Neither the crust or filling need baking. Just chill time. For quicker prep, you can use a ready-made pie crust. The color and flavor is more intense when you make homemade cranberry sauce. The fresh cranberries add a ton more color and flavor than the canned cranberry sauce. For our photo and video, we used our homemade cranberry sauce.
optional - a few drops of red food coloring to achieve deeper pink color
optional - orange zest or curls for garnish or a few frozen cranberries for garnish(rolled in sugar)
Instructions
If you're using a ready-made pie crust, skip this part.Make the pie crust: Combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Mix in the melted butter until evenly combined. Press the crust mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan into an even layer. Press well to compact the crust. Set aside.
Make the cranberry pie filling: In large bowl, beat together the sugar and cream cheese until well combined and smooth. Stir in the cranberry sauce, vanilla, and orange zest until smooth.Add the whipped topping and enough food coloring to achieve your desired pink color (optional). Continue to gently fold the entire mixture until well combined.
Gently pour the cranberry pie filling into pie pan prepared with the graham cracker crust. Chill the pie for about 6 hours or overnight, until firm.Garnish with orange zest, orange peel curls and/or sugared frozen cranberries.
Notes
Note 1: Homemade cranberry sauce will often have a much deeper red color, yeilding a better looking pie. It is super easy to make as well.Note 2: You can make a fresh whipped cream to substitute for the whipped topping. Here's a recipe for homemade whipped cream.