This cranberry apple crisp pairs sweet, tender apples with bright, tart cranberries under a buttery brown sugar oat topping! It's a cozy, colorful dessert that comes together with just a few pantry ingredients and about 15 minutes of hands-on work.
The cranberries give a classic apple crisp a festive pop of color and a little tang, which makes it a perfect fit for Thanksgiving or a Christmas dinner table. Serve it warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Quick Look
- Time: About 1 hour 10 minutes (15 minutes of prep, 45 minutes in the oven, and 10 minutes to cool)
- Key ingredients: Honeycrisp apples, fresh cranberries, cinnamon, old-fashioned oats, brown sugar, and butter
- Flavor: Sweet and tart with warm cinnamon and a crunchy, buttery topping
- Method: Toss the fruit, spread it in a baking dish, add the oat topping, and bake at 350°F until bubbly
- Serve with: Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or a drizzle of caramel sauce
- Make-ahead: Prep the filling up to 24 hours ahead and the topping up to 2 days ahead
If you love apple crisp but want something a little more special for the holidays, this is the one. The cranberries burst as they bake and turn the filling a beautiful ruby red, and the oat topping stays crisp and golden on top. If you make it, please leave a star rating and a comment below. I'd love to hear what you think!
Why this Recipe Works
- Sweet apples balance tart cranberries. Honeycrisp apples are on the sweeter side, so they soften the sharp tang of fresh cranberries without the filling turning sour.
- A little flour thickens the juices. Two tablespoons of flour in the filling turn the apple and cranberry juices into a syrupy sauce instead of a puddle.
- Melted butter makes a crunchy topping. Stirring melted butter into the oats, flour, and brown sugar creates crisp, clumpy bits that brown evenly in the oven.
- No crust required. You get all the cozy flavor of a fruit pie without rolling out dough. Just toss, top, and bake.
Ingredient Notes
- Apples: I use Honeycrisp, which stay tender without turning to mush and bring plenty of natural sweetness. Peel, core, and slice them thin so they cook evenly.
- Fresh cranberries: Rinse them and pick out any soft or shriveled ones. They burst as they bake and add tartness and color to every bite.
- Sugar, flour, and cinnamon: The sugar balances the tart cranberries, the flour thickens the juices, and the cinnamon adds that warm, cozy flavor.
- Salt: Just a pinch, about ⅛ teaspoon. It's easy to skip, but it makes the fruit taste brighter.
- Old-fashioned oats: Rolled oats keep their shape and give the topping its chewy, crunchy texture.
- Butter: Melted butter binds the topping together and helps it bake up golden and crisp.
- Pecans: Chopped pecans add extra crunch. Walnuts work just as well, or you can leave the nuts out completely.
See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the complete list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make Cranberry Apple Crisp
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Toss the filling. Combine the sliced apples and cranberries with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt until every piece is lightly coated.
- Spread it in the dish. Pour the fruit into a 2.5-quart baking dish and spread it into an even layer so it bakes evenly.
- Mix the topping. Stir the oats, flour, brown sugar, pecans, and melted butter together until it looks like damp, clumpy sand.
- Top and bake. Scatter the topping evenly over the fruit and bake until the apples are tender, the juices are bubbling around the edges, and the topping is golden brown. A knife should slide into the apples with no resistance.
- Let it cool. Give it about 10 minutes out of the oven. The bubbling juices thicken as they cool, so every scoop holds together.
Scott's Tips
- Set it on a rimmed baking sheet. I bake this in a 2.5-quart ceramic dish on a rimmed baking sheet. The juices bubble up as the cranberries burst, and the sheet pan catches any drips before they hit the oven floor.
- Slice the apples thin and even. Thin slices cook at the same rate as the cranberries. Thick chunks can stay firm in the center even when the topping is done.
- Watch the topping near the end. If the top is browning before the apples are tender, lay a piece of foil loosely over the dish for the last few minutes of baking.
What to Serve with Cranberry Apple Crisp
A scoop of vanilla ice cream melting into the warm crisp is hard to beat, but whipped cream or a drizzle of caramel sauce is great too. It's a perfect finish to a holiday dinner like this one:
- Baked Boneless Turkey Breast
- Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy
- Southern Cornbread Dressing
- Sweet Potato Soufflé
Make-Ahead Tips
You can prepare this apple cranberry crisp before the big day, so all that's left is baking!
- Filling: Toss the fruit with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt, spread it in the baking dish, cover, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Toss the sliced apples with a squeeze of lemon juice (about 1 tablespoon) first to help keep them from browning.
- Topping: Mix the topping, cover it, and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- To bake: Let the filling sit out for 30 minutes, then scatter the topping over it and bake as usual. It may need a few extra minutes, so go by the bubbling juices and golden top rather than the timer.
Storage and Reheating
Cover leftovers or move them to an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Rewarm in a 300°F oven for about 10 minutes, until warmed through, or microwave individual servings. You can also enjoy it cold, straight from the fridge!
Substitutions and Variations
- Other apples: Any good baking apple works. Granny Smith is tarter and very firm, while Golden Delicious and Braeburn are softer and sweeter. A mix of tart and sweet apples gives you the best of both.
- Frozen cranberries: Use them straight from the freezer, without thawing. They release more juice as they bake, so add an extra tablespoon of flour to the filling to help it thicken.
- Orange zest: A teaspoon of orange zest in the filling is a classic pairing with cranberries.
- Other fruit: Swap some of the apples for sliced pears for a softer, sweeter filling.
Frequently Asked Questions
A crisp has a crumbly topping made with oats, flour, sugar, and butter. A cobbler has a biscuit or batter topping that bakes up soft and cakey.
Dried cranberries don't work as well here. They're sweetened and chewy, so they won't burst and release that tart juice that makes the filling. Save them for something like a cranberry cheese ball!
No, but I do recommend it. The peels don't soften as much as the apple slices do, so they can be a little chewy in the finished crisp.
More Dessert Recipes
📖 Recipe
Cranberry Apple Crisp Recipe
Ingredients
For the filling
- 4 medium baking apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
- 1½ cups fresh cranberries
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Topping
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup butter, melted
- ¼ cup chopped pecans, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- In a large bowl, toss the apples and cranberries with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt until evenly coated.
- Spread the fruit in an even layer in a 2.5-quart baking dish. Set the dish on a rimmed baking sheet.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the oats, flour, brown sugar, pecans, and melted butter until clumpy.
- Scatter the topping evenly over the fruit.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the apples are tender, the juices are bubbling, and the topping is golden brown. If the top browns too quickly, cover it loosely with foil.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Apples: Any firm baking apple works, such as Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, or Braeburn.
- Frozen cranberries: Use them without thawing and add 1 extra tablespoon of flour to the filling.
- Nuts: Swap the pecans for walnuts, or leave them out.
- Storage: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Rewarm at 300°F for about 10 minutes.
- Make ahead: Toss the apples with about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to prevent browning, then refrigerate the filling, covered in the baking dish, for up to 24 hours, and the topping, covered, for up to 2 days. Let the filling sit out for 30 minutes, add the topping, and bake as directed, adding a few minutes if needed.
Nutrition
* All nutrition information we provide are estimates based on third party calculators. We encourage you to calculate these on your own for accurate results.
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