Easy Cranberry Apple Galette

If you love apple pie, you will be over the moon with how easy this apple galette is to make. It’s as simple as it gets, with thinly sliced apples and cranberries coated in brown-sugared cinnamon-spiked deliciousness.

Looking for a fall dessert or a quick and easy apple pie for the Thanksgiving table? You’ll love this galette, with its simple ingredients and quick baking time.

Why You Want to Make a Galette

When it’s pie season, a simple alternative is a galette. They’re easy to make, honestly effortless, with no need for crimping dough or covering the edges while baking. Plus, they’re beautiful, drastically simple, and fun to make.

I love them in every season, from a strawberry galette and blueberry crostata in the summer to a peach galette in early autumn. If you haven’t made one, you’re in for a treat!

Here’s what to love about galette recipes:

• No complicated shaping, pastry weaving, crimping, or trimming
• Freeform pies that are rustically beautiful
• Impressive with very little effort!

Here’s what you need for this cranberry apple galette recipe:

Cranberry Apple Galette Ingredients

One of the reasons this galette recipe is so incredibly easy is that we’re using a ready-made pastry crust. You can definitely make your own crust, as I’ve done in our peach galette recipe, but we’re keeping it extra simple today.

You will find ingredient measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Refrigerated pie crust: Any rolled refrigerated crust works. If frozen (like Trader Joe’s), let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
• Large apples: Like Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, or Honeycrisp
• Fresh cranberries
• Sugar & Honey: I’m using a combination of granulated sugar to keep the apple slices light with a bit of honey for flavor. If you prefer, you can substitute brown sugar for the white sugar.
• Spices: Ground cinnamon and nutmeg
• Butter: Thinly sliced
• Egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water or milk
• Coarse sugar to sprinkle over the unbaked crust

How to Make an Apple Galette

Let’s begin by preparing the crust. Flatten the crust on a lightly floured surface or parchment paper. Roll into a 12-inch circle or about 1/8-inch thick. This helps flatten the edges. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and set aside.

The filling

The filling for this apple galette combines some of my favorite spices: cinnamon and nutmeg. And it couldn’t be easier to make!

In a large skillet (I like nonstick) over medium heat, combine the sugar, water, and honey, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the apple slices and simmer just until they begin to soften. Depending on how thin your apple slices are, this could take only about 2 minutes or up to 5-7 minutes for thicker slices.

Remove the apples to a nearby bowl with a slotted spoon, then boil the liquid over medium-high heat until reduced and slightly thickened.

Assembling the Galette

Arrange apple slices into the center of the pastry, leaving a 2-inch border of pastry uncovered. I like to flute and stack the slices into groups, but that is optional and only to create a pretty design.

Nestle the fresh cranberries into the apple slices, drizzle the reserved cinnamon sauce over the top, and dot with butter.

For Serving

This is completely optional, but I love to dress up the apple galette with sprigs of fresh thyme and drizzles of either honey or salted caramel. And guess what? To keep this super easy, I use a quality ready-made caramel sauce, already on hand for ice cream, or drizzle the galette with honey, which is already in the filling.

This galette takes me a shade over 35 minutes from start to finish. Using tools like my handheld mandoline makes slicing the apples quick. And there is no need to wait for it to cool completely before serving (like pies do). Slice and serve!