Cranberry Apple Crumb Pie with Snickerdoodle Cookie Crust

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and this was definitely true of our Thanksgiving Feast dessert. I had planned on making my tried-and-true Cranberry Apple Crumb Pie for Turkey Day and all I needed was a trusty gluten-free pie crust from Whole Foods. I braved the grocery store two nights before Thanksgiving and there were no crusts to be found.

Do I give up? Do I purchase a pre-made gluten-free pie? Maybe I pull an entire Boston Market on my guests? No, no I do not give up.

Instead, I invent and share with you a yummy snickerdoodle cookie crust - the perfect pairing for a Cranberry Apple Crumb Pie and delicious to the wheat and non-wheat eating palette. I invite you to enjoy this standby recipe with a new twist and let me know how it goes - having both pie and cookies for dessert!

Ingredients

• 2 packages of Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Snickerdoodles (or your cookie of choice)
• (If using a dry cookie, set aside 1 tbsp of butter to combine with cookie crumbs)
• 1 15 oz. can of Apple Pie Filling
• 1 cup of fresh cranberries
• 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup of white or brown sugar (your preference)
• 1/3 cup flour (for gluten-free - use Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free flour)
• 1/4 cup of butter, chilled and cubed
• 1 and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400F.

To create your pie crust, grab your Trader Joe's Snickerdoodles. Place both packages of cookies in a medium mixing bowl and combine using a hand mixer until cookie become soft crumbs. These cookies are already very moist so they do not need butter to form a crust. Using your hands, press the combined cookie mixture into a greased or non-stick pie tin and set aside. Yours will look lighter than mine (I made the mistake of adding butter to already moist cookies but it was still yum nonetheless). Also, if you are using a cookie variety that is hard, place cookies in a ziploc bag and crush using a rolling pin. Combine crumbs with 1 tbsp butter and press in your pie pan.

Now, the ridiculously easy part: the filling. Combine 1 can of your favorite apple pie filling and one cup of fresh cranberries- that's it. You can chop the cranberries if you prefer to have them more integrated into the pie. I did mine whole for Thanksgiving this year. Spread your filling into your cookie crust.

Lastly, you'll create your crumb topping. For this, mix together your walnuts, flour, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Once well combined, add your cubed butter and mix well. Top your filled pie evenly with this combo.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until crumb topping is golden and filling is bubbling up. Serve with ice cream and/or cool whip and enjoy the yummyness of the holidays (or whatever you'd like your pie to help you celebrate).