If you’re looking for an alternative to the traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, look no further! This cranberry orange pie combines tangy cranberries with a sweet, spiced orange twist. Wrapped in a crisp pie crust and served with a scoop of ice cream, this dessert is sure to be a new favorite!
Has anyone else come to the realization that Thanksgiving is just 2 1/2 weeks away?! I just packed up the Halloween stuff, I’m not ready for this! But you know what I am ready for? Pie. I am always ready for pie.
And although pumpkin pie will always be a favorite, I wanted to do something a little different this year. Something that still hit all the right Thanksgiving overtones but with a twist. And then it hit me: cranberry sauce but sweet… and also pie.
Now, if you’re not a cranberry sauce fan, don’t leave just yet! I’m normally not either, but this pie will literally change your mind. Sweet, tangy, and topped with a giant scoop of vanilla bean ice cream: it’s everything you didn’t know your Thanksgiving was missing.
How to make cranberry orange pie
First, make your filling. You’ll want to pulse about half of your cranberries in a blender or food processor so you have a nice mix of cut and whole berries.
Stir together the berries, orange juice and orange zest. In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients, stir and add to the rest of the filling. Stir until everything is well coated.
Second, press a pie crust into a 9″ pie pan (If you’re interested in making your own, I highly recommend checking out my guide to making pie dough). Add your filling and top with cubes of butter. Cover with another pie crust and trim away the excess.
Finally, bake your pie, cool and enjoy (preferably with a big ol’ scoop of ice cream)!
How to make the perfect pie
If you’re new to pie making, no worries! Here are some tips to help you make this pie perfectly the first time around.
- Keep your pie dough cold. Because pie dough is mostly butter and flour, you’ll want to keep it cold at every step of the process. And a pie that has cold dough when it enters the oven is less likely to sink down as it bakes. It also produces a flakier crust.
- Handle the dough as little as possible. This goes back to the notion of keeping your dough cold but also because pie dough can get tough if it’s handled too much.
- Use aluminum foil or a “pie shield” to protect your crust while baking. As we all know, the outer edges of the crust tend to brown faster than the center of the pie. You can keep the edges from getting too dark by loosely folding strips of aluminum foil around the outer edge or by using a pie shield.
- Make sure your filling is bubbling. While we often look to the crust as an indication of doneness, we also want to make sure the filling is boiling. Fruit pies, in particular, need to boil in order to thicken properly.
- Brush your crust with an egg wash. Beating an egg and brushing it onto the crust of your pie will help you get that perfect golden brown color with just a hint of shine.
- Shelf life: this pie will keep for approximately 2 days at room temperature.
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it went in the comments below. Better still, snap a photo and tag it on Instagram with #thesimplesweetlife. I love seeing your creations!
PrintCranberry Orange Pie
If you’re looking for an alternative to the traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, look no further! This cranberry orange pie combines tangy cranberries with a sweet, spiced orange twist. Wrapped in a crisp pie crust and served with a scoop of ice cream, this dessert is sure to be a new favorite!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 5 cups (about 15 oz) fresh cranberries
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 1/2 tbsp orange zest
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp all purpose flour
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 pie crusts, store bought or homemade
- 1 egg
- Optional: coarse sugar to garnish
Instructions
- Put half of your cranberries in a food processor or blender and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped.
- In a large bowl, combine the cranberries, orange juice and orange zest.
- In a medium size bowl, stir together the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, cornstarch and cinnamon).
- Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl with the cranberries and stir until well coated.
- Press one of your pie crusts into a 9″ pie pan and trim so that the dough no longer hangs over the edges. Prick the bottom a few times with a fork.
- Pour the cranberry filling into the pie pan. Place your cubes of butter on top of the filling.
- Cover the filling with the second crust, seal with a little water and trim so it no longer hangs over the edges.
- Brush the top of the crust with an egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Bake at 375F for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown and the filling is bubbling.
- Allow to cool completely before serving.
Notes
- Keep your pie dough cold. Because pie dough is mostly butter and flour, you’ll want to keep it cold at every step of the process. And a pie with cold dough when it enters the oven is less likely to sink down as it bakes and produces a flakier crust.
- Handle the dough as little as possible. This goes back to the notion of keeping your dough cold but also because pie dough can get tough if it’s handled to much.
- Use aluminum foil or a “pie shield” to protect your crust while baking. The outer edge of the crust tends to brown faster than the center of your pie. You can keep the edges from getting too dark by loosely folding strips of aluminum foil around the outer edge or by using a pie shield.
- Make sure your filling is bubbling. While we often look to the crust as an indication of doneness, we also want to make sure the filling is boiling. Fruit pies, in particular, need to boil in order to thicken properly.
- Brush your crust with an egg wash. Beating an egg and brushing it on the crust of your pie will help you get that perfect golden brown color with just a hint of shine.
- Shelf life: this pie will keep for approximately 2 days at room temperature.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 354
- Sugar: 29.6g
- Sodium: 233mg
- Fat: 13.9g
- Saturated Fat: 3.5g
- Carbohydrates: 53.3g
- Fiber: 3.2g
- Protein: 2.5g
- Cholesterol: 28mg
Keywords: cranberry pie, thanksgiving pie, how to make pie
I absolutely LOVE your lattice work. So pretty. This pie is the perfect dessert for the holiday season. Love the flavour combination…and I am a cranberry lover too.
★★★★★
This is gorgeous! It even feels like a true holiday plaid 🙂 I love the fresh flavors and I think this is such a great “outside the box ” idea. Love it!!
★★★★★
Finally a cranberry recipe I can put on the table for Thanksgiving! Definitely trying this pie this year! It looks mouthwatering!
Oh this looks so yummy!! Love that it is more tart and bright than a pumpkin pie for something a little less heavy.
These tips are awesome, and it looks delicious! I have never made a pie before!
I shouldn’t have read this when I was hungry! This looks like such a delicious pie. I love the flavor combo of orange and cranberry. Adding it to my list of recipes to try!
Cranberry and orange sound like a great flavour combination. Thank you for all the tips on working with pastry as well, really helpful!
I’m in love with this pie! It’s so perfect and with the orange and cranberry flavors. I can’t wait to try this pie for the holidays!
What a great use of cranberries! I really only eat them around the holidays, and I would devour this pie…especially with a big scoop of ice cream
★★★★★
Oh my, this looks absolutely delicious & your food photography is gorgeous!
★★★★★
That lattice crust work is top notch! It’s a lovely color too. Red pies always look the best with a decorative top.
Oh now this is my kind of pie!!!! I can eat a pumpkin pie if it’s what’s on offer but I really prefer something like this, especially with the tartness and the gorgeous color of cranberries!!! For this, I would go back for seconds 🙂
★★★★★
Cranberries and orange are my salt and pepper! Love the flavor combo! Your recipe and photos are gorgeous! I love your lattice topping as well! I could eat this whole pie myself!
★★★★★
This pie is gorgeous! And the combo of cranberries with orange sounds amazing. Pinning to try this later.
I love anything and everything orange cranberry 🙂 I love how easy this is to bring together and how perfect it it to feed a hungry crowd.. not that I would share any.. haha! .. it looks amazing!
This pie looks beyond words amazing! It’s so beautiful and perfect for Holiday table. I wish I’m such a great in making beautiful pies as you are. Definitely mouthwatering recipe and pictures.
I absolutely love cranberries and I know I would this pie. I bet that orange evens out the tartness of the cranberries.