend instead)?
You can but it honestly keeps really great for 2 to 3 days in the fridge; I’d just make it in advance.
As I am making this pie for the 8th Thanksgiving in a row I am feeling very grateful for this recipe. It has become one of my favorite traditions to make this absolutely delicious pie. It’s always such a treat to see how surprised people are that a cranberry-only pie can be so wonderful. Thank you for sharing this with us, it is truly one of my favorite recipes of all time.
Made this for Thanksgiving and it was the favorite dessert! Perfectly sweet and tart
Where is a place to post pictures of our copycat ways? I did a bang-up job and wouldn’t mind bragging to the world:) My cranberry pie looks fiiine, and I’m assuming it’s going to go down as good as it looks!
I made this for thanksgiving and was absolutely obsessed. I’m making it again today for Christmas. Truly phenomenal pie.