Cranberry Apple Galette

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This cranberry apple galette is filled with tart cranberry sauce and thinly sliced apples, all wrapped in a crispy and flaky pie crust. It's the easiest kind of pie you can make and it's perfect for the holidays!

Top down view of a cranberry apple galette with thin apple slices and scoops of ice cream on top.

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Why you'll love this recipe
Tools
Ingredients
How to make a cranberry apple galette
Storage
Freezing
Tips for success
Frequently asked questions
More galette recipes to try
Recipe

I've said it before but I'll say it again. Galettes are the superior dessert. Galettes are better than pies. They have everything you love about pies - the flaky crust and jammy fruit filling - but they're so much easier and quicker to make.

This cranberry apple galette is a holiday twist on a classic apple galette. The tartness of the cranberry filling makes this galette extra fruity and delicious with a festive flair.

Why you'll love this recipe

Crispy and flaky pie crust. This galette is made with my go-to buttery pie crust recipe that's easy to make and tastes amazing every time. No soggy bottoms here!
Tart cranberry filling. The tart, sweet, and fruity cranberry jam filling is delicious and refreshing.
Beautiful apple slices design. Not only do the apples taste great paired with the cranberry filling, but it also looks great!
Great make-ahead recipe. The galette dough can be made in advance and frozen to cut your preparation time in half.

A slice of cranberry apple galette cut from the rest of the galette.

Tools

Galettes are amazing because they don't require any specialized tools. You most likely have everything you need in your kitchen already!

Baking sheet - You'll need a flat baking sheet or baking tray to bake your galette. It just needs to be big enough to fit your galette which will be about 7-8" in diameter.
Rolling pin - You'll need a rolling pin to roll out the pie dough. Any rolling pin works! I prefer simple wooden ones.
Small pot - You probably already have one in your kitchen! This is for cooking the cranberry jam filling.
Pastry brush - Use a silicone pastry brush to brush egg wash onto your pie crust for a shiny and golden brown finish.

Ingredients

All-purpose flour
Salt
Unsalted butter - Your butter should be cold, straight from the fridge. Cut it into rough cubes to make it easier to break them down into smaller pieces.
Ice cold water - Adding ice water to pie dough ensures the butter stays cold which is key for a flaky crust. You can weigh out the water ahead of time and place it in the fridge or freezer before starting to make the dough or you can stir water with a few ice cubes and weigh out the amount needed afterward (since some of the ice will melt).
Cranberries - Use fresh or frozen cranberries. Cranberries freeze very well so there's hardly any difference between them. Do not use dried cranberries.
Granulated sugar - You can adjust the amount of sugar to your liking if you prefer the filling more or less tart.
Water - This will be used to cook down the cranberries and doesn't need to be ice-cold, unlike the water for the pie dough.
Apples - Use tart and crisp apples like Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Ambrosia, Braeburn, or any apples you would use for apple pie. I chose nice red Ambrosia apples for mine and left the red skins on so that the design would be more defined. Thinly slice the apples until they're about ⅛" thick or thinner if you prefer.
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Cornstarch - This helps soak up the excess liquid that will be released from the apples and cranberries during baking and turn it into a jammy filling.
Egg - This will be for the egg wash to make the pie crust shiny and golden brown once baked.
Sugar crystals or coarse sugar - This makes the galette crust extra crunchy and makes baked goods look like they came from a bakery. You can use large sugar crystals (the crunchiest!), coarse sugar like turbinado sugar or demerara sugar, or just granulated sugar if you're in a pinch.

How to make a cranberry apple galette

For the galette crust

Cut butter into flour - In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour and salt. Add the cold butter and toss to coat in the flour. Press the butter in between your fingers to break them down into small, pea-sized pieces, tossing to coat in the flour occasionally.

Left to right: cubes of butter in a bowl of flour, hand holding a handful of flour to show the pea-sized butter pieces.

Hydrate the dough - Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Pour in ice-cold water and mix together until it becomes a shaggy dough.

Left to right: pouring water into a well in a bowl of flour, hand holding a handful of shaggy dough.

Fold dough - Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Press the dough together with your hands and roughly fold it onto itself 2-3 times with your hands or a bench scraper until there aren't many dry patches left.

Left to right: hands pressing dough together, hands folding dough onto itself.

Chill dough - Shape the dough into a flattened disc shape and wrap it in plastic wrap. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.

Left to right: hand pressing dough down to flatten, hands holding a disc of pie dough wrapped in plastic wrap.

For the cranberry filling

Cook cranberries - In a small pot, add cranberries, sugar, and water. Cover and bring it to a boil on medium-high heat. Be careful as the cranberries will pop as they cook.

When the popping subsides, uncover and continue cooking until most of the water has evaporated and it becomes a thick, jammy cranberry paste. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to cool completely before using it.

Left to right: pouring water into a pot of cranberries and sugar, spatula held above a pot to show the jammy consistency of cranberry sauce.

Prep - Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Roll out dough - On a floured surface, roll your chilled pie dough in a rough circle until it's about ⅛" thick, lifting and turning the dough occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the counter. Transfer the dough to your lined baking sheet and let it chill in the fridge while you prepare the apples.

Left to right: rolling out a disc of pie dough with a rolling pin, placing rolled out dough onto baking sheet.

For the apple filling

Mix - In a large bowl, toss together the apple slices, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch until the apples are coated. Sort the apple slices back into clusters of similar size and shape like they were when you were slicing them.

Left to right: a bowl of apple slices and brown sugar, mixing apple slices in brown sugar mixture.

Add cranberry filling - Spread the cooled cranberry filling in the middle of the galette dough, leaving about 1-2" of the edge empty.

Left to right: adding cranberry filling to pie dough, spreading cranberry filling across pie dough with a spatula.

Add apple filling - Arrange the clusters of apple slices on top of the cranberry filling, alternating the orientation of each cluster.

Left to right: hands placing a cluster of apple slices on top of pie dough, apple slices arranged on top of pie dough.

Create crust - Fold the edges of the pie crust over the filling, overlapping as needed.

Hands folding edges of dough over to form a galette crust.

Apply egg wash - Use a pastry brush to brush the dough with a beaten egg. Sprinkle sugar crystals or coarse sugar on top of the egg wash.

Left to right: brushing egg wash on galette dough with a pastry brush, hand sprinkling sugar crystals onto galette crust.

Chill & preheat - Place the whole baking sheet with the galette in the fridge to chill while you preheat the oven to 350°F. Chilling the galette before baking will help any softened butter firm up for flaky layers and help the crust keep its shape.

Bake - Bake the cranberry apple galette for 45-55 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Let the galette cool on the baking sheet for at least 30-60 minutes or until the bottom of the pan is cool enough to touch with your bare hand. Serve warm with ice cream and sugared cranberries.

Hand holding a slice of cranberry galette to show the cranberry filling inside.

Storage

This cranberry apple galette is best served warm shortly after baking or on the same day for the most crispiness.

Leftovers can be stored covered at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat them in the oven or toaster oven to crisp them up before eating.

Freezing

Leftovers can be frozen in an airtight container or wrapped well in plastic wrap and/or aluminum foil and frozen for up to 1 month.

Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat in an oven or toaster oven before serving.

A cranberry apple galette sitting on a wire rack on a kitchen counter.

Tips for success

Always keep the butter cold. Layers of cold butter sandwiched between layers of flour are essential for flaky galette crusts. Anytime you feel like the dough has warmed (after rolling it out, after assembling the galette, etc.), pop it into the fridge for 15 minutes. Always keep the dough in the fridge when you're not actively working with it.
Don't overwork the galette dough. Overworking the dough leads to a tough and gummy crust. You don't need to knead this dough. Only fold it over onto itself 2-3 times to create layers of butter and help the dough come together. If the dough feels too dry, wet your hands or sprinkle a little bit of water into the dough.
Boil off most of the liquid in the cranberry filling. The consistency of the cranberry filling should be thick, jammy, and spreadable. It shouldn't be liquidy at all otherwise there will be a lot of excess liquid when you bake the galette.
Slice the apples thinly. Thinner apple slices cook faster so that your apples are soft and tender in the baked galette.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make this galette ahead of time?

Yes, the galette dough can be made days ahead of time or even months if you freeze it. Thaw in the fridge overnight before rolling it out the next day. You can also assemble the entire galette and freeze the whole thing. Thaw in the fridge overnight before baking it.

Do I have to peel the apples before using them in a galette or pie?

It's up to you! You can keep them on for extra colour to show off a special design or you can peel them if you don't want any tough skins in the finished product. I prefer the taste and texture of peeled apples but sometimes I like how red and vibrant the peel looks.