Holiday Cranberry Pie with Streusel Topping
This tart cranberry pie with streusel topping is a must for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the holiday season! Lightly sweetened, it’s a refreshing dessert option to enjoy at any special fall or winter gathering.
I love the color of this cranberry pie, especially as a contrast to the more muted color pies that usually dot our table this time of year– pumpkin pie, apple pie, and chocolate pie.
This sweet-tart pie is another of Melanie’s creations, chef extraordinaire whom I have been collaborating with the past few years. It’s so nice to have another person to help test recipes and brainstorm ideas with. When she brought up the idea of a cranberry pie– I was immediately interested.
This is a cranberry pie for cranberry lovers, which I happen to be. I love their tart bite and enjoy them often this time of year in my healing cranberry smoothie, fresh cranberry parfaits, and, of course, my cranberry orange bread. This pie also combines orange and cranberries together and is just so gorgeous on any table, but especially a Thanksgiving or Christmas one.
See below for tips and more details on how to make it, or scroll all the way down to the recipe card for the full directions.
Cranberry Pie Ingredients
- Fresh or frozen cranberries
- Fresh or frozen strawberries
- Sugar
- Orange
- Cornstarch
- Rolled Oats
- Melted Butter
- Cinnamon
How to Make Cranberry Pie
Shape the pie crust
Place the pie dough in a 9-inch pie plate and shape.
Add the pie weights and par-bake
Add your pie weights or alternatives as listed above, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.
Mix the filling ingredients
Stir together all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Simmer until jammy and thickened, about 10-15 minutes. Let cool.
Add the cranberry filling
Once lightly cooled, add the cranberry filling to the pie dough.
Make the streusel topping
Mix together the ingredients for the streusel topping and add the melted butter. Stir together with your hands or a spoon and top with the cranberry filling.
Bake
Bake until golden brown and the filling is bubbling into the streusel mixture. Remove and let cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired, and serve.
Ingredient Notes & Substitution Options
The tartness of the cranberries is cut with naturally sweet strawberries and sugar. You can reduce the sugar slightly but don’t recommend cutting it much, or else you will end up with a very tart pie. If you want a sweeter pie, you can add 1-2 more tablespoons of sugar.
You can also add in more strawberries and less cranberries.
Frozen berries work for both. There is no need to thaw first; add to the saucepan and cook. As they thaw, they will release their juices.
This cranberry pie recipe is easily vegan by using a vegan pie crust (most storebought crusts are) and vegan butter.
Pie Weight Alternatives
I call for parbaking the crust first using pie weights. This prevents the crust from shrinking and becoming misshapen as it bakes. Pie weights also prevent air pockets and bubbles from forming in the dough as it bakes, creating an evenly baked crust.
Baking the crust first also helps to draw moisture out from the dough, preventing a soggy bottom crust. However, if you don’t have pie weights, then you can use dried beans, rice, or lentils to weigh down the pie.
Pie weights are a great option if you make pies often; these are the pie weights I use. You can also skip this step if you must, but the crust may be a little more soggy on the bottom than if you didn’t.
More Fresh Cranberry Recipes
- Cranberry Orange Bread
- Vegan Orange Cranberry Muffins
- Fresh Cranberry Bars
- Roasted Cranberry and Wild Rice Salad
- Healing Cranberry Smoothie
More Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes
- Vegan Pumpkin Pie
- Classic Apple Pie
- Pumpkin Bars with Pecan Crust
- Pecan Pie Cheesecake Bars
- No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
If you make this recipe, make sure to come back to leave a rating and a comment. Your feedback helps other readers, and seeing you make my recipes makes my day!
Holiday Cranberry Pie with Streusel Tipping
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust, homemade or store-bought
- 4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, about 1 1/2 12 ounce bags
- 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
- 1 + 1/3 cup sugar, divided
- 1 orange, zested
- pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2/3 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Shape the pie dough into a 9-inch pie pan, then par-bake with pie weights (or alternatives as listed above) for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Make the filling
- Add the cranberries, strawberries, 1 cup sugar, orange zest, salt, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes until the filling has softened and is jammy. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes while you make the crumble topping.
Make the streusel topping
- In a bowl, combine together the oats, flour, remaining 1/3 cup sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. Drizzle with melted butter, then work into the mixture with a spoon or your hands.
- Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F after parbaking the crust.
- Add cranberry filling to the pie crust, then sprinkle the streusel topping over the cranberry filling. Bake pie for 45 to 50 minutes,- until juices are bubbling enough that they splash a bit onto the crumb topping. If the pie browns too quickly, cover the top with a piece of foil for the remaining baking time. Transfer to a wire rack to cool a bit before serving. If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.