Fresh Cranberry Apple Crostata

This rustic cranberry apple crostata, also known as a cranberry apple galette, is easy to make and will make a lovely addition to your holiday table.

Cranberry Apple Crostata is An Easy Christmas Recipe

With Thanksgiving being over and the abundance of fruits from our Farmhouse delivery, we were left with no choice. In case you didn’t notice, I’m attempting to justify one more dessert during the holidays. We didn’t want anything to go to waste, so what’s one more…right? Or maybe I’m just planning for easy Christmas dessert recipes 🙂

I’m telling you, it doesn’t get much easier than cran apple crostata! Sweet apples, tart cranberries, and a delicious galette dough. The homemade pie dough is super simple; there is no sense in buying a pre-made pie crust dough; it wouldn’t really be a benefit. Plus, the homemade crust tastes better! And the simple fruit filling is apples, cranberries, flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Cranberry Apple Crostata is simple, rustic, and a completely lovely Christmas recipe.

Ingredients in Apple Cranberry Crostata

• All purpose flour
• Sugar
• Salt
• Cold unsalted butter
• Ice Water
• Cinnamon
• Apple slices
• Tart cranberries
• Egg yolk
• Cream
• Coarse Sugar

How To Make Cran Apple Crostata

1. Mix the dough and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2. Roll the dough into a 13″ large circle and sprinkle with flour – leave a 2-inch border.
3. Arrange the cranberries and apples onto the crust and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
4. Fold the edges and brush on the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
5. Bake on a pizza stone until brown and bubbling.

This recipe made one large crostata, but you could easily split the dough into two and make two smaller apple cranberry galettes.

Temperature is key when mixing the dough. Don’t let the butter get too hot when you are mixing the dough. If you have to stop the mixing for a bit and put it in the fridge to keep it cold, that’s ok. If you don’t have a food processor and are mixing the good old fashion way, a pastry cutter is a great tool for making the crust, but if you don’t have one, use your fingertips to mix in the butter pieces.

I baked this on a pizza stone. You could use a large baking sheet if you don’t have a stone. I like the texture of the crust when it is baked on the stone. It takes a bit longer because of the time it takes to heat the stone in the oven, but well worth it in my mind.

Can I Freeze Unbaked Crostata?

When I was in culinary school, I worked at a teashop, and they sold individual crostatas daily. We would make these, and instead of baking them right away, we froze them. Then the morning baker could take it out from the freezer and bake fresh. I haven’t tried to freeze this particular recipe, but I believe it would work fine. I’m just questioning if the apples would become a bit browner than you want from the air, but there should be no change in the taste.

What Type of Apples Are Best in Crostata?

I used honey crisp apples. You could use whatever ones you have. Granny Smith, Pippin, or your favorite variety will work for this recipe. For the cranberries, I saved a half cup of cranberries from my bag of fresh ones because I knew I wouldn’t use an entire bag of cranberries for the Thanksgiving day cranberry sauce.

What Is The Difference Between a Galette And a Crostata?

You can call this a Cranberry Apple Galette or a Cranberry Apple Crostata. They are basically the same thing. A Galette is French, and a Crostata is Italian. Both are free form and rustic, with the crust folded up around the filling.

More Fall Desserts You’ll Love

• Chocolate Cranberry Scones
• Apple Cinnamon Muffins
• Caramel Apple Chocolate Mousse Cake
• Cranberry Pear Spice Crisp

This rustic, open-faced tart is one of those recipes you could serve at breakfast, mid-day bunch, or for an after-dinner delicious dessert. It’s a great blend of tart and sweet with a flaky, tender, buttery crust. The dessert is pretty perfect as it is, but you could also add a little vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we did. Please share if you end up making it.

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5 from 6 votes

Fresh Cranberry Apple Crostata (Galette)

Print Recipe

Loaded with apples and cranberries this rustic dessert is the perfect balance of tart and sweet with a flaky and tender crust.

Ingredients

• Crust!
• 1 1/2 cup AP Flour
• 4 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick cold cubed butter (1/2 cup)
• 3 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoon ice water
• Filling!
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons AP flour – plus more for the work surface
• 4 medium apples peeled, quartered, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
• 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon heavy cream for egg wash
• 1 tablespoon turbinando or any coarse sugar

Instructions

• Combine flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend. Add the butter and pulse until it forms coarse crumbs.
• Add water and pulse until dough forms.
• Shape the dough into a 1″ thick round. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
• Place a pizza stone or sheet pan in the oven and preheat oven to 400°F for 45 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before using a rolling pin to slightly soften it.
• Place the dough round between two sheets of lightly floured parchment paper and roll dough into a 13" round circle. Remove the top sheet of parchment.
• Sprinkle the 4 teaspoons AP flour onto the dough, leaving a 2″ border.
• In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon for the filling.
• Place apples and cranberries on top of the dough, and then sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mixture on top.
• Fold the border up and over the apples to make a rim. Tightly crimping every 2 inches or so.
• Use a pastry brush and brush pastry with the egg wash over the border.
• Sprinkle turbinando sugar on top of that.
• Transfer the crostata, still with the parchment underneath, to the oven, sliding it, with the paper, directly onto the stone.
• Bake until the crust is golden brown and the apples are bubbling. About 35 – 40 minutes.
• Serve warm.
• Note: This can be made hours ahead before serving and just reheated before serving.

Notes

Recipe Source: SerenaLissy.com

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Course: Dessert

Keyword: Christmas, cran apple crostata, cranberry apple, galette, rustic

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