Vegan Apple Cranberry Crisp Pie - A Great Holiday Dessert Or Breakfast!

Vegan Apple Cranberry Crisp Pie & Breakfast Bake 

This Vegan Apple Cranberry Crisp Pie is super easy to make, is pretty low-fat (depending on your crust), and can be made as sweet or tart as you desire.  

During the fall and winter, I like to make a version of this crust-free to have with our morning porridge. Stewed, poached or baked apples and pears are an ideal addition to the fall and winter diet.  I included my Crustless Apple Cranberry Crisp Breakfast Bake recipe, below.  I also have more Baked & Stewed Fresh & Dried Fruit recipes on my website. 

I recently made a Crustless Apple Cranberry Crisp Breakfast Bake using up some Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Cereal!  It's pretty crunchy on its own, however soaking it in hot water (or nondairy milk) first softens it enough to make for an easy and healthy crisp topping.

My mom loves apple pie, so I made this Apple Cranberry Crisp Pie for our vegan Thanksgiving meal.  

Since I was preparing this Unbelievable Vegan Wellington (from RainbowPlantLife.com) for our vegan Thanksgiving meal (which I HIGHLY recommend)––and which required several steps––I opted to cut corners for the pie.  I purchased a a wheat-based pie crust from our local Fresh Thyme store (found in the freezer section.)   This comes as a 2-pack, so you can use the other crust to make my super delicious Vegan Pumpkin Pie too!  

This Vegan Oat Cider Crust would have worked as well, although having the store bought pie crust made it a nice treat for Thanksgiving, and saved me some precious prep time!  

The Apple Cranberry Crisp Pie is easy to make, and can be adjusted as per your needs, and dietary preferences.  See variations / substitutions below the recipe.  For some reason, I don't have good pics of the pie itself, once cut and plated.  I guess it disappeared before I remembered to snap a pic!

(You may also want to check out my Apple Raisin Goji Berry Sauce or Sugar-Free Cranberry Apple Sauce or my Baked Pears with Fig Preserves or Stewed Fruit Compotes on my vegangreatlife.com website.)

Vegan Apple Cranberry Crisp Pie Recipe 

Apple Cranberry Crisp Topping

• 1&1/2 cups quick oats, or rolled oats pulsed a couple times to slightly break down
• 1/4 cup each chopped walnuts & pecans (Or use just one or the other)
• Hot water
• 1 tsp. +/- cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg or 1/4 tsp. or so of pumpkin pie spice
• 1-2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Apple Cranberry Crisp Pie Filling

• 1 Pie shell (I used store bought, wheat-based vegan pie crust which comes in a 2-pack, so you can make this amazing Pumpkin Pie too!)
• 5-6+ apples, peeled (or not), and sliced fairly thin (about 1/4-1/3 inch thick) Use Honeycrisp, Ever Crisp or your favorite apples - the quantity depends on how big the apples are
• Handful of fresh cranberries (1/2 cup or more if you like it tart)
• 2-3 chopped dates, optional but adds sweetness if you want to omit the sugar
• Juice of 1/2-1 lemon (depends on how big and juicy your lemon is)
• About 1/4 cup organic cane sugar (or see substitutions, below)
• Cinnamon & nutmeg
• Pinch of salt & black pepper, optional (I know, sounds weird)
• Teaspoon or organic cane sugar to sprinkle on top, optional

Vegan Apple Cranberry Crips Pie Steps

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Prepare the Crisp Topping first.  Measure ingredients in a small bowl.  Add just enough hot water to barely cover.  You just want to moisten the oats.  Set aside so the oats can soften while you prep the apples.  (This is how I prepare it so the oats are less raw tasting, and easier to digest.  Plus, it moistens the oats without butter or oil.   If you want to add a little oil or melted vegan butter you can, but I don't find it necessary.)
3. Wash, peel and core apples, then slice into roughly 1/4 - 1/3 inch thick slices or wedges.  (You can layer the thinner slices more easily than thicker wedges, plus it will bake more quickly, but otherwise, cut them as thick or thin as you like your apple pie.  Also, peeling is your choice.  Since the peels separate a bit when baked, I peel most of the apples.  If using red apples, you can leaving some peel for color.)
4. Place apples in a big bowl, and add remaining ingredients.  Stir to combine.  (I actually added a pinch of ground black pepper by mistake, and wasn't sorry.  Neither the salt, nor pepper are necessary but if you like a tad of spice, have at it!  I used to live in New Mexico where it wasn't uncommon to add green or red chili spice to everything!)
5. Pour apple pie filling into crust.  Spoon crisp topping over the apples to cover.  You may have leftover crisp topping, but better too much than too little.  If by chance there isn't enough crisp, quickly make a bit more by moistening some oats, and adding a bit more cinnamon.
6. Sprinkle a bit of granulated sugar on top to caramelize.  This is optional.  
7. Cover pie loosely with foil, wrapping a couple pieces around the edges of the crust.  Place pie on a baking sheet.  Bake for about 40 minutes, covered.  Remove foil, and bake another 10 minutes.  The apples will be soft, but it should look nearly like it's boiling inside, and the cranberries have popped.   It may be ready sooner, just keep an eye on it starting at the 30 minute mark, but keep covered until toward the end so the crisp topping doesn't get too browned or burnt.

 

Variations & Substitutions

1.  If you are someone who prefers alternate forms of sugar, I would suggest maple sugar, or coconut sugar.  If  using monk fruit or other forms of sweetener, adjust to your liking.  In my opinion, a granulated sugar (I use an organic vegan cane sugar) is best for an apple pie, however, a little brown sugar can work.  Or possibly a liquid sweetener such as maple syrup or brown rice syrup.  
2. Another way to add sweetness is to either include 3-4 chopped dates, and/or add about 1/8 cup of apple juice or cider to the pie filling, and moisten the oats for the crisp with heated apple juice or cider, or half water, half cider.
3. Use Grape Nuts or Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Cereal instead of the oats for the crisp topping,  See recipe variations, below.  Or, sub another type of grain flake, such as barley, rye, whole wheat, or kamut.  Pulse a few times in a food processor first to break them down a bit.
4. Use slivered almonds instead of either of the nuts for the crisp.
5. Sub dried cranberries for the fresh cranberries in the pie filling.
6. For crustless Apple Cranberry Crisp, try the recipe below.

Crustless Apple Cranberry Crisp Breakfast Bake

Crustless Apple Cranberry Crisp Breakfast Bake Ingredients

• 1 cup Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Cereal + 1/2 cup quick oats, or use all oats
• Hot water
• 1/4-1/3 cup chopped walnuts, or slivered almonds
• 4-6 apples, washed, cored and cut into wedges
• 1/2-3/4 cup fresh or dried cranberries 
• 4-5 dates, pitted and chopped
• 1/4 cup+ raisins &/or goji berries
• Generous amount of cinnamon & optional 14 tsp. of dried ginger, nutmeg or clove
• 1/4 cup or so apple juice or cider, or juice from an orange

Crustless Apple Cranberry Crisp Breakfast Bake Steps

1. Preheat oven to 375º F.
2. Prepare crisp as above, by placing cereal and/or oats in bowl.  The nuts can either be mixed with the cereal / oats, or added to the filling.  Cover with just enough hot water to soften.  Set aside.
3. Place apples in rectangular baking dish.  Sprinkle in cranberries, dates, raisins and/or goji berries. 
4. Sprinkle cinnamon and other optional spices all around.  
5. Add apple juice or cider or orange juice.  There should be enough to cover the bottom of the baking dish by about 1/4 inch or so.  
6. Cover with foil.  Bake for about 35 minutes, until fruit is soft and bubbly.  If it starts to look like it's drying out before fully cooked, add a splash more juice or water.  Remove lid and bake another 5-10 minutes to brown up the crust if desired.  Great topped with vegan skyr or Greek style yogurt.

 

Here are more Baked & Stewed Fresh & Dried Fruit recipes which are a perfect addition to the fall / winter diet.

Be sure to also try this amazing Vegan Pumpkin Pie recipe as well!