Cranberry Pie

A friend posted this wonderful recipe on a Facebook group a couple weeks ago and I’ve made four of them already! It’s that good and simple to make. (Literally, it takes 10-15 minutes to throw this together.) Technically it’s more of a coffee cake, baked in a pie pan. The original is quite good, but I keep experimenting and here’s the version I’ve settled on. 

Note that you can make either a thin or deep-dish version of this by decreasing or increasing the amounts used in the filling, which is why I give a variable amount. THE BATTER STAYS THE SAME. You’ll need a larger (10”) or deeper pie pan for the larger amount. A 9” pan will do for the thinner version. I'm all about not having many dishes to wash, which is why I melt the butter in the pie pan. I also use a microplaner for the orange zest, then juice the orange over one of those old-fashioned glass juicers and mix the zest and cornstarch directly in the glass juicer.

I think this would be great with just about any fruit in season and a few tweaks – blackberries with lemon juice/zest, apple slices with lemon juice/zest, cinnamon and more butter….

I pour a little cream over the top and have it with coffee, but it would make a fantastic holiday dessert served with warm Crème Anglaise, or in warmer weather with vanilla ice cream.

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Preheat oven to 350.

*1 ¾ sticks of butter (14 Tablespoons), softened in pie pan in oven or microwave.  Pour all but about 2 tablespoons into the mixing bowl for your batter and swirl the remaining 2 T around the pie pan to grease it.

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Variable Filling:

*2-3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

*1/3 -1/2 cup sugar (a little more if you like it sweeter/less tart)

*1/2 – 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

*Zest and juice from 1-2 oranges, mixed with 1-2 teaspoons cornstarch (will be ¼- ½ cup OJ)

*Sprinkle of salt, about 1/4 teaspoon

---Place cranberries into greased pie pan. Sprinkle sugar on top, then sprinkle nuts over that. Drizzle orange juice mix over top. Sprinkle with salt.

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Batter:

Into mixing bowl with the 1 ½ sticks of melted (still warm!) butter, add:

*2 eggs

*1 cup sugar

*1 teaspoon vanilla

*3/4 teaspoon salt

Mix/beat well. Add:

*1 cup AP flour

Mix well.  Pour over cranberries. Bake 1 hour or until golden and bubbly. 

(Original recipe thanks to JL Hutchins)