Apple Cranberry Lattice Pie
A Thanksgiving fruit pie in two layers: cinnamon apples on a bed of pecans, topped with cranberries cooked down with sugar, orange juice and zest, under a golden lattice.
Edited by JP Lambiase
Change the estimate
Swaps change the price only: cook any meat to its own safe temperature. Where these numbers come from
Cranberries are one of the few fruits on the Thanksgiving table that are truly North American. Wikipedia says the Narragansett people appear to have used cranberries in pemmican and as a dye and may have introduced them to the colonists in Massachusetts, that the name comes from German and Dutch settlers who thought the flower looked like the neck, head and bill of a crane, and that Revolutionary War veteran Henry Hall first cultivated cranberries in the Cape Cod town of Dennis around 1816. Cranberry sauce became the traditional partner for turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas in the US and Canada, which is why the 1959 "cranberry scare" hurt so much: on November 9, 1959, the US Health, Education and Welfare Secretary announced that some of that year's crop carried traces of the weedkiller aminotriazole, and the market collapsed (Wikipedia). Putting the berries in an apple pie is the easy way to bring the sauce and the dessert together. King Arthur Baking's version fixes the usual problem, a runny pink filling, by cooking the cranberries first.
🇺🇸 This one is American
A Thanksgiving fruit pie in two layers: cinnamon apples on a bed of pecans, topped with cranberries cooked down with sugar, orange juice and zest, under a golden lattice.
🇬🇧 The original
The British original is the mince pie: a small, sealed pastry of dried fruit, suet and spice that once held real minced meat. See the British Mince Pies recipe.
📖 Origin story: Why Is Canned Cranberry Sauce a Ridged Log? A Short History →
Why it works the kitchen science
Cook the berries first
Simmering the cranberries with sugar and a little flour thickens their juice before it ever meets the apples, so the pie slices instead of flooding (King Arthur).
Pecans on the bottom
A scatter of nuts under the apples soaks up stray juice and keeps the bottom crust from going soggy.
🧰 You'll need 6 items
Everything the steps call for. Tick off what you have before you start.
Appliances
Pans and pots
Tools
Supplies
Step by step
- Step 1
Make the double crust (see the crust baseline), divide it into two disks, one slightly larger, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- Step 2
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, 1 tbsp flour and juice, stirring, about 5 minutes, until the berries pop and the mixture thickens slightly. Let it cool while you roll the crust. Heat the oven to 425°F.
✓ What it should look like - Step 3
Roll the larger disk to a 12- to 13-inch circle and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate. Sprinkle half the pecans over the bottom.
- Step 4
Toss the apples with the remaining 1 tbsp flour, the cinnamon and the boiled cider, if using. Spread them in the crust, dot with the butter, pour the cranberry mixture over the top and scatter on the rest of the pecans.
- Step 5
Roll the second disk to an 11-inch circle, cut it into strips and weave a lattice over the filling (or lay it on whole and cut vents). Trim and crimp the edge.
- Step 6
Bake at 425°F for 40 to 45 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cranberries bubble through the lattice. Cover the edge with foil if it browns too fast.
✓ What it should look like - Step 7
Cool on a rack at least 2 hours so the juices thicken before slicing. Keep loosely covered at room temperature for a day, or refrigerate up to 5 days.
Apple Cranberry Lattice Pie
Serves 8 · one 9-inch pie · 1 hr 25 min total
Crust (King Arthur's Classic Double Pie Crust)
- 2 1/2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/4 cup (46 g) vegetable shortening
- 10 tbsp (142 g) very cold unsalted butter
- 6 to 10 tbsp ice water
Cranberry layer
- 1 1/2 cups (149 g) fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
- 1 cup (198 g) sugar
- 1/2 tsp grated orange zest
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (76 g) orange juice or cranberry juice
Apple layer
- 6 tbsp (43 g) chopped pecans, divided (optional)
- 3 large firm, tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp boiled cider (optional)
- 1 tbsp (14 g) butter, cut into bits
Equipment: Oven, 9-inch pie plate, Medium saucepan, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Aluminum foil
Method
- Make the double crust (see the crust baseline), divide it into two disks, one slightly larger, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, 1 tbsp flour and juice, stirring, about 5 minutes, until the berries pop and the mixture thickens slightly. Let it cool while you roll the crust. Heat the oven to 425°F.
- Roll the larger disk to a 12- to 13-inch circle and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate. Sprinkle half the pecans over the bottom.
- Toss the apples with the remaining 1 tbsp flour, the cinnamon and the boiled cider, if using. Spread them in the crust, dot with the butter, pour the cranberry mixture over the top and scatter on the rest of the pecans.
- Roll the second disk to an 11-inch circle, cut it into strips and weave a lattice over the filling (or lay it on whole and cut vents). Trim and crimp the edge.
- Bake at 425°F for 40 to 45 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cranberries bubble through the lattice. Cover the edge with foil if it browns too fast.
- Cool on a rack at least 2 hours so the juices thicken before slicing. Keep loosely covered at room temperature for a day, or refrigerate up to 5 days.
Adapted from King Arthur Baking, "Apple Pie with Cranberries" by Dorothea Douple (updated July 14, 2023), one 9-inch pie. Filling amounts, the 425°F oven and the 40 to 45 minute bake are King Arthur's; its "3 firm, tart apples" are weighed as our estimate (about 450 g sliced). The crust is King Arthur's Classic Double Pie Crust (see the crust baseline). The 5-minute cranberry simmer, the 2-hour cooling time and the serving count of 8 are ours (King Arthur gives none). History from Wikipedia's cranberry article, linked in the Story. King Arthur Baking. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Use apples that hold their shape, such as Granny Smith or Honeycrisp.
- Frozen cranberries go straight into the pan; no thawing needed.
- King Arthur's pie freezes well for up to 3 months.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Cranberries were at the first Thanksgiving. Folklore: cranberries grew wild in Massachusetts, but no record we found puts them on the 1621 table.
- Henry Hall was the first cranberry farmer. Documented per Wikipedia: he first cultivated them in Dennis, Massachusetts, around 1816.
- The cranberry scare ruined Thanksgiving 1959. Folklore wording: Wikipedia documents the November 9, 1959, announcement and the market collapse; how many families skipped cranberries that year is not recorded.
Every other holiday pie
Classic Southern Pecan Pie
The corn syrup pecan pie: eggs, light and dark corn syrup, butter and toasted pecans in a flaky par-baked crust, baked until puffed and just set and crowned with pecan halves.
Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie Without Corn Syrup
Pecan pie the way it was made before corn syrup took over: a smooth custard of brown sugar, milk, eggs, butter and a splash of vinegar, with toasted diced pecans inside and halves roasting on top.
Southern Lemon Chess Pie
The South's pantry pie: eggs, sugar, butter, lemon and a spoonful of cornmeal baked in a par-baked crust until the top turns into a thin, crackly sugar crust over a soft, tart custard.
Southern Buttermilk Pie
A tangy Southern custard pie: plenty of buttermilk, eggs and yolks, a little cream, butter and vinegar, baked low to 180°F in a fully baked crust, then flashed in a hot oven for a golden top.
Kentucky Chocolate Walnut Pie with Bourbon
Kentucky's chocolate and walnut pie: a layer of melted bittersweet chocolate in a blind-baked crust under a brown butter, bourbon and brown sugar filling packed with toasted walnuts.
Indiana Sugar Cream Pie (Hoosier Pie)
Indiana's eggless pie: sugar, heavy cream, butter and vanilla cooked into a thick custard on the stove, poured into a fully baked crust, chilled until sliceable and dusted with nutmeg.
Pennsylvania Dutch Shoofly Pie
The Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast pie: a wet-bottom molasses filling lightened with baking soda and boiling water, under a spiced brown sugar crumb top, in a flaky sour cream crust.
Easy Pecan Pie Bars
Pecan pie for a crowd with no rolling pin: a press-in brown sugar shortbread crust topped with chopped pecans in a quick honey, butter and brown sugar caramel, baked in one 9 by 13-inch pan.
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A dense, gooey butter and brown sugar filling thickened with egg yolks and milk powder, in a crust of crumbled homemade oat cookie, baked briefly and frozen until it slices like soft caramel. Inspired by Milk Bar's Milk Bar Pie; not official.
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Britain's Christmas pies: small sweet shortcrust tarts filled with a week-old mincemeat of beef suet, raisins, currants, peel, grated apple, citrus, spice, brandy, rum, port and sherry, with sugared star or round lids.
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Canada's own tart: flaky little pastry cups in a muffin pan, filled with a runny, just-set mix of brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, eggs and a dash of vinegar, with raisins or without.
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