This Gingerbread Apple Cranberry Vegan Pie is the perfect sweet edition to the Fall season. Safely wrapped in a flaky, gingerbread crust and bursting with sweet-tart flavors from the apples and cranberry, this pie is a sure crowd pleaser, making this recipe the ultimate beginning of a sweet Fall season!

Hey ya’ll! It’s finally coming around to the weekend and I’m so excited, although I have such a busy weekend ahead!

But with this Hurricane Florence coming into full swing for all my Southerners (Prayers to you and your family by the way!), it’s been a pretty gloomy and rainy week here in NYC. So, we’re all getting affected by this huge storm.

But to keep things on a sweeter note, I’ve been dying to share this pie recipe with you! I’ve only made a fully homemade pie a handful of times, so this definitely helps with my practice.

But I am pretty proud of myself for my design work with this particular pie. I struggled with it a bit, but I managed to create something fairly decent. Don’t you think?

Anyway, I haven’t gotten a chance to create any recipes this week (which is such a bummer for me!). I feel so out of place! Haha! But it’s for a great cause however!

I’ve been so busy with a few life changes, but I’m so excited to get back on a nice schedule soon! Plus, I have to ensure that I keep rolling out these delicious recipes for you guys, right?

Speaking of, I remember making this Vegan Apple Cranberry Crumble Pie and not even using a homemade crust. During this time, I wasn’t quite versed in making my pies form scratch, so I opted for a pre-made frozen crust. BUT it was still so good, so hey! Who cares!

Then there was the time I made this Apple Cinnamon Crumble Pull Apart Bread which was one of my favorite old recipes I made. This pull apart bread is topped with a slightly crunchy crumble that adds a nice bit of texture and sweetness from the cinnamon and brown sugar and is a great play on the classic Apple Crumble Pie. This is the perfect sweet treat  to enjoy after dinner or for a midnight snack.

But of course, one of my first homemade crust pies was this Homemade Apple Berry Pie! What makes this one so special is the bursting of flavor from each strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry that pops through the buttery crust tied together with the great balance of tartness from the granny apples.

However, just like with your other favorite pies, a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream makes every bite even better!

Although the picture quality wasn’t as amazing then, it still was a really, REALLY good pie!

TIPS FOR A FLAKY, BUTTERY CRUST EVERY SINGLE TIME:

• The butter is SUPER important. When it comes to the vegan buttery sticks, ensuring that they are COLD and of course from a great brand is key! For Vegan pastry crusts, I generally go for Earth’s Best Buttery Sticks which will have you believing that you’ve used actual unsalted butter.
• Adding Shortening works too! Although, I tend to use buttery sticks alone, adding shortening or lard adds great wonders as well. All you need is half shortening and half butter.
• Fridge time is Important time! Chilling your dough for an hour at minimum is so imperative to a flaky crust. Even slightly longer makes for a great advantage.
• Your Flours matter big time! While different brands of flour actually hydrate different (causing for a slightly different result), ensuring that you mix in all-purpose flour with pastry flour is also just as important. Believe it or not, pastry flour actually makes a difference and serves a greater purpose!
• SLOWLY pour in water, don’t dump it! Ensuring that you lightly pour water-acv mixture while creating dough is so imperative. I generally slightly pour 1/4 at a time and work the dough with my hands to eyeball how wet or dry everything is.
• Dough can be made in advance, too. If making your crust ahead, you can always store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. No longer! 
• Not too Thick or Thin. Ensuring that you roll out a good enough crust is of course a must. Most go by the rule of thumb being 1/8 of an inch thickness or even slightly thicker. This helps your crust to the perfect thickness to carry the weight of your filling without compromising flakiness.

We can’t have the conversation of pies and not mention our latest—Cinnamon Whole Wheat Strawberry Peach Pie. Much like this current recipe, this strawberry peach pie’s crust was so flaky and thick. Oh my! Just perfection!

Now, let’s dig our forks right into this pie, shall we?

Gingerbread Pie Crust:

In a large bowl, add the organic all-purpose flour, organic whole wheat pastry flour, pure cane sugar cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, whisking them together until well combined. Add cold cubed vegan butter, blending it into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender (or 2 forks), until mixture resembles “peas”.

In a measuring cup or medium cup, mix together the cold water and molasses until well incorporated.

Add the lemon juice to the dry ingredients and then slowly pour the water-molasses mixtures into the dry ingredients, kneading the dough with your hands until is becomes elastic and not too wet or too dry.

Once you’re able to form it into a ball, cut in half into 2 separate balls and wrap them in plastic wrap (individually) and refrigerate for 1 hour (minimum), up to 1 and a half hours or of course overnight.

Remove dough balls from the refrigerator and place them on a lightly floured surface. Roll out first dough ball (not making it too thin), about 1/2-inch thick and gently placing it in your pie crust baking pan; working it around evenly. Next roll out 2nd dough ball (about the same thickness as first one) and leave it there until ready to use.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Filling:

Add the pure maple syrup, lemon juice, organic brown sugar, cinnamon, arrowroot starch, nutmeg and sea salt to a large bowl and stir well so that the mixture is combined completely. Then add sliced apples and cranberries and toss with a spatula so that they are evenly coated in the mixture. Add everything to your prepared pie crust and evenly spread.

Now go back to your set aside flattened pie crust dough and using a sharp knife or pastry cutter, cut dough (longways) into stripes and create a nice design for the top crust and place them individually on top. **NOTE: I twisted each stripe and laid them out diagonally, overlapping as well.** Make sure to pinch each end together with bottom crust to ensure that both top and bottom crust stay in tact. Be sure to do any folding or tucking for any excess pie crust. Then using the last two strips from the dough, twist and add it around the edges of the pie until fully all around.

Once done, lightly brush the top of pie crust with melted vegan butter and place in the oven to bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until top is golden brown and fruits are bubbling through. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 10-15 minutes. Slice your pie and serve with a few scoops of vegan ice cream, if desired.

Bon Appetit!

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If you choose to make this Gingerbread Apple Cranberry Vegan Pie or any other recipe from us, be sure to tag us on Instagram at #Orchidsandsweettea so that we can share the love, rate, comment below, + share!

Gingerbread Apple Cranberry Vegan Pie.

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