Cranberry Apple Cobbler

Our recipe for Cranberry cobbler with oats and apples is the perfect dessert made with fresh fruit! A great leftover cranberry sauce recipe after the holidays so nothing is wasted! If you loved our apple cobbler with Bisquick, this one is homemade!

If you love fresh apple desserts but are looking for something a bit different, or need a recipe using leftover cranberry sauce I’ve got it! I used what we had left over to make this cranberry apple cobbler and there were NO leftovers of this to be had.

The other day I made Instant Pot cranberry sauce that came out amazing, but we didn’t finish it all so I just had to use it in some way and came up with this idea using fresh apples we had picked recently.

We actually picked a massive amount of Fuji apples, 65 lbs. to be exact, so yes I have been apple crazy over here and will be for quite a while. 😉 Lucky y’all!!

You need to start by slicing the apples. I don’t bother with an apple corer, the easy way to get the job done is just make 4 cuts slicing the sides off of the core like you see here….done! Then I sliced them rather thick because I don’t want mushy apples when my dessert is done, the thinner they are the softer they will get.

What Are the Best Apples for Cobbler?

Fuji apples are firm and sweet while Granny Smith (green) are firm and tart. I prefer fuji but take your pick. I’ll admit that I am a sale girl and if one is way cheaper than another I will choose that, experimenting is fun too. I use this as a day or week after leftover cranberry recipe but of course you could buy fresh and start from scratch.

For the most part you could swap out fruit with any type of crisp, it’s generally just a mixture of oats, brown sugar, flour and butter.

Can you make cobbler with leftover cranberry sauce?

Leftovers are actually great, that is what I use almost all the time when I make this. Homemade works too but if you must buy it you should get the one with chunks, not the jelly type ideally. Some years I will make cranberry sauce recipe with orange juice that has a bit more citrus in it and that worked great in this dessert as well.

Can you use fresh cranberries?

If you are using fresh berries you will want to make them into a sauce. You can do this in your IP as explained above or there is a link to one with juice below. For the simplest option you pour your bag + 1 cup brown sugar + 3/4 cup liquid of choice into a pan. Over medium / high heat stirring consistently cook down until they pop.

How to Make the Oat Crumble

In a bowl mix granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, oats, and then blend in butter to make the crumb topping. Lay this oat mixture over the top of your fruit mixture evenly. Bake in the oven until fruit is tender and top is a golden brown.

I didn’t think it needed anything on top once it was done but feel free to add a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. You could make this for the holidays too since cranberry anything goes from about Nov.-Dec.!

Like any cobbler or crisp it is not going to come out in a clean nice square piece. It’s meant to be scooped out and OH HOW GOOD it is!! I love fresh fruit desserts because they don’t make me feel nearly as guilty. There are very few ingredients in this fruit crisp too which I love, the simpler the better in my book.

How Long to Cook Cranberry Apple Cobbler

You are going to want to bake this for about 45 minutes which will give the fruit enough time to get nice and tender. It needs to bubble and allow all the flavors to meld together getting the top crumble browned and a bit crispy.

If you have never made homemade cranberry sauce you have got to try it this year. It is so easy and to be it is nothing like the canned version. It’s so much better with fresh cranberries cooked down with just a touch of sweetness. Then you can control how sweet or tart it turns out too.

Other fruit desserts you will love will be our Huckleberry cobbler which can be made with fresh fruit. Dump peach cobbler is the bomb. Crockpot apple crisp we make year round.

Baking with different types of fruit whether frozen or fresh are the best ever. There is natural sweetness in the berries so you don’t have to add a whole cup of sugar, just a few Tbsp is needed.