Apple Cranberry Crumb Pie

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
• 5 cups peeled, sliced apples, 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
• 1/4 tsp salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Fit the crust into a 9-inch pie dish and crimp the edges.
2. Toss the peeled, sliced apples and fresh cranberries, mixed with the sugar, thickener, spice, and lemon juice, then spread evenly in the crust.
3. For the crumb topping, rub the flour, brown sugar, butter, and salt together with your fingers until it forms coarse, pea-sized clumps.
4. Scatter the crumb topping evenly over the filling.
5. Bake for 50–60 minutes, tenting the edges with foil if the crust browns too quickly, until the topping is golden and the filling bubbles at the edges.
6. Cool on a wire rack at least 2 hours before slicing.

The Tale of Apple Cranberry Crumb Pie

Story updated September 19, 2026

Apple cranberry crumb pie pairs two fruits with long American histories. Apples came with European colonists in the 17th century, while cranberries are native to North America and were used by Indigenous peoples of the Northeast before colonists took them up. Both ripen in autumn, which made the combination a natural fit for fall and Thanksgiving tables. The crumb topping is usually linked to the German-speaking Pennsylvania Dutch settlers, who are associated with streusel and with Dutch apple pie. Swapping a top crust for crumbs looks like a home-kitchen habit of the 19th and 20th centuries, and there is no documented origin for this particular pie.