Cranberries and Cream Slab Pie
This cranberry pie recipe is foolproof but so unique, so impressive, and so dang DELICIOUS! It’s baked with a store-bought pie crust that’s layered with sweet cream cheese, tart cranberry sauce, and a buttery brown sugar crumble on top. Drizzle with some vanilla icing and this slab pie is completely irresistible.
How to Make Cranberry Slab Pie
There are many steps and components to this recipe, but each step is incredibly easy and very hard to mess up – hence the foolproof recipe!
It starts with a pie crust base that’s basically shaped into a pizza crust. This recipe uses store-bought pie dough to make the whole process quick and easy. The crust is also baked before all of the fillings are added to create a flaky and buttery base for this cranberry pie.
Next is the cranberry sauce which is MUCH easier to make than you might think! Simply heat equal parts sugar and water until the sugar is dissolved and then chuck in some whole cranberries. Heat and mash until it turns into a thick sauce.
I like to flavor it with a touch of cinnamon to help warm up that tart flavor.
For the cream cheese layer, a block of softened cream cheese is mixed with sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. This sweet and creamy layer pairs perfectly with the tart and crisp cranberries.
Last is the crumble topping. Made with brown sugar, this crumble is so flavorful and buttery which helps enhance that pie crust texture even more.
All together, this lineup creates a VERY delicious pie but with way less work.
Cranberry Pie Baking Tips
It’s very difficult to mess up this recipe as each step is incredibly simple and basic – yet all together makes one magical dessert. To ensure yours turns out just right, here are my top tips:
- Pie Crust – Once the dough is rolled out and molded into a flat slab of pie crust, brush the entire surface with egg wash. When baked, the egg wash creates a barrier to stop the cream cheese moisture from leaking into the crust. This results in an incredibly flaky bottom.
- Cranberry Sauce – When measuring out the fresh whole cranberries, make sure to sift through and pick out any bad ones. There’s always a couple in the bunch.
- Cream Cheese – Use room temperature cream cheese! Otherwise you’ll end up with a lumpy layer.
- Crumble – When measuring the dry ingredients, I always suggest a food scale for accuracy. Otherwise, be sure to spoon the flour into the cup and level it off for light and fluffy cups of flour.
- Assembly – Make sure the pie crust has cooled just a bit before spreading the cream cheese on top. It’s ok if it’s warm, just not piping hot.
- Baking – The pie is ready when the very high points of the crumble start to turn golden brown.
Cranberries and Cream Pie FAQs
To be honest, I’ve never had store-bought cranberry sauce (besides the jellied kind) so I have no idea the level of sweetness or tartness it contains. If you know you love the flavor of canned cranberry sauce, then go for it! You will need about 2 cups. Otherwise, stick to this homemade version.
Sure! Just as long as it’s nice and thick. If it’s too thin, it could ooze all over the place in the oven.
Yes! Target’s Favorite Day brand has a gluten free pie dough you can use as the base. For the crumble, just sub the flour with a gluten free baking flour and the oats with certified gluten free oats.
This should be easy to do! Most store-bought pie dough is already vegan, so just substitute the cream cheese with a vegan cream cheese and the butter with a vegan butter. As for the egg wash, mix together 2 tablespoons of maple syrup with 1 tablespoon of plant-based milk.
This pie can be served warm, room temp, or chilled (I prefer room temp). I’ve left instructions in the recipe on how to achieve your desired temperature.
Store the pie in the refrigerator. It can be left whole, or stored as slices. Either way, keep it in an air tight container. The pie will keep for about a week.
Yes this will be fine. Store the slices in a freezer bag and they should keep for a few months.
For more easy Holiday desserts, check out my:
- Apple Crisp
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
- Double Chocolate Salted Pretzel Tart
- Mini Pumpkin Hand Pies
- Chocolate Puff Pastry Christmas Tree
- Fruity Cheese Danish
Make sure to tag me @butternutbakery on Instagram and comment below if you make this cranberry pie. To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!
Watch how to make this cranberries and cream slab pie:
Cranberries and Cream Slab Pie
- Total Time: 2 hours 7 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 slices
Description
This cranberry pie is so incredibly to make but is packed full of flavor! Layers of smooth cream cheese, tart cranberries, and a sweet brown sugar crumble topping are all baked on top of a flaky pie crust. It’s always a crowd pleaser which makes it perfect for your Holiday party!
Ingredients
Cranberry Sauce
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (125g) water
- 2 cups whole cranberries (fresh or frozen thawed)
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Pie Crust
- 1 sheet premade pie dough
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp milk
Brown Sugar Crumble
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (50g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (25g) quick oats
- 1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temp
- 1/3 cup (70g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp lemon juice
Vanilla Icing
- 1/2 cup (55g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2–3 tsp milk
Instructions
Cranberry Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- In a medium saucepan using a wooden spoon, stir together the sugar and water and place over medium heat.
- Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture turns clear (about 5 minutes).
- Dump in the cranberries and continue to stir until the cranberries start to soften. As they soften, mash them with the back of the spoon. Be careful as they can pop and shoot some sugar at you.
- Continue to heat and stir until all the cranberries are mashed and the mixture turns into a thick sauce (about 8 minutes).
- Remove from heat and stir in the cinnamon. Set aside to cool.
Pie Crust
- Cut a sheet of parchment paper to fit flat on a large baking sheet.
- Remove the sheet of paper and place on a flat work surface. Unravel the pie dough onto the paper and gently roll just to smooth out the surface.
- Roll in the edges just enough to create a border – kind of like a pizza crust. Then crimp the edges.
- Lift the parchment paper to transfer the dough to the baking pan.
- Prick the dough with a fork and brush the entire surface and edges with an egg wash (beat together the egg and milk).
- Bake at 400F for 12 minutes. When it’s done, remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350F.
Brown Sugar Crumble
- While that bakes, make the crumble.
- In a small bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Stir in the melted butter until it’s evenly moistened and crumbly.
- Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator.
Cream Cheese Filling
- Add all of the ingredients to a small bowl and use a fork to mash and mix everything together.
Assemble & Icing
- By now, the pie crust should be baked golden, the cranberry sauce has cooled and thickened, the crumble is in the fridge, and the cream cheese is smooth and freshly made.
- If the pie crust is piping hot, let it cool for about 15 minutes. Otherwise, move on to assembly.
- Spread the cream cheese over the crust in an even layer. Then top with a layer of cranberry sauce and sprinkle the entire surface with the chilled crumble.
- Bake the pie at 350F for 25-30 minutes or until the crumble is a light golden brown.
- Allow the pie to cool. It can be served warm, room temperature, or chilled depending on your preference. For warm, cool for 30 minutes. For room temperature, cool for about an hour. For chilled, stick it in the fridge for about an hour.
- Whatever your desired temperature, drizzle with the icing before serving. Simply whisk together the ingredients and add tiny bits of milk at a time until it reaches a drizzle consistency.
- Now slice and enjoy!
Notes
STORAGE – Keep the pie (whole or stacked slices) in an air tight container in the refrigerator where it will keep for about a week.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cooling Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 37 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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Meet Jenna
I’m the creator, baker, and photographer behind Butternut Bakery. Here I share desserts for every diet because I believe everyone should have a chance to indulge!
This recipe is amazing. I made it for Christmas dinner, and I was so pleased with it, I’ve made it 2 more times since then to share with my family and coworkers…. No leftover for this dessert.