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This sweet and tangy Nantucket Cranberry Pie is not really a pie, but more of an easy cake. This slices up perfectly for a party tray of goodies and is fabulous for a holiday breakfast.
Nantucket Cranberry Pie
This Nantucket Cranberry Pie is loaded with fresh or frozen sliced cranberries and pecans baked up in a soft layer of cake topped with sparkling sanding sugar. The cranberries give it a light tart flavor to even out the sweetness of the cake, and the sanding sugar on top gives it a lovely crunch with added sweetness as well.
How to Make Nantucket Cranberry Pie
There are two ways that this is made traditionally, and neither one actually bakes into a pie. I prefer the second method as it slices and stores better, tastes exactly the same, and is easier!
Cobbler Type Method – mix up the pecans, cranberries, and white sugar and place them on the bottom of the pan to make this closer to a crumble. You then mix up the rest of the ingredients as a topping and dollop it on top, like a crumble. You then bake it the same way until finished.
Combine it All – this is the method that I used, as I find that the cobbler method isn’t really worth the extra effort, and I prefer to serve it this way.
Can You Use Other Nuts In Place Of Pecans?
This recipe calls for pecans, perhaps the most favorite nut ever, almost entirely because of their crunchiness and deep, rich flavor.
While pecans’ flavor pairs exceptionally well with cranberries, they aren’t the only nut that can go with this Nantucket Cranberry Pie.
Instead, you can try walnuts as they provide an incredible amount of snap and crunch while still somehow being that little bit chewy.
Fresh or Frozen Cranberries Work
I used frozen cranberries as you can see and this worked out perfectly. While they are fresh this time of year, I had a bag in my freezer from Thanksgiving that needed to be used up.
Chop them up coarsely, and if you are like me leave a few whole berries. I love it when I get a big pocket of sour in the middle of a sweet cake!
How to Store Nantucket Cranberry Pie
While this pie has a lot of fruit, you don’t need to store this pie in the fridge. Instead, keep this in a sealed container, or even a freezer-safe bag, and on the counter or a bread box for up to 4 days. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.
We all loved this dessert and ate it for breakfast the past week, it gets 5 stars from my entire family! I hope you guys love this one – let me know what you think in the comments below!
Happy Baking!
Love,
Karlynn
Nantucket Cranberry Pie
Ingredients
- 2 cups cranberries fresh or frozen measured then chopped
- 1/2 cup pecans measured then chopped
- 3/4 cup butter melted
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons coarse sparkling sugar for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9 inch square cake pan or springform pan.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together the melted butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until combined.
- Whisk together the flour and salt, then mix into the wet ingredients. Stir in the cranberries and chopped pecans.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it out until it’s an even layer.
- Sprinkle the coarse white sparkling sugar in an even layer on top of the batter.
- Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean (the batter, not the cranberries)
- Remove the cake from the oven and cool at room temperature. Serve warm or at room temperature, do not refrigerate!
Notes
Nutrition
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Olive cribar says
I love the look of the Cranberry Pie , but was dismayed when reading, ‘do not refrigerate’
With a small family, even halving the recipe would be more than we would need for one meal.
How long would it keep unrefrigerated & what happens if it is placed in the fridge?