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Cranberry Apple Pie with sourdough crust

Cranberry Apple Pie (with Sourdough Pie Crust)

Amy
Sweet apples, tart cranberries, a hint of almond and all nestled in a delicious flaky, buttery sourdough discard pie crust. This is the perfect pie for your Thanksgiving table or anytime apples and cranberries are in season.
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cool Time 3 hours
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Course Dessert, pie
Cuisine American
Servings 1 9.5 inch pie

Ingredients
  

Sourdough Pie Crust

  • 325 grams all purpose flour divided into 150 grams and 175 grams (about 1 cup/1.25 cups total)
  • 16 grams sugar 1 Tablespoon
  • 6 grams salt 1 teaspoon
  • 222 grams unsalted butter 1 cup, cold
  • 135 grams sourdough discard 100% hydration, chilled is best, 1/2 cup
  • 20-40 grams ice water as needed (about 2-4 Tablespoons)
  • 1 medium egg reserved for egg wash
  • 16 grams granulated sugar for sprinkling on top of the pie before baking, (1 Tablespoon)

Cranberry Apple Pie Filling

  • 1000 grams honeycrisp or granny smith apples sliced, 8 cups or 7-8 apples
  • 150 grams fresh cranberries 1 1/2 cups
  • 250 grams granulated sugar 1 1/4 cup
  • 70 grams all purpose flour 1/2 cup
  • 8 grams salt 1 teaspoon
  • 6 grams ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon
  • 4 grams almond extract 1 teaspoon
  • 20 grams freshly squeezed lemon juice about 2 Tablespoons/half of a large lemon
  • 22 grams unsalted butter cut into small chunks, 1-2 Tablespoons

Instructions
 

Cranberry Apple Pie (with Sourdough Pie Crust)

  • In a large bowl, mix together 150 grams flour with sugar and salt.
  • Cut the cold, unsalted butter into small chunks (about 16 pieces per stick of butter) and add to the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until all of the butter is moistened by the flour and forms into a thick paste (pictures and more detail in this post).
  • Add the remaining 175 grams (1 1/4 cup) of flour and use the pastry cutter to distribute the flour until the mixture looks crumbly.
  • Pour the chilled sourdough discard on top of the flour/butter mixture and stir to combine. Use your hands to form the dough into a ball. If the dough is too crumbly, add ice cold water a Tablespoon at time until it comes together.
  • Cut the ball in half and form two balls of dough. Wrap the balls in plastic wrap, press down on them to form a disc shape and stick in the refrigerator to chill. Chill the dough for 20 minutes in the refrigerator. The dough can be chilled for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
  • While the dough is chilling, make the pie filling. Peel and core the apples using an apple peeler or a hand peeler. Slice apples into chunks and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the fresh cranberries, sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, almond extract and lemon juice.
  • Pull the chilled dough out of the refrigerator. Lightly flour a pastry mat (or countertop). Roll out the first disc of dough a little over 10 inches round, turning about 30-45 degrees after every roll so you have an even circle of dough. Fold the dough into quarters and place it inside a pie plate, unfolding it and fitting it to the pie plate. Allow the pie crust to hang over the edges. Roll out the second/top crust to the same size or a little bit larger and set aside.
  • Fill the pie with the cranberry apple pie filling, mounding it up in the middle. Dot the pie filling with small chunks of butter (1-2 Tablespoons). Place the second pie crust on top of the pie filling. Use kitchen scissors to cut the overhang of the pie dough. Gather the edges around, folding the top crust edges under the bottom crust to form a seal for the pie and keep the juices from escaping.
  • Place the oven rack in the middle to lower half of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Crimp the edges of the pie and decorate the pie crust as desired. Slice two or more slits in the pie crust to allow steam to escape while baking.
  • Whisk a medium egg with a splash of water and spread the egg wash on top of the pie. Sprinkle the top of the pie with a Tablespoon of granulated sugar. Place a baking sheet in the bottom of the oven to catch any dripping from the pie as it bakes. Bake the pie for about 90 minutes until bubbly and brown on top. Put a few pieces of aluminum foil or a pie shield over the pie crust about halfway through if the pie crust is browning too quickly.
  • Let the pie cool completely before serving. This is important for the juices to gel together and prevents a soggy pie crust. Cool for about 3 hours. Slice and enjoy!

Notes

Sourdough Discard: This pie crust recipe works best with chilled sourdough discard straight from the refrigerator. Throw away any “hooch” that has collected on top of the discard. Smell the discard to make sure you are okay with the flavor it will bring (I don’t like to use discard longer than 2 weeks old in my discard recipes because the sour flavor can be overwhelming). Stir the discard and use in the recipe. The extra chill from the cold discard keeps the butter cold as you incorporate it into the crust. You can also use bubbly sourdough starter in this recipe if you don’t have any sourdough discard. 
Apples: I like this recipe best with tart/firm apples that hold up well for baking. Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples are my favorite in this pie.
Keyword apple pie, cranberry apple pie, sourdough apple pie, sourdough cranberry apple pie, sourdough crust, sourdough discard recipe, sourdough pie crust, sourdough recipe
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