Apple Cranberry Pie

One of my favorite things about the holidays is getting to enjoy my grandmother's apple pie. She makes a double crust pie, filled with mcintosh apples sliced paper thin, and, of course, plenty of sugar and spice. Her recipe is quite simple, and I love making it when I can't be home with family for the holidays. This year, I decided to put a little twist on Grammy's Apple Pie, and give it a little twist, a la cranberry apple crunch.
It turned out much better than I expected, there was definitely enough sweetness to counteract the tart cranberries, especially when served with vanilla ice cream. I originally wanted to do a lattice crust, but after piling the apples so high, I knew that wouldn't happen! Grammy's tradition is to cut the vent holes in the top crust in some holiday/occasion appropriate design. I most definitely did not inherit her artistic abilities!

Cranberry Apple Pie

~6-8 McIntosh apples, peeled and sliced thin
~1.5 cups whole fresh cranberries
~1/4 cup white sugar
~1/4 cup brown sugar
~1 tsp cinnamon
~1-2 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces (optional)
~2 crust pie crust (like Grammy, my crust comes in a red box in the refrigerated section at the grocery store) ;-)
~1-2 tsp flour

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place bottom crust into a 9 inch pie plate. Sprinkle crust with flour (will help absorb juices from the cooking apples and cranberries).

Combine sugars and cinnamon in a small bowl. Begin layering pie, starting with sliced apples. Toss some cranberries into the cinnamon/sugar mixture before adding to the apple layer. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Repeat with another layer of apple, sugar dipped cranberries, and sugar mixture. Repeat again, piling as high with apples as you can, sprinkling the top with any remaining sugar mixture. Dot with butter (optional).
Cover with top pie crust and pinch the edges together with a fork to seal the pie. Cut vent in the top crust.
Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350, and continue baking for approximately 45 minutes. Remove and let cool before serving. If edges of pie start to brown before baking time is done, cover edges with foil.