Page 64 - United States of Pie

Crunchy Cranberry Pie

Before I moved to New England, I thought of cranberries as
synonymous with Thanksgiving. My only experience of the cranberry
came when my parents plopped a can of cranberry sauce, either
jellied or chunky, into a bowl and set it on the Thanksgiving table. I
saw the fruit strictly as a tart accompaniment to a slice of turkey.

Maybe it was the crispness in the air come autumn, or the crunch of
fallen leaves under my feet, or my palate finally maturing, but as
soon as I moved to Connecticut, I was roused from my cranberry
slumber.
I still eat them in sauce form at Thanksgiving, but now I find myself
adding cranberries to braised meat dishes, mixing them into scones,
and, of course, baking them into sweet-tart pies. In this pie, the

whole berries, juicy and ready to burst, pop in the mouth as you bite
into them. A baking apple and a bit of pure maple syrup balance the
berries’ natural acidity, and a buttery oatmeal-pecan streusel tops
the pie—hence the “crunchy” in the name.

½ recipe Standard Pie Dough or Whole Wheat Pie Dough

For the filling
2½ cups cranberries, washed and patted dry
1 medium baking apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled,

cored, and diced into ½-inch cubes (1½ cups)
1 /3 cup pure maple syrup
1 /3 cup sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
½ teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour