Serve this beautifully bright red cranberry pie for your holiday gathering. With just the right balance of sweet and tart, it is the perfect way to end your feast. Bonus, it is pretty to look at and will brighten up the dessert table.
Pies are the star of the holiday season and this vegan cranberry pie recipe fits in right at home alongside other classics like apple pie, pumpkin pie, or pecan pie. There is something for everyone!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
It's like a fancy cranberry sauce wrapped up in a homemade pie crust. We personally love the addition of a tart element to a sweet pie. The fresh cranberries certainly bring the natural tartness and are balanced by sweet pears and zippy ginger.
The first time we tested this recipe, we used raw, fresh cranberries for the filling. For our taste, the sweet to tart ratio was perfect. Everyone else, however, disagreed. They thought it needed a little more sweetness, so on the next try, we cooked the cranberries with some sugar and orange juice before adding them to the pears. Now our families love this pie just as much as we do.
Ingredients
- Fresh Cranberries.
- Pears. We like to use Anjou or Bartlett pear. Pick pears that are still slightly firm.
- Orange Juice. Helps cut the tartness of the cranberries and adds more flavor. You can use any other fruit juice you have on hand.
- Fresh Ginger.
- Vanilla Extract.
- Cornstarch. Helps to thicken the filling.
- All Purpose Flour. You can use an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend if you prefer.
- Sugar.
- Salt.
- Coconut Oil. Helps the dough stick together. You can use a vegan butter or if you don't need to keep this dairy free, you can use a regular butter in the crust.
- Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk. Any variety will work. If you don't need to keep this recipe vegan, you can use a dairy milk.
How to Make Cranberry Pie with Pears and Ginger
- Step 1: Mix together the flour, sugar, salt, coconut oil, and milk in a food processor to form a dough. Chill.
- Step 2: Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Roll into a circle and press 1 piece into a glass baking dish. Use a piping tip to cut polka dot circles out of the other piece of dough and reserve on a piece of parchment paper.
- Step 3: Combine the cranberries, sugar, orange juice and ginger in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the cranberries are soft.
- Step 4: Stir together the cranberries, pears and vanilla in a large bowl.
- Step 5: Transfer the filling to the pie pan.
- Step 6: Carefully place the remaining dough on top and pinch the sides all around.
- Step 7: Bake in the oven until the juices are bubbly and the crust is golden brown.
Recipe Tips
1. Rather than making a lattice top for the top crust, which looks beautiful, but can be a bit cumbersome for beginners or someone who isn't very crafty (read: us), we cut some holes in the crust to create a cute polka dot pattern. We used the tip of a piping bag for even-sized circles, which had the perfect size.
2. Rolling the dough over a piece of parchment or wax paper makes it a lot easier to transfer it to the pie dish. Taping the corners of the paper to the countertop will keep it from sliding all over while you roll the dough.
3. When you place the bottom crust on the pie dish, make sure some of the dough comes up the sides. Using a clear glass pie dish will help you see if the dough is cooked (it should be golden brown when it's ready).
4. Once the filling is in and you've placed the top crust, pinch the sides all around. Flatten the pinched sides in slightly so the dough doesn't burn before the pie is ready. Place a baking sheet on the rack underneath the pie, to catch any juices that might drip from it.
5. For a nice, sweet crunch, sprinkle the top of the Cranberry Pear Pie with sugar before baking it. Let it cool slightly before serving.
Storage and Reheating
Leftover vegan cranberry pie can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. Keep it in the original pie pan and cover it with plastic wrap, or transfer it to an airtight container. Reheat in the oven at 350ºF degrees for 10 minutes, or in the microwave for 2 minutes, until warmed through.
Pie can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and freeze. When ready to eat, allow it to thaw in the fridge and then heat it in the oven as directed above.
Other Thanksgiving Desserts We Recommend
- Vegan Pumpkin Mousse
- Cranberry Pear Pie
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Candied Pecans
- Pumpkin Coffee Cake
- Ginger Snap Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Mousse Cashew Cheesecake
- Vegan Pumpkin Pie Ice cream
- Bourbon Pecan Pie
- Lemon Infused Almond Milk Custard
Did you like this Cranberry Pear Pie recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, it would help us tremendously if you left us a star rating in the comments below or on the recipe card. Do you have any questions about the recipe? Do you need a swap for any of the ingredients? We are here to help, just leave us a question in the comments below.
Vegan Cranberry Pie with Pears
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
Description
This vegan pear and cranberry pie is the perfect way to end your Holiday meal. With the right balance of sweet and tart, and pretty to look at! Check out our blog post for some useful tips!
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 3 tbsp sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup coconut oil
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened non dairy milk
For the filling:
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 cup sugar, divided
- ¼ cup fruit juice (we used orange here, but you can use whatever you have on hand)
- 5 Anjou or Barlett pears, slightly firm, peeled, cored and diced (about 5 cups)
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp corn starch
Instructions
- To prepare the crust, combine the flour, sugar and salt in the food processor. Pulse a few times to mix. Add the coconut oil and pulse a few more times, until you get a cornmeal like consistency. Add the almond milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, and keep pulsing until the mixture comes together and form a dough (you might not need all 6 tablespoons). Refrigerate for 10 minutes
- In the meantime, prepare the filling. Combine the cranberries with ½ cup of the sugar, juice and grated ginger in a small sauce pan. Cook over medium heat for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries start to break down. Set aside to cool slightly
- Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces. Roll one of the pieces into a 10 ½ inch circle, on a piece of parchment or wax paper. Cut out 15 to 17 circles (we used the tip of a piping bag) and do not discard the extra dough
- Add the extra dough to the remaining piece and roll it into an 11 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Carefully transfer it to a 9.5 inch deep pie dish, so there is some dough coming up the borders of the dish. Set aside
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Place a large baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven (this will catch any juices that might drip from the pie)
- Combine the cooked cranberries, diced pears, the remaining ½ cup of sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and mix well. Add the corn starch and toss well, so the fruit is well coated
- Transfer the filling to the pie dish. Carefully place the dough with the cut out circles on top, pinching the sides all around (see picture above). Sprinkle some sugar on top (this is optional, but gives the crust a nice sweet crunch) and place it on the middle rack. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until golden brown
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10 of the pie
- Calories: 409
- Sugar: 32
- Sodium: 67.3
- Fat: 16.7
- Saturated Fat: 13.5
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.5
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 61.5
- Fiber: 3.7
- Protein: 3.4
- Cholesterol: 0
Raquel
This looks delicious!!! Sounds like the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness and like the perfect way to end any dinner (especially a Thanksgiving meal)!
Vicky & Ruth
Thank you!! Enjoy 🙂
Paula Zevin
This looks yummy and I will be baking it for Chanukah!
Gil Bynoe
This was great 🙂 I tested making it 1st because I want to serve it at Access Ballroom Studio 's Christmas party and there are a lot of people who are vegetarian or vegan so this will work wonderfully. Such a great Recipe, Thank you For posting it.
Vicky & Ruth
Thank you, so much!
Joyce
Lovely and yummy looking as are all your recipes! What flour substitute would you use to make the pie gluten free? Do you think using honey or maple syrup in both the pie and crust would work as a replacement for sugar?
Thank you both for all you do - love your cookbook!
Vicky & Ruth
Hi Joyce!
Thank you so much for buying our cookbook! So happy to hear you're enjoying it 🙂
We recommend using a gluten free one-to-one baking flour, such as Bob Red Mill's ( ). We've made pie crust with it, and it works perfectly. If you're going to use honey or maple syrup for the crust, you might need to cut down the amount of milk you use. Add one tablespoon at a time, and stop adding when the mix comes together to form a dough.
For the filling, you'll need to add a little more cornstarch (maybe a tablespoon or so), to make sure the filling isn't too wet and makes the crust soggy.
Hope this helps!
Ellie
This recipe is just incredible! I had to bake it a lot longer than the recipe described, but that could be my oven. The whole family devoured it!
Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving!
Vicky & Ruth
We are so happy you and your family enjoyed our cranberry pear pie. Keep Cooking!
Helen
Hi all your recipes look delicious and I would love to try them. Would it be possible to have the measurements in metric as well please? Thank you.
Vicky and Ruth
Hi Helen, we have a built-in automatic converter to metric. It's located on the right side of the title "ingredients" it shows US and M. Please take into consideration that it's an automatic metric converter and may not be 100% accurate.