In one of my favorite October traditions, we picked too many apples a few weekends ago. As in maybe perhaps 25 pounds more than we needed? It’s hard to gauge. I realize that if you’ve never been in an apple orchard in October, when you’ve escaped the city to find yourselves in a quiet grove as the leaves are just starting to turn and the sky is unimaginably blue and you’re wearing your first thick sweater of the season, it’s hard to imagine how one accidentally picks 25 pounds too many apples. But I bet if you’ve been there and felt that, how fun it is to pluck crisp, unblemished, unwaxed apples from trees and let the branches snap back and the leaves flutter droplets of last night’s rain over your face, you’ve probably gotten carried away too. I think picking too many apples in October is about as important of a tradition as burning food on a backyard grill over July 4th weekend and going through a whole jar of cinnamon every fall. It’s going to happen either way; it’s best to embrace it.
But when we got back to our distinctly not-grove-sized apartment, we didn’t have anywhere to put them. So, we started with applesauce, eight pounds of it. We moved onto oatmeal cookie-ish crumbles (would you like the recipe?), which chipped away at a few pounds apiece, and then my son’s preschool was making something with apples and I was all “LET ME DONATE THEM PLEASE.” There were whole wheat apple muffins (which enlisted 2), then apple pancakes (another 2), and then we made more applesauce (4 pounds) and all of a sudden we had only 6 apples left and I was devastated, because I’d forgotten to make pie. Who forgets to make pie? Nobody you should be friends with.
Especially when it comes to this pie. I realize that the slab pie is not something new here, but we only discussed it in the realm of sour cherries, which have a season as long as the average blink. Slab pie deserves to have more time with you, and there are several good things to know about it. It has a higher proportion of crust-to-filling than your standard 9-inch round double-crusted pie, so if you’re into flaky, buttery crusts, hello, welcome home.* Speaking of flaky and buttery, I’ve found that the crusts of slab pies, unweighted by thick fruit fillings, tend to puff into gorgeous flakes far more readily than standard pie crusts do. But who’d be into a thing like that?
Slab pie slices are portable, like a thick, thick pop tart or a hand pie, but not the kind that requires all of that pesky rolling and cutting and sealing, to be repeated until you’re no longer certain that you even really like pie or your friends enough for it to be worth it. Slab pie would never do that to you.
Finally, slab pies simply make more servings; it’s pie for dozens (rather than the 8 wedges you get in a standard pie) and ideal for crowds, which is why I began making it for big fall gatherings a couple years ago (these dim photos are from last Thanksgiving, actually) and haven’t looked back. Most importantly, you can squeeze four pounds of apples into each, which means you will soon have an excuse to go apple picking again. Learning your lesson is overrated; pie is not.
* If you’re a filling person, may I recommend the Deepest Dish Apple Pie in the book? It’s on the opposite end of the crust-to-filling ratio spectrum. If you’re all, the heck with filling, just give me the crust and a mere suggestion of filling, how about some Apple Pie Cookies?
Even More: Apple Recipes, Pie Recipes + Fall Cooking
FAQ Page: Hey, did you know that there’s a FAQ page on this site? It’s almost comically long at this point, and you might have seen it, but I wanted to mention that I add things to it all of the time. Once of the things I realized on the last book tour was that when there’s a Q&A component (my favorite part, because it leads to the best conversations), often the same questions come up (which I do not mind answering, even a little) and I think they relate to gaps of information on the site that aren’t intentional, but are things that just may not come up when I’m rambling about something I made that I liked and think you would to. So, I’ve added some of these — about the site, recipe development, whether I’m writing another book and even totally random things like what material my counters are and how to keep a white stove white and if my kid is a perfect eater (haaaa), yes, it’s all over the place — to the page and welcome suggestions of things you think that might be missing. Thank you. [FAQ Page]
One year ago: Chicken Noodle Soup, Pancetta, White Bean and Chard Pot Pies and Apple Mosaic Tart with Salted Caramel
Two years ago: Homesick Texan Carnitas
Three years ago: Roasted Eggplant Soup, Apple and Cheddar Scones and Cauliflower and Parmesan Cake
Four years ago: Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp, Jalapeno-Cheddar Scones and Apple Cider Doughnuts
Five years ago: Majestic and Moist Honey Cake, Best Challah, Mom’s Apple Cake, Beef, Leek and Barley Soup, Acorn Squash Quesadillas and Tomatillo Salsa and My Family’s Noodle Kugel
Six years ago: Peter Reinhart’s Bagels, Peanut Butter Brownies, Arroz Con Pollo (we made this again last week and it is still just holy wow perfect), Gazpacho Salad, Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette and Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Seven years ago: Acorn Squash with Chili-Lime Vinaigrette, Pumpernickel Bread, Lemon Cake, CI’s Classic Brownies, Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutons and Wild Mushroom and Stilton Galette
Apple Slab Pie
The crust here is 1 1/2 recipes of my All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough, i.e. this would yield a triple crust pie (Does such a thing exist? Now I’m daydreaming…), but here is instead divided in half for two bigger rectangular crusts. I serve this in 18 “squares” (5 cuts on the long side, 2 cuts on the short, yielding 2ish by 3-inch pieces) but it can also be cut into 12 larger rectangles.
Crust
3 3/4 (470 grams) cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
3 sticks (340 grams) unsalted butter, very cold
3/4 cup very cold water
Filling
3 1/2 to 4 pounds apples, peeled, cored and chopped into approximately 1/2-inch chunks (about 8 cups)
Squeeze of lemon juice
2/3 to 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like your pies)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon table salt
To finish
2 tablespoons heavy cream or one egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
Glaze (optional) (only need half, barely, for what’s in photos)
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon milk, water, lemon juice or fresh apple cider, plus a drop or two more if needed
Make pie crust: Whisk together flour, sugar and salt in the bottom of a large, wide-ish bowl. Using a pastry blender, two forks, or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the biggest pieces of butter are the size of tiny peas. (You’ll want to chop your butter into small bits first, unless you’re using a very strong pastry blender in which case you can throw the sticks in whole, as I do.) Gently stir in the water with a rubber spatula, mixing it until a craggy mass forms. Get your hands in the bowl and knead it just two or three times to form a ball. Divide dough roughly in half (it’s okay if one is slightly larger). Wrap each half in plastic wrap and flatten a bit, like a disc. Chill in fridge for at least an hour or up to two days or slip plastic-wrapped dough into a freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 to 2 months (longer if you trust your freezer more than I do). To defrost, leave in fridge for 1 day. [Still freaked out about making your own pie dough? Read this for a ton of additional tips and details.]
Heat oven oven to 375 degrees F. Line bottom of 10x15x1-inch baking sheet or jellyroll pan with parchment paper.
Prepare filling: In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice until coated. Top with remaining filling ingredients and stir to evenly coat.
Assemble pie: On a lightly floured surface, roll one of your dough halves (the larger one, if you have two different sizes) into an 18-by-13-inch rectangle. This can be kind of a pain because it is so large. Do your best to work quickly, keeping the dough as cold as possible and using enough flour that it doesn’t stick to the counter. Transfer to your prepared baking sheet and gently drape some of the overhang in so that the dough fills out the inner edges and corners. Some pastry will still hang over the sides of the pan; trim this to 3/4-inch.
Pour apple mixture over and spread evenly.
Roll the second of your dough halves (the smaller one, if they were different sizes) into a 16-by-11-inch rectangle. Drape over filling and fold the bottom crust’s overhang over the edges sealing them together. Cut small slits to act as vents all over lid. Brush lid heavy cream or egg wash. Bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack until just warm to the touch, about 45 minutes.
In a medium bowl, stir together confectioners’ sugar and liquid of your choice until a pourable glaze consistency is reached. Use a spoon to drizzle over top. Serve slab pie in squares or rectangles, warm or at room temperature.
It keeps at room temperature for at least three days.
Making this on the weekend!!
Deb- what apples do you like to bake with? I see Granny Smith in there….I made a pie with GS apples this weekend and I was very disappointed with how they cooked down. They got almost grayish. Very un-appetizing.
Apple varieties — I have a very strict rule: I use whatever I have, preferably a mix of varieties, which provides the most complex flavors. If I’m going to a store and have my choice, I like to use Golden Delicious as half of them. I know they seem very dull to eat, but they’re not especially wet and seem to hold up well in baking. The other half might be a mix of something more tart (Granny Smith) and something more juicy (MacIntoshes). For more suggestions from a person with much greater apple knowledge than me, check out Jane Lear’s Apple Guide. Her favorites for pies and crisps are Cortland, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Ida Red and Northern Spy.
This is a lovely tradition. And apples straight from the tree taste the best.
Deb-this looks amazing! I’ll definitely be making it soon. And, yes, we would love the recipe for the crumble that you mentioned!
Reminds me of hand pies and those apples look oh so yummy!! I think I am going to half to go apple picking!! Beautiful tradition…
All pie recipes end with not enough dough for me. Do I just roll out too thick? I tried this one, rolled as thin as possible and still had some spots that just didn’t have enough to cover. Maybe if I had two perfect rectangles it would have been sized correctly but it still seems so so thin. Am I just a dough hog or is there something else happening?
YUM
I have been dying to try a slab pie. And yes I have to many apples!
Hi Deb – I just want to say I love your blue bowl (and, of course, the pie looks wonderful!)
Delicious! I’m loving all the apples this autumn :)
Yes! Will happily take the oatmeal cookie-ish crumble recipe!
I’m also wondering what varieties of apples you used. And, if you wouldn’t mind telling, what brand of flour? I have a favorite, but I’m just curious. :)
Apple varieties — I talk about this a few comments above. I usually use King Arthur flours (unbleached all-purpose, sometimes organic) but not exclusively.
I’d like to try a Rhubarb Slab pie! How many recipes of rhubarb I should do for this…I was thinking either doubled or tripled? Thanks!
Usually 6 to 7 cups of fruit works for a slab pie.
And now I’m craving pie for breakfast. Love these little pockets of apple goodness!
I have to tell you, this past weekend I went and picked a bunch of apples. Then I made apple pie using your all butter, really flaky pie dough and the filling recipe for the very tall apple pie in your book (scaled down for a 9″ pie plate). Oh my, Deb. I didn’t know that I liked apple pie so much. I had made the dough once before for a chocolate pie, but had never had it with fruit, and it was just outstanding. Thanks so much for an amazing recipe!
YUM! These look like poptarts for grown-ups. I am all over this. Shame that Canadian Thanksgiving is already over. I for sure would have made this!
My friend and I needed a recipe for this weekend. I think you just made my research a whole lot easier! We are making handpies actually, so I was wondering if you thought the crust would hold up. I hope so, or else I will need to go on the hunt again!
Diane — You can definitely use this crust for hand pies.
Gosh! eight pounds of apples. I would be in heaven! This looks fab to share and of course eat. I have never had a slab pie before but I definitely going try this this weekend
My mother in law makes a really yummy triple-crust blueberry pie. :)
I’m so happy to see this! I made your cherry slab pie (but with blueberries) last summer for the 4th of July and it was a huge success. Then I tried to make it with apples in the fall, and it was mostly a fail – but I think I used WAY too much filling and didn’t cut the apple chunks small enough. I am excited to try again!
OMG, thank you! I have too many apples in my life and was not excited about canning apple sauce this weekend, but I love pie. Do you think this would freeze well and if so, any techniques for successful freezing? I don’t think my boyfriend and I can/should eat this all this weekend.
Ok. You’ve made the crust lovers happy. How about someone who just wants to eat only the filling straight from the warm pie, without any crust interfering with all that spicy, sugary goodness? Any suggestions? And not applesauce, too, please?
I can’t remember the last time I picked 25 pounds too many of apples, maybe 15 years ago? But I do tend to pick 25 pounds too many of blueberries every other July 4th. And eat it all on the 45 minute ride home.
Thanks.
Hi Charm — I mention the opposite at the end of the post. Or, you can make a crisp or crumble. Or you can just bake the filling, any filling, in a lidded dish and scoop it up with gingersnaps. :)
The blue bowl — Is an old Pyrex my mother was going to throw away. (She’s not the nostalgic type.)
Yes! This is the only way I know how to make apple pie, I’m so glad to see it up here! I grew up with my gramma making this on just about any occasion that required pie.
First, now I have to go to the apple orchard this weekend.
Secondly, I will be making this pie.
Thirdly, and most important, the blue bowl is amazing. Where did you get it? Because, I desperately need one!
I noticed you chunked the apples rather than sliced them. How come?
Susan — I’ve always chunked and not sliced. I like the rough pebbly pieces, rather than flat slices that stick together. But, you should cut them any way you wish. Here, it’s just important not to get them too big or bumpy to lay flattish.
This looks perfect!
These look just like the Hoosier Boy Slices my grandma used to make. I have so many apples sitting around from apple picking, so I think I’ll try this over the weekend.
I am an apple addict, you can never have too many! I bought an entire case of my favorite variety, Ambrosia from the store last year. I definitely got some weird looks but it was worth it!
I love your slab pies! I’ve them based off the cherry recipe with a few different fillings and they’re always delicious but I always end up short of crust. I roll it to between 1/8 and 1/4 and it still never fills the whole jelly roll pan and it doesn’t look as nice as yours. Does anyone else have this problem? Do you have any tips for me or should I just give in and make a double recipe of crust?
My mom has made these for years, but as we’re Minnesotan, we call them “apple bars.” I’m pretty sure they’re delicious no matter what you call them, though.
Hi Deb,
I have been reading your website for a long time but never commented. My daughter in Austin, TX went to your book signing and gave me a signed cookbook for Christmas.
I love many of your recipes but this one especially brought me back to my grandmother’s kitchen and her apple ‘pie’. It looked the same and she cut it the same. Such sweet memories of being there with her and eating the warm ‘pie’.
Cheers,
Jean D.
Glad I’m not the only one who always picks 10x as many apples as I need or have room for in my apartment. I haven’t heard of a slab pie before, but it looks like the perfect use for all those apples!
The crust is always my favorite part of pie, I’ll definitely have to try this out sometime! For some reason pie just seems daunting, but this doesn’t seem as much? Who knows why my brain thinks that way, but it apparently does!
I know you said slab pies are great because they feed so many…but my brain instantly went to, “hey I can make that smaller!”. We have a pretty small Thanksgiving but always want ALL THE PIES (can’t choose just one..or 3…) and end up eating pie for weeks, since you can”t really make a small pie (without a teeny tiny pie pan). Thank you!
OH MY GOSH!!! We’re going apple picking this weekend (squeeeeee CANNOT WAIT) and I’ve been desperate to find a recipe to help with the scads of apples I know we’re going to end up with and THIS IS IT!! Thank you Deb!! MWAH!
I have about 15 pounds of apples left from my apple picking adventures two weeks ago. Have already made apple pancakes, apple cakes, apple muffins! I’ve barely made a dent. I think I’ll have to make this, don’t want those apples to go to waste!
Deb this pie is gorgeous! I have been wanting to make an apple slab pie all fall and have been cross-referencing recipes but I talked myself out of it b/c it just makes so.much.pie. And as much as I love the taste, I don’t need a sheetpan. I already donate so much food to anyone who;ll take it, as is :) So now you convinced me I just need to make this. Beautiful pie & pinned!
And I now have a reason to go apple picking this weekend, if the orchard will have us!
I’m making this today… Considering a streusel topping instead of the top crust. Thanks for another great post.
I totally pick way too many apples each Fall. Once you start apple picking, it’s just so hard to stop! This slab pie is such a great idea! Definitely going to make this with all the apples I picked.
I think caramel apple sweet rolls are on my list to make, but the ‘Deepest Dish’ pie sounds right up my alley. I love a bit of great crust, but don’t really want to go overboard.
This looks equally amazing to the one in your cookbook. Do you think a gluten free flour mix would work in your dough recipe?
Oh wow. This looks amazing! Perfect for fall! Definitely trying this recipe. :) Thanks for sharing!
This looks amazing. Here on the West Coast, we have a plethora of persimmons this time of the year – any recipes to use those up?
Too many apples is a good problem to have, especially when the result is so many delicious treats. These slab pie bites look perfect!
This looks so yummy, and I definitely want to try it asap. I always have trouble with apples in pies, though – I want them to be soft, but there are always crunchy ones. Especially if I use a mix of apples. (I agree with the varieties you usually use.) Clearly I need to let the pie bake longer, but then I worry about the crust burning. Or the apples turning to complete mush. Is there a good way to test the apple doneness without ruining the top crust? Do you ever pre-cook your apple pie filling? Anyone else have this problem? Thanks for any tips!
My favourite apples are the russets. They are ugly to look at, but I find they are great all-purpose apples: they’re good for eating raw, are a nice mix of sweet and tart, and hold their shape fairly well/remain flavorful during cooking.
Sadly, they are only available (at their peak of freshness) from October to February-March. After that, they are sometimes still available, but start to turn nasty.
Charm #23 Julia Child”s Oven Baked Apple Slices page 428 in “The Way To Cook”
(My all time favorite cookbook, sorry Deb)
TerryB — Oh god I just looked that up and it looks amazing. 4 tablespoons butter. Julia Child doesn’t mess around. (Later in the book, they’re suggested for a riff on Crepes Suzette with flaming bourbon or whiskey. I mean, I MEAN…)
AlissaR — I find that most textural issues with apples come from using those from grocery stores. It’s not always a problem, it’s not like I don’t buy grocery store apples too, but it can be. A lot of the apples sold in grocery stores have been picked as much as a year or longer ago, and kept in cold storage. They’re often picked when they’re underripe (tighter texture, thicker skin, this is very common with Granny Smiths) so they last longer. These don’t always get as soft as we’d like in the usual baking times. The opposite can happen too, they might just taste fibery and flat (often these are very old Golden or others). These tend to just get soft. If you live somewhere that sells fresh-from-orchard apples or your store boasts them, they’re probably your safest best if those mixed textures drive you crazy.
kristen — I haven’t tried one but hear good things about Cup4Cup’s Pie Mix.
Sam — Is your pan definitely 10×15? If so, you might need to roll it out thinner. It will be easier if the dough is colder, even if you have to toss it back in the fridge or freezer to cool it off/firm it up mid-rolling.
Gorgeous! I know what I’m doing this weekend…
I am thinking of doing a mix of apples and pears for this, since I ended up with way too many pears recently. However, I chopped and froze them so they wouldn’t go bad. Any suggestions? Let them thaw first?
Glorious!
“…that pesky rolling and cutting and sealing, to be repeated until you’re no longer certain that you even really like pie or your friends enough for it to be worth it.” LMAO- This happens EVERY TIME! I love this slab pie idea for taking to work. Thanks!
Cant wait to try this! Looks so good!
J x
Thank you thank you for this. I have been wanting to make pie, but this is so much better. I am going to use Sweetango apples. I found them at Whole Foods here in NC. They are grown in New York apparently. Like a Granny Smith, only red skinned and slightly sweeter. I think they will be a superb pie apple.
Glad I’m not the only one to go apple-picking crazy :) This looks delicious, thanks for the idea!
Oh, my goodness. I love Jacob. What a doll!!! And I love pie. This looks like the perfect filling/crust ratio. Also, I had a dream about you last night. We were just sitting around/chatting/cooking for a nice long time, and you are so nice! (Unless that is super creepy; then forget I said anything!) ;)
I’ve never made a slab pie, and looking at this it’s definitely time to try! Absolutely gorgeous!
Slab Pie. Never had it before but it makes absolute sense. Thank you.
Can I please have that corner piece right now? Really wish I could over-pick apples.
This slab pie is wonderful!! We did not get to hit up the orchards this year but I filled the house up with apples from Walmart that had them for .40 cents a pound! Spin have made lots of apple butter, compote and soon to be this apple slab pie!!
Deb,
I heart you.
Also, can I mix the crust in a cuisinart?
And use honeycrisp apples?
i’ve apples coming out of my ears!! making apple and blackberry pudding this weekend to use up the last few…
So on my very first apple picking adventure this year, we ended up with 5 bushels because I naively thought I needed that much applesauce. Rookie mistake! One week and 215 lbs of apples later, I have 52 quarts of canned sauce and 5 gallons of dehydrated slices. Like a dummy, I didn’t save a single apple for pies!! Guess I’ll be going back, I’m definitely making this for Thanksgiving. :)
Every year I say we’re going to do the pick it yourself thing and somehow it never happens, so I will have to use store bought for this, but you’d better believe I WILL be making it! Looks delicious!
We also went a little crazy in the apple picking department. It’s just so nice to be out there with all that nature! I think I got twenty pounds… But now I can make this pie! YAY!
I think anytime you ask yourself whether we would like the recipe for (–insert anything you come up with here–)… the answer is always a resounding yes :) This looks amazing and gives me a completely justified reason for going back to the orchard. thanks!
I looked through the comments and can’t figure out if I can bake and refrigerate for up to a week or If I can assemble everything upto the baking section and then freeze till I need the item. Thank you for all of your wonderful inspirations!
We call this “Logger Pie” here in the Pacific Northwest! It’s a holiday tradition in our family & is just as wonderful with berries (we are prolific apple & berry growers in this part of the country) as it is with apples! Don’t omit the glaze, it adds a special touch!
Ofcourse we want the oatmeal cookie-ish recipe! You had me at oatmeal cookie.
Your slab pie looks so good. I’ve never made a pie from scratch and this sounds like the perfect one to start with. I may have missed this, but how do you prep the pan? Is it greased or does it not need anything? Also, if I can’t find my jelly roll pan I wonder if this could be made the same way in an 11 x 13 glass baking dish (opinion is fine if you’ve never tried it).
Amanda — The pan is lined with parchment for safety. It makes it much easier to remove. Glass dish… yes, I think it will work at that size, you might have a touch extra dough, not a big deal. However, when baking in glass pans, I find it best to decrease the temperature by 25 degrees.
Mira — To make this ahead of time, I’d make the dough, it keeps in the fridge for a couple days, longer in the freezer. You could make the filling too, but it will release it’s juices a lot, making kind of a sloshy mess. You could also cut up all of the apples, toss them with lemon, and keep the chunks in the fridge for a couple days, then have the cinnamon-sugar-cornstarch mixture separately mixed in an airtight container at room temperature. Or you could just bake the pie. It keeps for a few days at room temperature, probably a week in the fridge. (Well, not mine. I’d eat it.)
Ruth — If using a Cuisinart, I think it’s best to only use it to pulse in the butter. Then, scrape the mixture into a bowl and hand-stir in the cold water and continue with the recipe above (kneading a bit). If one pulses it in, all those butter bits get too lost and the dough isn’t as flaky. I haven’t baked that much with Honeycrisps but see no reason not to use any apples you have around. As I mentioned in an earlier comment (#9), I always just use what I’ve got, preferably a mix.
Saw this first in Cook’s Country Magazine (sister magazine to Cook’s Illustrated) but they called for store bought roll out crust! This looks so much better. Must try…thanks!
We used to have a lot of apple trees in our yard in Seattle. So many that we would put a sign up in the fall telling passer-bys to help themselves to our apples. One weekend I went out and a family of 3 were picking apples, I’m guessing their son was abut 3 years old. I thanked them for picking the apples as we just couldn’t store/eat them all. The little boy said, “Well why don’t you bake a pie or something.” Great idea I replied, and this year will do so with your help.
Deb, what happened to pictures of mini-Alex? I feel like last two recipes didn’t contain any pictures :( (and I read through twice making sure I am clicking on ALL the links). It’s delightful to find pics of your little tyke (or small glimpses into your life) in your recipes!
DK — Haven’t skipped a post yet. You just have to look real hard for the links. (I promise, when/if we ever redesign, I’ll make the links easier to find.)
Continued on from #75- Cook’s Country’s recipe, however has a whopping 7 lbs of apples in it for the same size pie. I must say, the one thing I really do see that I like a lot about their pie is that they glaze it with apple juice reserved from the filling, lemon juice, butter and confectioner’s sugar. It gives the pie a very finished look.
Ah, I found them!! Actually, the fact that it’s hard to find them is what makes this fun. It’s like these tasty morsels that you can obtain only by you paying close enough attention to the text! Oh and I loved, loved, love the pizza from last week. So easy and dreamy. Unfortunately the second ball of dough (which I refrigerated for four days) got struck (as in cemented) to the tray :( I still ate all the melted cheese and mushrooms I put on it, but then had to soak and scrape. And then I remembered that I forgot to heat the tray prior to spreading the dough, do you think that did that?
I love slab pie! I agree that it’s a great crowd pleaser. I made a caramel apple slab pie a couple months ago for my coworkers. They had never seen one before, and were quite taken with the idea. I left it open faced, but I think I like the ones with a top crust more. They are too shallow to hold moisture and some of the apples dried out without a snuggly blanket of flaky crust. Plus, I’m a total crust fiend. I see you use butter in your crust. Is that a go-to for you or do you ever use alternative fats like shortening or lard?
Thank you, thank you! I actually have a recipe from a co-worker that calls for cornflakes spread over the bottom crust which sounds so…..interesting that I’ve never had the courage to try it! Now I have your recipe which I know will be a winner! And the only thing that keeps me from buying 25 pounds too much of pick-your-own apples is that they charge so darn much where I live.
So I had planned to turn the whole bowl of apples on my kitchen counter into your mom’s apple cake tomorrow. But I think I’m going to brave this recipe instead. I’m totally intimidated by making pie crust but this looks too good to pass up!! Yum (as always!). P.S. what’s Jacob going to be for Halloween?
Wow these look amazing. We are close to Apple Hill and have access to wonderful crops of many different types of apples. :-)
It looks like you forgot to say “peeled apples” in the recipe. Also, yum.
You have no idea how excited and sad this recipe made me! Let me explain- my grandma used to always make apple slab bars for us by the pan and we would always get a pan to freeze for later… And it was so amazing that we would sneak pieces of it and eat it frozen the next day. She had a stroke over ten years ago though, and never wrote any of her recipes down and is not able to share how she made any of her amazing recipes, least of all her slab bars. Her answers are always, a few handfuls of flour, I just added more of this or that if it didn’t look right, oh, I just made it with what we had in the house, and so on, and can’t remember the ingredients or how to physically make them anymore. I’ve tried, over and over, to recreate them with no luck, although they have at times turned out tasting alright, just not the same. So you see, your bars look very much like what she used to make and so I’m very excited to try them, and sad, because although I’m sure they’ll be delicious, if they are even close, I wasn’t able to learn how to make them from her recipe. It’s funny how food can stir up such emotions, hey? Sorry… Just felt the need to share- This is what happens when the munchkin wakes me up every night for too many months to count. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
To Kat and everyone, Kat I’m with you when it comes to talking about moms and grandmothers who are still with us or who have passed on. Their ways in the kitchen stay with you especially when they prepared something you loved and can’t live without. My mom made a quick coffeecake with apples on top she baked it on a cafeteria tray. It was gigantic to a kid’s mind and oh so good. Waking up to the aromas of apples, cinnamon and cloves was enough to get you out of bed without being called. I’m going to make this slab apple cake this weekend just bought a case of apples from the fruit stand. The variety is Mutsu. On the order of a Granny Smith and Golden Delicious. Everyone enjoy your fall apples and have a wonderful end of October. Love the comments always enlightening. Of course I start at the top with Deb’s intro never miss a beat. Smitten Kitchen always delivers.
My mom used to make this and it brings back good memories. We could never eat it all at our house now…..most of my grown kids don’t like pie!! I know! But I am going to make and share some with people who know what’s good.
This looks great – I have a baking sale at work in a few weeks and this looks like the perfect recipe to use for my contribution. Thanks for sharing.
You mentioned oatmeal cookie-ish crumbles and ‘would you like the recipe?’ Yes, please! Have be given a huge bag of apples from my neighbor’s tree (not an orchard but a tiny Central London garden!). Will be making the Slab Pie, too, along with apple sauce, turkey burgers with apple, etc, etc, etc. until we are totally ‘apple-d out!’
Oh my goodness, this looks so good. I pretty much love anything with apples & crust! Thanks for sharing!
So, I am a very lazy person and almost always get store-bought crusts (I KNOW, sacrelige, but I have my reasons!). I’ve never seen them in a rectangular version, unless I used puff pastry, which…could actually be interesting, hmm. Do you think I could finagle a strange-but-tasty ROUND slab pie out of this? Or will I have to get over my laziness and make the damned crust? ;) (you see, I CAN make crusts, they turn out fine, I just don’t LIKE making them. any of them. ever. sighhhhh.)
We just made this last night. I had some apples from a co-op so I am not sure what kinds they were. A couple huge 20 ounce, a few McIntosh, and the rest were green so maybe Granny Smith or Crispin. The dough worked out nicely but I had to add another 1/4 cup of water as it was too dry. You could see the chunks of butter through it when I rolled it out. I made the leftover dough into little tarts just like my grandma used to. The baked down nicely though and everyone loved it. I forgot to do the icing in the end but it didn’t need it!
Mmmm that looks so damn good!
You had me at 3 sticks of butta! Now I need to have a party to serve this tasty treat.
Apple pie and plain Greek yogurt for breakfast. Makes for the start of a perfect day! I think this will be the first thing I bake in my new home after I get through the move next week.
I love the idea of pie made like this! Yum!
Sounds wonderful. Would like to make this for my crowd for Thanksgiving. Can you make it ahead of time and freeze it? Would you freeze it before baking it?
Oh, Deb! I am not a slab-pie nut (more into turnovers , meself); but I went trailing back to pie crust 102 just for shits and grins, and was THRILLED that we agree – no food processors for pie crust. I’ve been feeling like a food processor failure for years because I hated the results of my FP pie crusts. I figured I am still a useless rookie even though I have been making pie crust, from the same recipe, since 1972 – 3 sticks butter 4 C flour,1T. sugar even for non- sweet pies, an egg, 1 T vinegar and enough ice water to make a good dough – @c 3/4 C. I feel so much more secure doing the mixing by hand – I guess I am either a control freak or a Luddite. But I feel so much better now, thanks.
Wow! That came out clean…..so 3 tablespoon of cornstarch? Usually my pies are dripping, but yours look perfect. I will give that a try. Thank you for sharing.
My daughter and I took my grandchildren apple picking and ended up with loads of apples too… applesauce and several double sized apple crisp and deep dish ( 13 by 9) apple pies without a bottom crust were made here. My daughter did her own thing at her house. The pies had double the usual amount of apples and my recipe for two crusts topped the pies. Pie lovers here got their fill without the calories of a second crust …win win all around ( and good for my required low salt diet too!). We found a new to us apple type… black Arkansas.. were almost as good as Granny Smiths for pie. This type doesn’t go to mush nor does is make soggy pies ( no cornstarch necessary), but it does need a little lemon juice.
Holy moly, Deb! This recipe sounds incredible. I’m thinking this could be a nice dessert for Thanksgiving.
I’ve picked almost every fruit–from mango to pineapple to banana to blueberry–straight from the source and am ashamed to say that, although I live in the heart of Michigan’s apple country–I have never picked my own apples. After reading your description of picking them, I will be adding apples to our trip to the pumpkin patch today! We have a family gathering tomorrow to carve pumpkins and I’ll be bringing this slab pie to share! Perfect timing! Thanks.
Thanksgiving for our family always includes Pecan Pie, possibly because it is a time of year when traditions win over calorie considerations. The current issue of Martha Stewart Magazine features a tiny photo and hint of a one crust Pecan Slab Pie—a teaser but not a recipe. Have you ever considered that variation? What a winner that would be at our house. Thank you for all your inspiring recipes and the tricks and turns in making them successful!
I just upgraded all my baking pans and don’t want to scratch them by cutting bar cookies, brownies, etc. while still in the pan. How do you avoid this???
oh, you picked quite a few apples! we didn’t pick as many and they’re nicely stored as a pear-apple cardamom butter, but my husband did pick up a big tray of apples from Costco that are begging to get cooked. One of my friends sent me a recipe for a bourbon apple crumble. Do you think bourbon (or rum?) would work well in your recipe? have a great weekend!
I always leave apple picking with a tummy ache. Who can resist eating a few along the way?
Wow, sounds yummy! May I make this even if the apples I picked were from my mother-in-law’s tree in California? And we picked them whilst wearing tee-shirts and flip-flops? We’ve been eating the massive bowl of apples out of hand, but slab pie would be very popular. Actually, now that I think about it, I must make this! We are hosting a German exchange student; he needs to learn all about American desserts. What could be more American than apple pie?!
Just want to say that I can’t believe how inexpensive your prints are, and thanks to your newly-found FAQ page I’m considering redecorating my bedroom with pictures of lemons and swiss chard. Thank you!
Wow. I love apples but definitely prefer a high crust-to-filling ratio…Definitely making this soon! Too bad there are hardly any pick-your-own apple places here in the UK…
Okay, so I made this this morning. I substituted 2 cups of blueberries for 2 of the 8 cups of apples. And I used a little vodka in the ice water for the pie crust. Best pie I have ever made. We ate it for breakfast. Slab pie possibilities are dancing through my head. Savory, sweet, the works! Thanks. Great recipe.
Deb, how do you think this would work if I made a batch of the caramels [from the salted caramel brownies] and poured it over the bottom crust to act as a caramel layer in this? Would it be distracting, or a nice addition? If I did that, I would probably lessen the amount of sugar as to make it a little more tart in contrast. Do you think that would mess up the cooking time?
OMG this looks like a beautiful gigantic pop tart! So perfect for a huge crowd — Thanksgiving? I’m excited!
With a dehydrator in the house, and a super old-school peeler/slicer, and small boys to help, we never have too many apples!
“Would you like the recipe?” … girl, please, DO YOU KNOW US AT ALL?? :)
Plaid pie! How seasonally perfect!
Svetlana #113…savory slab pie. Now there’s a thought. Quiche, empanada filling, pastie filling. Deb…you listening?
OH my. I had to halve this recipe (and the crust size, no mean feat) and if it tastes as good as it smells, we will die and go to heaven. The apples are reds from “an old tree in the yard” and they are so good that they need no added sugar. People have asked about apple varieties. Many Vermonters choose JonaFrees, Northern Spy (if you can find them), and many choose a variety, as others here have mentioned. I really like Cortlands for baking, but the “old tree” apples are the very best.
Please give us some recipes with SMALLER quantities. I don’t feed the army.
I know I can halve recipes but I nearly always forget on one ingredient when I do that and then the recipe is ruined. It’s also hard to know the size of the baking pan when halving recipes. A recipe for 6 cupcakes would be appreciated too
I would LOVE the oatmeal cookie-ish crumbles recipe, please, Deb! We also “accidentally” picked too many apples this year — to the tune of 80 lbs. My kids couldn’t stop pulling them off the trees, and it was so nice to see them out of the big, dirty city that we didn’t have the hear to stop them. I’ve tried to get creative with the recipes I’ve made (most have come from SK.com!), and yesterday, I made a hybrid one that smelled like fresh apple fritters — I used the Apple Crumble base from Cook’s Illustrated and topped it with your crumble from the Deepest Dish Apple Pie (aka the pie that made my husband renounce his mother’s double crust apple pie forever and really ticked her off last Thanksgiving… :) A double recipe of it was gobbled up in record time. Thanks for keeping us well-fed, Deb!
Yay! I just made your hand pies a few weekends ago but with apple pie filling, and I was just thinking how much I’d like them again but how much I’d rather not roll out and shape a bunch of little hand pies. This looks absolutely perfect, as we are definitely of the more-crust-to-filling variety. Also, I hate to be pesky-picky, but in the notes: “I serve this in 18 “squares” (6 cuts on the long side, 3 cuts on the short, yielding 2ish by 3-inch pieces)” I think you mean 5 cuts and 2 cuts, for 6 and 3 columns. I’m so sorry; the nerd in me can’t help it. Finally, I’m so sorry some people are so rude in the comments… psssh. You are well-loved, and please don’t let the occasional pissing and moaning get you down. Can’t wait to make this!
Christine — Thanks for the heads up; now fixed. I really don’t mind at all when people point out errors. I don’t like having typos but they’re going to happen; it’s very helpful when they’re brought to my attention and I hope I never come off as unthankful for the help. Anyway, you are correct, it was a mistake. All fixed now.
jan — Most recipes on this site serve 2 to 4 people. This recipe is specifically designed to serve more. Any muffin or cupcake recipe can be halved; if it served 12 before, it will then serve 6. I find it helpful to actually rewrite the recipe first, to make sure I did all the math correctly before starting to cook. A couple other good proportions to keep in mind: Most 9-inch cake layers halve perfectly in 6-inch baking pans. Most 9×13-inch recipes (such as this) halve perfectly in 8×8-inch (brownie) pans.
Susan — Well, there was this… But you reminded me that I was obsessed with creating a savory slab pie for the cookbook, which obviously didn’t happen, and I can’t remember why. I’ll get right on that.
Sarah — So, much to my sadness (and I don’t just say this melodramatically; I’ve had some very bad disasters in this area), I have not yet mastered the caramel pie. It adds excessive wetness and wetness is not a friend to pie. I also am convinced that the flavor gets a little lost. However, I think that a flat pie like this could be more forgiving of extra wetness. Here’s an idea: Make a 150% batch of that caramel (i.e. match the sugar amount recommended here), or, you can even double it; this pie isn’t very sweet at all and caramel is a tinge bitter, you may not mind the extra sugar. But, keep the butter level at the base amount (4T) and maybe don’t fully double the cream (which thins the caramel, but you can use more than 3T). Then, put the apples over the crust. Sprinkle on the dry stuff (cornstarch, spices, skip the salt if you salted the caramel). Pour the caramel over the top. Finish the pie (lid, cutting vents, sealing, etc.) and bake it. And this part is very important: INVITE ME OVER. Even if it’s terrible, I’ll try to grin and bear it. :)
Lou G. — That sounds wonderful. I bet you could double this topping and use it here. I might swap half the honey with golden syrup for a more classic flavor. [These days, I use it instead of corn syrup for things like this. I don’t actually think corn syrup (we’re not talking about HFCS here) is going to kill me any faster than pecan pie will, heh, but golden syrup has a light caramel flavor and it’s just so much tastier.]
Stacey — Hi! Hope you’re well.
Gayle — I haven’t frozen pie before but if you’ve frozen other pies successfully, you will probably be fine doing the same here. The ingredients are the same as any pie; it’s just the proportions that are different.
Kit — I am sure you could use round crusts here. However, keep in mind that slab pies use 100% of the filling volume of standard 9-inch pies but they use 150% of crust, hence the higher crust-to-filling ratio.
Sarah — Thanks. Now clarified.
Staci — Batman, if he stops refusing to put the costume on.
Clare, meet Sarah (re, caramel apple slab pie), Sarah, meet Clare.
DK — No, it’s my fault, not yours. I added a note after the first batch of comments that spraying your baking sheet with oil (very lightly) before conrmeal-ing it seems to be the most reliable way to make it on a tray.
Alison — Whoops. I should update that. Unfortunately, the Good Reads page was powered (auto-generated) by Google Reader, which shut down on July 1st. I haven’t yet found a replacement.
Annmarie — Thank you. We sell the prints barely above cost. I figure I’ve already taken the photos and published them; they’ve done their “jobs,” so the print shop is much more about providing a service to anyone who would like their own prints. SmugMug just handles the transaction and printing — that’s where 90% of the money goes.
MelissaBKB — I had not seen that, actually, and it is a thing of beauty. Thank you for sharing it. Gulllp.
So eager to try this! Looks fabulous!
(RE# 123 — As I read responses, I see nothing critical. And I’m a-“maized” I got this far in them. I should have spent the time finding me an orchard!)
You hearken to joys of Autumn. And make cooking joyful. Thanks, Deb!
Made this today! my crust didn’t crisp up like I wanted so I may dot the apples with butter next time. I also doubled the cinnamon. It was a huge hit!
I am having the Family over for dinner tomorrow night. Originally 5 of us…standard Apple pie would be just fine..But there will now be 9 of us. This looks like a perfect compromise to Apple Pie. Thank you for the answer to my problem. :)
I’d love to know which orchard you visited! We have two little ones, and were thinking of making a day trip out of a visit. Many of the reviews of orchards online are not so great– would love a personal rec from someone who obviously has a “thing” for Fall apples! Thanks for your blog– I’m a big fan.
Hooray for apples that looks great!This week I fell in love with a new cookbook, Sweet Paris, and made apple turnovers/chausson aux pommes.
Beautifully written piece today. I could have gone back in time to remember those blue, blue skys with a nip in the air. How delicious!
I had people over this evening (including several devotees of this blog – hi guys!) and decided to make this. I had to eliminate the lemon juice, and substituted light brown sugar for regular in the filling, but it still turned out great! I think everyone went back for seconds.
I was very nervous about the pie crust because I had so much trouble getting it to stick together at first- it just seems like a pile of flour with some butter in it. I ended up adding extra water and then just cramming it together as best I could. I probably worked it way more than you’re supposed to! But it seemed to really meld while in the fridge and came out well. Thanks for the great recipe!
Wow… looks so yummy! It’s like pie… only rectangular.
perfect timing Deb! My dad brought a large box of apples and pears last weekend. My 5 minions have been eating their share and more, but I just had to give this slab pie a go. I used 2 golden delicious, 1 Rome (I think) and lots of dark pink fleshed Hidden Rose apples.
It’s in the oven right now.
I love love love Ida Red apples and use to buy them from a veggie/fruit stand here but they went out of business and haven’t seen them since. I definitely vote for Ida Red. My Mom always made her peach “cobbler” this way. When I seen peach cobbler where they drop some dough here and there I was very confused. I love how “our” cobbler gets all ooey gooey when the pie crust soaks up the juice. I think I’m going to try this recipe because it looks so darn delicious.
OMG, yes! This looks like the pie to end all pies. I’m loving the drizzle of icing making it more pop tart-like. Yum! Mouthwatering photos. Thank you for all of your beautiful posts, recipes, and book, Deb!
I took this out of the oven at midnight, and stayed up an hour for it to cool so I could taste it before bed. And–oh. sweet lord in heaven. The crust is amazing and the apples are perfect. I used Jonagolds (from the 25 lbs I picked at a local orchard) with one store-bought granny smith thrown in for good measure. For the crust I froze the butter and grated it into the flour. I didn’t add the icing or even the egg wash. The crust seems more like puff pastry than pie crust, which is fine by me!
No shame in bringing a pie to a gathering with one slice missing, right? right?
Looks just wonderful! :-)
What I totally love about you, Deb, is that you cheerfully give us options. Me, I’m all about the crumble. But I am in awe of someone who uses up an entire container of cinnamon every Fall. I clearly do not do enough baking!
I made this last night, and it came together beautifully! I served it for breakfast this morning with bacon on the side. We had a very happy Sunday breakfast. Thank you!
Hello from Bath, UK! My pie is in the oven as I write this. It smells fantastic and was so simple to make. We don’t do pies like yours over here, but I’m a big fan of pastry and your book, so just had to try this recipe. I made it a teeny bit smaller (as there are only 3 of us at the moment) using I quantity of the dough recipe from your book, and 3lb apples given from a friend’s tree just yesterday (no idea what variety other than they’re cookers) and made in a brownie tin. It looked great before it went in the oven and looks amazing right now, all puffed up and golden. It will no doubt taste great (how could it not?!) so thank you for the inspiration!
ps. Your book talk at Toppings in Bath was most inspiring and entertaining. Hope you enjoyed the UK x
I’m at 30,000 feet flying cross country and definitely should NOT have read this post. The cheese box on American just doesn’t come remotely close. Apple Slab Pie – coming to my kitchen SOON!
Hi again! Officially, this may be the best apple pie I’ve ever made. The pastry is a dream, and the filling, though on the tart side (apples turned out to be Bramleys ie. the best English cookers) was perfect. I’ve already shared the post with friends and family. We just ate it with what I think you’d call heavy cream (known as double in the UK). Sublime!
I just made this and it’s my new favorite apple pie. I adore a good crust, and the high crust to filling ratio is amazing. Thank you!
I made a peach slab pie a couple of summers ago, and you’re so right about it baking up extra flaky. I even had someone ask if it was puff pastry, which I considered to be quite a compliment!
If you can get them, Macoun apples (available mostly in northeastern US at farmer’s markets and PYO farms) work perfectly in pie and dumpling recipes. They hold their shape during baking, but become completely tender and perfectly absorb the flavor of whatever they were cooked with. They are also quite sweet, so the option for a smaller amount of sugar is great!
Thank you Deb! This is amazing and makes me think of my grandmother from Montreal- her “french apple pie” She’s ill now, but this strikes such a chord, I think I need to introduce this to my littles even more quickly. Her version doesn’t put a top crust…. so thanks for the reminder and the measurements.
This is really nice – baked it yesterday and brought it to a party today. I added some ginger to the apples, and thinned the glaze out so it could be brushed on instead of drizzled. I was impressed with how well it held together – it could actually be eaten out of hand, no plate necessary.
I also cannot be trusted in a u-pick situation. I once went out for lunch and accidentally picked 8 pounds of raspberries.
Perhaps before the end of apple season I’ll accidentally pick too many apples and make this pie.
I made it this weekend and it is the MOST delicious – most wonderful recipe. I can’t wait to make it for the next time I have to bring a dish somewhere. It’s an incredible treat to have in the house and easy due to Deb’s due diligence that she puts into all of her recipes. I make her pumpkin muffins and her Mom’s apple cake recipe at least once a month. Again, fool proof recipes I never find anywhere else. THANKS!
I have waited 4 gd years to make that sour cherry slab pie but I can never find fresh sour cherries! Blink and you’ll miss it is right! I think I’ll try this next week; I NEED a giant apple poptart in my life, stat :)
Deb, I thought of you when I saw this post (I hope I’m not the gazillionth person to send it to you, haha):
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/bourbon-in-everything-thanksgiving
Simply divine! Mine turned out perfectly tonight. Thank you for posting this!
Do you think its sacreligious to use canned pie filling? I have had two cans ofcherry filling I wanted to use up. Was looking for a crust recipe when I came upon this one for the slab pie. I plan to try it with apples but in the meantime, would it work with the canned stuff?
MM k, love the slab pie idea! And the icing!
I have a tip to share on apple pie filling. If you can be bothered with a few extra steps… I believe I got the idea from alton brown, and who knows where he got it from, but there’s something about adding sugar to apples which makes them “sweat” and it works great to mix the cut apples with sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, and then, let them sit in a colandar for 30 minutes or so, while collecting the juices. I strain it directly into a small pan that goes over the stove, and then I make a “reduction” from the delicious juices. Yes! I know. Fussy! But when you add the reduction back to the apples, you have it, at last, true apple pie filling.
Deb, I gasped when I saw the pictures of this “pie.” My father owned a bakery and made something we called simply “apple squares.” Also, cherry, blueberry, and I believe fig. They looked JUST LIKE yours, but made in full sheet pans. Wow, I hadn’t thought of those in maybe 25 years. Thank you so much for rekindling that memory. Now I must try yours.
Hi Deb. I didn’t read all the comments so I don’t know if anyone’s brought a triple crust up yet. I recently acquired a copy of Elizabeth Baird’s book Apples, Peaches and Pears, now out of print. She writes “it was also a common Canadian practise to make pies with 3 or 4 layers of pastry, with fillings between each”. This was in reference to early English language cookbooks in Canada.
Deb, I love your mom’s old blue bowl, and I smile whenever I see it. Little did she know that it is heritage Pyrex! I laugh at that, because I have some heritage Corning Ware, about the same age, and I’m still using it.
Wow! Never thought of making a pie in a rectangular dish (I don’t know why…)
Going to have to try this out ASAP. Thanks deb :)
Hi, Thanks for yet another great recipe. With Halloween being this week, can you suggest any ghoulish dinner party recipes? Thanks.
Love the idea of a slab pie. And love that you made it with apples that you picked yourself. And love love love that you’ve drizzled sugar icing over it. Delicious.
The Apple Peeler/Corer is a brilliant machine.
Please be prepared for a marriage proposal from my husband sometime this week…. I’ll be trying this recipe one night! I know it will be a hit… it sounds like a wonderful recipe…and your photos are beautiful. Have a lovely day.. <3
Yes to the oatmeal cookish-crumbles please! And this is perfect timing as we went apple picking this past weekend and my 2 year old LOVED it! I think he could have picked apples all day if we had let him! So of course as a result, we have a lot of apples (not like that is a bad thing!). This will be on the apple list, thanks!
Slab pie has been a staple in our house since the sherries BUT, you much try it with peaches if not already. Love love love.
Oh wow! I am adding this recipe to the top of my list to make. Would this pie work with other kinds of fruit, too? Any you recommend?
So last May, this happened to me, but with blackberries. It was a glorious almost-summer day, and my husband, daughter and I had our very own rows of heavily laden blackberry branches to meander up and down. Before we knew it, 25 pounds of fruit. Upside—25 pounds of blackberries take up ever-so-much less space in the car than apples. Downside—no possibility of waiting a few days to deal with all of them! We were madly jamming, baking and freezing the entire week. But summer lasted a very long time!
I’m curious, when you make applesauce do you still follow the recipe as when your son was a baby, or have you “upgraded” to a more adult version?
Alex — I make it the same way. Sometimes I leave a few more chunks in, but really, we like its simplicity and almost unadulterated apple flavor.
Jean — I knew there was a reason I loved Canadians.
Gisele — I’ve never used it before, but I don’t see any reason it wouldn’t work here.
I tried this out yesterday, without the glaze (not a fan of glazing). Turned out gorgeous! The dough was the most workable when it was nearly frozen solid. European baking sheets are often slanted on one edge, so I was curious if it would leak out, but it turned out just perfect! I wish I could post the picture of the gorgeous pie.
Fabulous. Making this as we speak, but with quince replacing 1/3 of the apple (it’s in season here in Istanbul). My sister also gave me some wonderful Swedish pearl sugar, so we have that instead of a glaze (already sprinkled over). Happy days.
I made this pie two days ago. It is to die for. I didn’t use all butter, but rather 4 oz. butter and 8 oz of lard. The pie crust was incredible and was so easy to roll out: I suspect the lard had something to do with that. I like an apple pie that’s a little tart, so I added the juice of one lemon and half of its zest for a pie this size. Oh yes–I also threw in a couple of handfuls of raisins. Just make sure you have a crowd to eat it because it makes a lot!
Yes, Please! to the question: oatmeal cookie-ish crumbles (would you like the recipe?) and Thank You:) I tried to make one I really liked just this past weekend. No success:(
I made this this past weekend – it came out GREAT! This pie crust is killer and will be my new go-to recipe. I ended up using a food processor for the crust and it was perfect. Thanks for the great recipe, Deb!
We made this yesterday with apples and rhubarb. Was amazing! My husband declared that this is how pie should always be made (he of the less filing is better proclivity).
I clicked over to the FAQs and then to the ‘Good Reads’ page you have linked there, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Just FYI.
I’ve never had pie in this fashion. I definitely need to make this for my husband. :)
Deb, I just had to tell you that I have those same Pyrex bowls, though mine are an olive green, and mine were ALSO rescued from a mother prepared to toss them in the trash. I have a set of 3, though it’s possible there was once a 4th. I use them almost every day!
This pie looks absolutely amazing. I’m definitely going to have to try it when the weather cools down here in Australia.
I have this same/similar recipe from my aunt and it’s been on my baking bucket list for quite some time. I’ll be making it in the boozy version, of course. Beautiful presentation of an old fashioned fall treat!
I would love the oatmeal cookie-ish crumble recipe! I have a glut of apples and a ton of oatmeal (thanks, costco) — I’ve been looking for a recipe to combine the two! Your recipes are always winners so please share!
Hi Deb,
I cut the recipe in half and made this last night (wanted to test it for Thanksgiving, when I’ll make the full one) and it’s fantastic!! Just one question, I lined the 1/2 jellyroll pan with a folded parchment sheet which was doubled and although my top crust was brown and beautiful, the bottom one was doughy and not browned at all. I cooked it for 45 minutes and thought it was done since the top looked brown and bubbly. Any thoughts? Should I have baked it longer or do you think the double parchment was to blame? Also, I put a large cookie sheet under the apple slab (on a lower shelf) to catch the drips, if any, and wonder is this why my bottom crust didn’t brown?? Just want to perfect it for my thanksgving crowd:). Please tell me how to improve it for the holiday. Thanks so much!!!
Hi Hildi — I now cannot remember how brown mine gets at the bottom, but I know it was never soggy. It is possible that the extra pan blocked some of the direct heat. Did your filling look heavier than mine does in the pictures? You could try buttering the pan and skipping the parchment next time for slightly deeper color. It could be nervewracking if the pie leaks and then dries underneath, because it will stick, but if you remove the pie when it’s still lukewarm you should be fine. All that said, bottom crusts of pies are always a problem — soggy bottoms happen all of the time. Some people par-bake the bottom crusts to avoid this. I don’t, but I suspect that technique could be applied here, although it might be trickier as you really want the pie to seal well.
My sister called me on Saturday morning, while I was preparing for a big (as in many, many people) Halloween party for Saturday night. “Go to Smitten Kitchen and make what it says.” I did, and this was a huge hit. So good, and it makes so much that there was a little leftover (which wouldn’t have been leftover, except that I hid it in the pantry). We’ve had it for breakfast for the last two days, and it’s amazing. Thanks!
Made it…GREAT! Thanks for another wonderful and USEFUL receipe!
Deb, I’m sorry if I missed your response to Elissa R.’s question (I did search for it!). I had the same question, i.e., how do you sice the slab pie (or brownies, bar cookies, etc.) without scratching your baking sheets/pans? Thanks :)
No worries at all if you haven’t read all 183 comments. My baking pans aren’t in any condition I worry about scratching up, but if they were, I’d just be careful, nothing too sharp, not putting too much pressure on. Or you can cut around the pie and get your spatula underneath the parchment lining and use it to slide it onto a cutting board, where it will be easier to make clean cuts.
Deb could you cook us up something yummy with Fennel and Apples? I am fascinated, no enthralled with the idea of this combination, but in truth I’ve never cooked with fennel in my life. I participate in a co-op in Wyoming and got some this week and have been frantically googling “fennel recipes”. I am going to take a good hard look at the two you have on the site and see what they’re like.
Oh an the pie looks ingenious and fantastic, great idea for large family gatherings. Who wants to (but does anyway) make 2 of each kind of pie so that everyone can have a slice?! So much work!
Would I like the recipe for delicious sounding oatmeal cookie-ish crumbles?!? Yes, indeed!
Just made this tonight and it was delicious! I think my husband is on his 3rd piece. :) I had never made a slab pie before, but I know I’ll make more now. The crust is so flaky and tasty. I appreciate a crust that does not use shortening as I try to avoid cooking with it. Thank you for the recipe. I made the pizza last week and the pie today. Loved them both.
Just took my pie out of the oven. My apartment smells amazing! Thank you for providing the perfect fodder for my own overly ambitious apple picking trip. Now I just have to get this beauty into the office on Thursday for our Halloween party. If you had to transport said slab pie on a 40 minute subway ride, how would you do it?
I just made this and my goodness – its gorgeous. My two friends who I served it to, each said it was the best pie they’d ever tasted, and I must say , I agree!
A few comments on how it worked for me:
I found I didn’t have enough pastry for the large tray you suggested, so I ended up putting it in a smaller and deeper pyrex baking dish. It worked fine, but the apple layer was thicker than in your pictures (which was delicious and I’d prefer that ratio I think, but wasn’t as portable as yours looked). Quite possibly I messed up the amounts in the recipe or perhaps I just didn’t roll it thinly enough.
I used my food processor to make the pastry. I know – you advised not to, and I knew this already really, but with 4 little ones under foot, I wasn’t heeding advice. The good news is, it was still hands down the best pastry I’ve ever made. Didn’t go gooey at the bottom, didn’t need blind baking, not too sweet…mmm. I’ve no doubt it would be even better with the butter rubbed in, but I’m so thrilled with this inferior version that I don’t mind.
I used Grannies and a few Pink Ladies (a very sweet crisp pink easting apple – not sure if apple names are international? These are Australian). Perfect – lovely and soft but held their shape and didn’t turn to mush.
Normally we’d serve apple pie with custard, but this would have detracted from the pie’s glory. We had dollops of clotted cream instead. Just perfect. Thanks Deb! Christmas day dessert is sorted!
Can I use store-made pie crust (Pillsbury)…I have only one very small counter in my kitchen and not enough room to roll out the homemade pie crust.
barbara — See my response to kit in comment #174.
Hi! I would love the apple oatmeal crummish cookie recipe too! Don’t think you posted above…thx!
deb! i’m dying to make this, but i only have a 9×13 pyrex dish or a 11×17 baking sheet. which one do you recommend i use?
Rachael — 9×13 so that the proportions work. However, if it’s glass, and I think they usually are, reduce the heat by 25 degrees when baking.
Apple and Oatmeal Cookie Crumble — Sorry, guys, this week got away from me. Too many half work days for all sort of fancy things like dentist and doctor appointments and now Halloween. :) Of course, I’ve made it so many times but never photograph it. Soon, soon.
Hi Deb, delicious looking pie – I will save that recipe up for apple season. I just read your FAQ’s and got a tad excited that you have a book person for UK/Australia as I thought you might be coming here (Aussie) but alas no. However if you should think it was a good idea I have a spare bed you can crash in :-)
For some reason the link for applesauce isn’t working, and I have pounds and pounds of apples to use! I guess I’ll just have to make several slab pies instead ;)
Kelly — Boo! We are trying to get it fixed now. Check back in an hour, if you can be so patient. Thanks.
thanks for your quick response! i’m making my “test batch” (*coughhusbandsbatchcough*) tonight before tripling the recipe for a church group sunday. can’t wait to “test” it! :-D
Happened to have some sweet pastry in the fridge so made this yesterday… it went down a complete treat, thanks so much for the recipe :D
Also wanted to say… I turned on Radio 4 a few weeks ago.. and despite the fact I had no idea you were going to be on the radio and the fact I missed the first bit of the interview, I just knew it was you… I was so excited I was squealing’I am sure that’s debbs from Smitten Kitchen’ to my mother as we listened. I wish I had managed to come to a book signing and get my copy signed, but never mind maybe oneday! Love the blog, and cook lots of your recipes, your blog a complete treat for me. Keep up the good work!
Jeni
LOVE this idea! I’ve never even heard of a slab pie. I think it would be perfect for a huge Thanksgiving dinner. It might actually feed everyone, plus seconds! Thank you for sharing! I’m now a new member of your fan club!
I made this today- delicious, and I still have lots of apples to use up so will be making it again this weekend. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Deb, I am making this recipe for a dinner this evening. The dough looks really short and isn’t staying together. I added a bit more water…any other suggestions?
Liz — Give it a few more kneads and it should come together. If all else fails, add water (as you did) a teaspoon at a time.
This looks and sounds glorious and as it’s a sweet recipe and has the word “apple” in it, I am going to have to try it. Interestingly, my standard go-to American apple pie recipe is Dorie Greenspan’s (from her “Baking: From My Home to Yours”), and the ratio of fat to flour in her dough is nearly identical to this one :)
Love this, my mother-in-law gave me a very similar recipe shortly after I got married (26 yrs ago) and I’ve made it often through the years. Keep the slab coming!
Hi. i just love your website AND your recipes. i just made the slab pie. It taste great but the dough almost taste puff pastry like. Not a bad taste, it’s just the texture. I like a doughy texture sometimes. I really don’t like to use shortening but is that what it takes to get that texture? Please say it isn’t so!
rina — Hmm… no, it’s not shortening. It’s basically my goal to make the exact kind of pie dough you don’t care for — buttery, flaky, layered. To achieve this, we use cold butter, carefully blended to bits (but not fully mixed in) and keep the dough cold. To make a less flaky pie dough, you’d basically do the opposite — intentionally fully mix the butter, not worrying if the dough melts together.
I totally get you with the picking frenzy. I few years ago we spent 1 hour in a peach orchard and left with 37 pounds of peaches! Since peaches don’t keep well once picked, I spent the rest of the day making and freezing peach sauce. It was fantastic to have in the middle of winter with shortbread.
This looks like a great use of apples and will have to try!
I learned that if you are stuck using supermarket apples, try mixing sliced apples with the sugar and spices, and put in a microwave safe dish and microwave them on high for 2-3 minutes, stir, and repeat until the apples look shiny and slightly translucent. This should take 4-5 blasts (total about 12-15 minutes). The microwave breaks down a certain kind of enzyme which helps the apples cook nicely in your pie and keeps them from weeping on the crust. After you microwave the apples you will have some apple-carmel-ly liquid in your dish – if you are adventurous you can reduce that down and drizzle over the filling. I can’t wait to try to make this slab pie for a crowd!
First, can you please tell me more about the strong pastry blender you have that allows you to process cold sticks of butter whole? I bought a “premium” pastry blender from Williams Sonoma that is perfectly nice, but prone to the blades bending with even chunked butter. I would totally upgrade to your super magical industrial strength one instead.
Second, this recipe couldn’t have come at a better time. I had offered to bring “pie” for the work potluck a couple of days earlier (a member of the party committee was in my cubicle asking me what I wanted to bring and there were already offerings in my usual categories…) with the idea that I didn’t want to bring a round pie that would only serve 8-ish. This was perfect. I made it with a mystery bag of apples from the farmer’s market (3 bucks cheaper!) and it worked out perfectly. Only observation is this benefited from an extra ten minutes (could have even gone 15) even using a dark jelly roll pan.
I want details on this magical pastry cutter too! Would grating frozen butter with a cheese grater work in this recipe, or do you suggest cutting it in instead? I love the grating method because it keeps the butter icy cold, but sometimes the pieces are smaller than pea-sized…Looks great!
Pastry blender — I use this cutter and the knife-like blades are strong enough to handle cold butter. But, I have to give the very loud disclaimer that this is not an authorized use of the product. It’s not supposed to be used this way. Theoretically, an especially cold stick of butter could bend the blades. But I like to live on the edge and stuff, and so I’m not too rough with it, but I do use it to break up the full sticks into cubes in the bowl, then proceed as you would with any other hand-blender.
Pei — I hear good things about the grating technique but I’m not terribly into it, not because it doesn’t work but because I haaate touching butter and my hands are warm and it always gets melty and leaves a lot of butter on the grater. But, I know most people don’t complain of this.
This was so good that I promptly dumped my existing recipe, whose crust called for shortening and eggs (and was a downright fussy dough). Hubby says this may be the best thing I’ve ever made – and that’s saying a lot!
And a thousand thank you, thank you, thank yous for helping me conquer my fear of butter crust. What a great recipe. Now that I’ve done the more difficult rectangle version (in my view, as compared to round) for this recipe, I feel like I can conquer the world. :)
Just made this for my son’s second birthday! Thanks for unexpectedly solving my I-don’t-want-to-make-cake problem!
What a great idea to make slab pie. It makes it easier for snacking on.
Made this to take as a contribution to the Harvest Dinner at our local American Legion. Had to taste test first…. outstanding! I didn’t use your pastry as I have a food processor one that is fast and works well each time. It was for a 2 crust pie and I rolled it out super thin. It came out perfectly – each piece could be picked up by hand and the pastry was flaky & crunchy. What I liked best was the ease of cutting up and serving – much easier than pie! Delicious – Thanks Deb.
My mom and grandmother used to make this and we called it apple slice; they never wrote the recipe down and no one in the family knew it so NOW I can make my own apple slice!
i have it in the oven now=thanks!
Our neighbor gave us a lot of apples. I have made 2 batches of hand pies, most of which I have eaten for breakfast, both warm, room temperature and cold. I have more dough in the fridge, waiting for me to peel, core and dice the other apples. So imagine how very happy I am to have come across this recipe that will save me the tedium of making those individual pies. I am sure that I can adapt the recipe to use the dough I have already made.
Thank you for your free recipes…I made pork chops last night following adapting your recipe for pork chops, brining them was the ticket!!! I pan fried instead of bake…they come out absolutely scrumptious each and every time!!
Thank you, I think your cookbook will be my Christmas present to myself! :-)
This looks delicious! If you are ever in need of another apple recipe check out my amazing apple braid bread!
…and it’s out and DELICIOUS! Thanks so much, it wasn’t complicated to make and the results are out of this world.
For years, my children would always say my fruit pies were cobblers, so I gave up trying to make any sort of fruit pie until my niece Lara pointed me in the direction of the Smitten Kitchen and Apple Slab pie. I just took my first slab pie out of the oven and it is beautiful. Thanks for sharing such an awesome recipe! I can’t wait to share it with my coworkers at the office tomorrow.
Deb, just made your deep dish apple pie from your cookbook and the house smells incredible. The crust came out undercooked and I’m not sure what I did wrong. Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks!
Hi Rachel — Where was it undercooked? Was it like a standard pie, that can be a little damp on the inside? I hadn’t noticed any undercooked effect, however, if you’re looking for a more crisp crust, the way to do it is to par-bake it, first filled with pie weights or dried beans or pennies, then for a little while without them before filling the pie and continuing according to the recipe. I hope that helps.
This was a hit. Yummy and wonderfully flaky! I’m going to play around w different fillings for it.
Thanks for an excellent recipe! I made the pie using Granny Smith apples and I forgot (!) the sugar completely in the filling; the taste was “tart” but excellent, but needed a bit of vanilla ice cream on top to round out the tart/sweet flavour. I made the glaze using Calvados brandy instead of the other liquids, and I’m a little ashamed to say that 1/4 of the glaze never made it to the top of the cake … :-0
Oh my. Thank you thank you thank for this. I made it yesterday and it is the purely most wonderful thing ever. I can’t get enough – thankfully it is HUGE.
The dough is the best dough I’ve ever made. I’ll use your dough recipe for everything from now on!
Thank you!
I made this yesterday and it was awesome. I loved that it was so easy to slice and people could actually eat it with their hands. Enjoying a slice for breakfast right now…
I am so confused about the size of your baking sheet. I assumed yours was a half sheet pan, but half sheet pans are 18×13. Quarter inch pans are 13×9. What kind of baking sheet do you use? I’m planning on using a quarter sheet, so, here goes nothing.
Dorothy — I use a jelly roll pan, 10×15-inch. You are correct, quarter sheets are 9×13, half sheets are 18×13. I actually cannot fit a half-sheet in my oven, so default to smaller pans in recipes. To scale this recipe to a half-sheet pan, you’ll want to increase it by half, so 150% the recipe, all ingredients. (This is a rounded number.)
Ah, thank you! I did not know about jelly roll pans. In case anyone is curious, I used a quarter sheet pan, making the normal amount of pie dough with quite a bit leftover that my 4-year old used to make her very own apple hand pies, and I used about two and a half pounds of apples and just sort of guestimated on the other ingredients.
This was amazing. Amazing amazing amazing. I don’t think I’ll never make apple pie in a pie pan again. And I have used a lot of other crust recipes which have been very good (I’ve never had a hard time with crust) (I’m also very humble), but this is the best by far. Merci!
This apple slab looks great. Apple pie is one of my favorite pies, this lab will make a great change.
Made 2/3 of this recipe and cooked it in a cast iron grill pan (with the parchment underneath). Unbelievably good! Everyone had seconds. Thanks!
Determined to make this and add bourbon somehow. Perhaps in the glaze? So happy to have found this – was just looking at a King Arthur recipe for apple slab pie when I thought that if anyone on the internet had some useful suggestions for how to take it up a notch Deb would. And I was right!
Just “rescued” bushels of apples from a neighbors tree that they consider nuisance and clutter! Will try this recipe and share with them to try and convince them what a treasure they have in their own backyard!!
I must say that this is an outstanding recipe. I did add some lemon zest and used 10 apples (various kinds) to accomodate my cookie sheet. I also added an additional 1/2 tablespoon more of cornstarch. I folded all 4 ends of the crust underneath of pie for a neat look. Results were perfect !!
I made this over the weekend. It looked exactly like the picture, and better yet, it tasted wonderful. My kids, who typically don’t like “pie”, loved these. They said it was like eating pop tarts, only better. This recipe is a definite keeper. Thank you!!
This looks wonderful. I am going to make it for a large party this weekend, but I am thinking of making it in a half-sheet pan. Would you use 2.5 times the crust recipe instead of 1.5? Do you think it would work?
Hi Patrick — See my response in comment #230. It’s 150% across the board (ingredients and crust). … May I ask why you were thinking you’d need more?
This sounds wonderful. Will be trying the recipe in a day or two. Hubby is liking the sound of it too! Thanks for the pan size info. This old cook, who has been managing her own kitchen for 46 years learns new things every day (almost) from these wonderful cooking blogs and television programs. In fact, I was a very uninspired cook until I discovered them. QUESTION: Is it 3&1/2-4 pounds of apples before the peeling and coring, or after? Seriously! This isn’t a spamming question. I really want to know. Thank you for your wonderful blog, which I visit and copy recipes from often. My DH asked what I wanted for my birthday on Friday, and I’m going to tell him I want your cookbook! Thanks again for all you do.
Jeanne — Before. I try to use amounts that are easiest to shop for.
I just mixed up the crust and put it in the fridge, but I am a bit concerned. The dough feels….biscuity for lack of a better word. Like biscuit dough.
I usually use the crust from the apple pie (cinnamon sigh) recipe you posted a few years ago with GREAT success, but that dough feels less biscuit doughy and more….like play dough…
I am nervous it will be tough. I didn’t mix too much, just enough to get the water in there.
Any insights? I am going to be extra careful when I roll it out.
Wahhh. I for some reason assumed this was a half sheet pan. I could not figure out why I was so far short when rolling out the dough. I ended up just making it a giant Pop Tart instead of fitting in directly in the pan. I just shoved it in the oven and read through the comments to see if anyone else had this problem and…turns out I should have read the directions more carefully the first time. I hope I didn’t end up rolling it out too thin and it holds up. I also used three pounds of persimmons instead of the apples. Fingers crossed this turns out or all I will have to bring to the party is brown butter almond brittle ice cream. Poor guests.
I’ve made this three times in the last month and it has been the star of the show every time. I did think it was a half sheet pan and wondered why my dough wasn’t rolling out big enough. I should have read the directions more closely. This pie reminds me of my grandmother. She used to make fried apple pies and this crust tastes just like hers. I’d give anything to have her back one more time to write down the recipe. My dad swears that the secret was that she dried her own apples on the roof of the lawnmower shed out back! I think she just had a magic touch that God gives a few lucky people in the kitchen. Thanks for bringing back such a sweet memory with your recipe.
Yes, I would love the apple cookie crumble recipe!
Made this yesterday and although there isn’t actually that much left of it, what is left seems to have gotten a bit soggier overnight on the countertop than a regular pie would. It was covered with foil. I’m looking to make this again for Thansgiving, but I’d like to make it ahead. Do you have storage tips? Loosely covered? Uncovered? Is it maybe the glaze that made it more wet?
I’m surprised it got soggy; did it feel on the wet side when you ate it? Was it warm when you wrapped it (that can do it, as it traps the steam)? You might try storing it in the fridge next time; it can always be brought back to room temperature before serving, or gently rewarmed.
No it wasn’t wet when we ate it, and I’m sure it was cool when I wrapped it. Maybe the filling was a bit on the wetter side…hmmm…well, either way it was fabulous and I will be making it many times again so I’m sure I will work out whatever kinks I’ve got going on. Thanks for your reply and for the great recipe. We all adored it and soggy or not it’s nothing but crumbs left in the pan now anyway.
This was amazing! It served more than a regular pie would and was so easy to serve. Thanks for another great dessert Deb.
I have a beautiful slab pie in front of me, and I’m on the fence about the glaze. I never glaze a “normal apple pie” so does this one need it? I do usually eat my apple pie with ice cream though and this is for a pot luck situation where ice cream will not be available, so maybe I’ll need the sweetness. Like I said, this slab pie is gorgeous, so I dont want to “gild the lily” here.
(These are the best kind of problems, right?)
Anna — I, too, am usually in the anti-glaze camp. But here, I like it, as there is a whole lot of crust (two layers) and just a little filling. The crust is basically unsweetened, the filling is very lightly sweetened for apple pie. Thus, it kind of works. But, if you really like just mildly sweet desserts, skip it. Hope that helps.
I make the Martha Stewart slab pie often, it is great for a crowd. My son usually picks the Martha Stewart mile high apple pie as his birthday dessert on Thanksgiving but it is way to much pie. This year he is going to give this apple slab pie a try. Since we have two other pies at the table for dessert I was thinking on making this a little smaller. What size sheet pan would you recommend for a smaller version (if I made half?), or should we just make the whole darn thing, since Thanksgiving seems to have gone the way of gross excess? I just hate how much goes to waste.
I knew I was going to make this for Thanksgiving as soon as I read your recipe…it just came out of the oven and looks amazing. I think this pie is the thing I am most excited to eat tomorrow!
Alright Deb. I’m sorry to say that I tried the caramel layer as you recommended and I cannot in good conscience invite you over…as your hips would never forgive me if I did.
I made this a month ago without the caramel layer and so when I knew I’d make it for Thanksgiving I wasn’t sure I wanted to risk it. Sure, something great could come out of it, but was it worth the risk of ruining a good pie?
So I did half the pie regular and half with the caramel. Now I regret the regular. Really. The caramel was that delightful.
I followed your directions in making the caramel:
1 c sugar
4 T butter
4.5ish T cream
and no salt.
I did the sprinkle with dry ingredients and pour caramel over process like you said and immediately had doubts. The caramel became very hard as it cooled and I was scared I’d have a brick layer in the middle of the pie. Once it cooked, however, magic happened.
The apple juices mixed with the re-melted caramel and made a sweet and warm apple-cider like flavor that was to die for. It was very sweet [obviously], but in the best sort of way. I also used apple cider instead of water in my crust [I like the punch of flavor] which wasn’t overwhelming at all.
Now if I were doing the WHOLE pie with the caramel glaze I maybe would 1.5/double that caramel recipe, as it’s hard to get a thin layer due to the thickness of the caramel and the speed at which it cools.
I had a piece both 40 minutes after it came out of the oven [nice and warm] and 4 hours later. Both were delicious, with no significant brittling. It also isn’t overly runny, as the space where I cut the piece out has no run-off of filling from the other pieces.
The only issue I’d say to anyone else wanting to try it is to make sure you have a pan [or 2 or 3] under the pie to catch the caramel while cooking. It bubbles a lot and ran off all sides. I had a smoking oven for a bit.
Thank you SO much for all your hard work and the wonderful advice. I know this is a long comment but you should totally stop what you’re doing and add the caramel to it.
I know this was ages ago, but thanks for reporting back! I can’t wait to try the caramel version… :)
I’d also like to say to Pei [209] that the last two times I’ve made this I froze my butters beforehand and then grated them frozen by holding onto the wrapper at the end of the stick. It worked wonderfully for me as the large grater holes make pea-sized butter pieces. I’ve also used the pastry cutter technique but I like the consistency of the grater pieces.
This is way out from your original post date but… I made this today and it turned out perfectly. I doubled the recipe because I made two pies. One pie I sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on the other I glazed. Both are delicious. Thanks for sharing with us
In the oven now waiting for thanksgiving dessert! My house smells amazing. I don’t know if I can wait for tonight :)
Thank you, thank you, thank you! There were going to be 16 of us around the table on Thanksgiving and I decided on Wednesday night we needed apple pie to go with the two pecan pies plus a pumpkin pie. I had made an apple pie in a springform pan before that turned out well enough so decided to go that route again. Before I started though, I pulled your book from the shelf. “Let’s see what SK has to say about apple pie”, I thought. I was so excited to see Deepest Dish Apple Pie made in a springform pan! This was definitely a sign!
We had to run out to the store for more apples since I only had 2.5 lbs but I’m so glad we did. This was the best apple pie I have ever had! Slicing the apples thinly (thank you Cuisinart with the 2mm slicing blade!) made the filling dense and full of apple flavor. On Thanksgiving, everyone loved it and there was only a small piece left at the end which I snuck into the refrigerator so I could have it the next day. Hooray for SK!
I tried this recipe several times and ended up wasting several pounds of butter and flour. I’ve made many, many pies and I think a regular pate brisee crust would have worked better for this. The dough just would not or barely cooperated and had to be tossed.
wasted — Can you tell me more about what happened each time? This is fairly standard pate brisee (and, of course, the recipe I use all of the time, including for Thanksgiving this year).
I’ve made this slab pie three times, twice with apples and once with sour cherries. It is a new favorite that I will make many many more times. Everyone loves it. I think the fruit to crust ratio is what makes it so great. Thank you!
loved this. made it with my students and we shared with all students, apples were donated, our small school loved it. I’ve been craving this for a couple weeks so will have to make it again real soon.
Do you have any advice for making a blueberry slab pie? This was delicious with apples and I am clearly not able to wait until summer to try this with blueberries.
My mom used to make something similar to this called Dutch Apple Pastry. It was my absolute favourite! The recipe she had called for raisins and the pastry had a bit of lard in it, I believe. Really looking forward to giving this a go.
Also, I received your cookbook for Christmas this year. It’s absolutely gorgeous. The flavour combinations and spins on classics are inspiring.
Wonderfully easy pie crust to roll out. Made the pie with Granny Smith apples and used 2/3 c of sugar which for my family and me is just enough sweetness. Even skipped the icing as we are indulging on this at home for New Year’s. Can’t wait to adapt to other yummy fruit options.
GREAT! made it in the 17X13 cookie sheet that i had, with your instructions to do one and a half recipe. Perfect! wouldn’t change a thing. i made your breakfast slab pie a few weeks ago-which was very good but i found it dry and a bit too much crust (and i am a crust lover). this was the perfect ratio. can always count on loving your stuff!
I just read the comment about the crust and throwing it out. Oddly – I had just the opposite experience. I have always struggled with making a good pie crust. This one turned out perfect and was so easy. I did incorporate my butter in a little different manner though and wanted to share the technique. I put the butter in the freezer and when I was ready, I grated it into the flour. I put my hands under really cold water, dried them and finished breaking down the butter a little more. I am a new and proud woman – I can make an incredible flaky buttery pie crust. I love the idea of the pie slab as well.
Hi Deb! Do you know if i can halve the recipe an make it in a 8×8 pan??
Karla — I think that would be just fine.
Thank you for this, I have been looking for this receipt since my Grandmother pasted away over 35 years ago. I had no idea what the goodness was called. All I know is that after church everyone would stop at her house for a taste of whatever she was cooking and a slice of whatever she had baked. Any if you were lucky, you could have as many slices of this slab apple pie as you as could eat. Of course that meant someone wasn’t going to get any…to bad, next time. Did we realize the treasure we had in her simple cooking skills, no. And trust me I’ve asked so many people, do you know who to bake and apple pie that is moist, you can hold it in your hand. So thank you. My cousins will be thrilled as well, thank you.
I love the slab pie concept (perfect for holidays or with large groups), and Im wondering how to do it with other fruit. Would I take a regular pie recipe and double the filling? Thanks!
Hi Mandy — Check out the Sour Cherry Slab Pie. I give proportions for translating standard pie recipes.
I made this as written with apples this weekend for a big potluck. The pie tasted great and I will definitely make it again and adapt it to summer fruit. I make pies frequently and consider them one of my specialties. That said, I found this crust difficult to work with, and would do things a bit differently next time. I also disagree that leftovers keep well for three days. This pie is best eaten the day it’s made, and would agree with my grandfather in this instance that “pie is no good left over!” Some are ok the next day but this is not one of them (crispiness of the crust is totally gone). Still, I recommend this recipe and do plan to make it again.
Back again…made all rhubarb variation & so good! This is perfect for parties/large get togethers! Thank you!
this is the second time i’ve made this; first time was for an engagement party (yes, i brought an engagement pie…) and it disappeared in a matter of minutes. this second time was for a crowd that knows pie, and it did not disappoint. this time i used mostly granny smiths with a few cameo and red delicious, subbed arrowroot powder for the cornstarch, and sprinkled about two tablespoons of oats over the bottom crust before the apples to help absorb moisture (never had a soggy bottom this way). i’ve also used this crust recipe several times for regular pies, and it never fails me (although it does test me, but i think that’s just the nature of pie dough). in this case, because it’s so large i like to roll it out directly on floured parchment paper (since you’re putting it on parchment in the pan anyway), with the plastic wrap over the top, peeling the wrap up and repositioning occasionally. that makes it a lot easier to handle and to put into the fridge every now and then, as keeping it cold is key to not saying hell with it and buying mrs. smith’s. i’m not too gentle with pie dough, which generally needs a soft touch, and this dough is forgiving of that, still crispy and flaky.
I just made this using 8 cups of strawberries and rhubarb and it was wonderful! My daughter calls them “pop tarts”. What a wonderful recipe!
I needed a dessert for 10+, had pie apples prepared and in the freezer (another way to use up excess apples), found this recipe, made the dough, stuffed it in the fridge to chill while I picked green beans, gathered eggs, did barn chores, then came in to roll and assemble. I took the finished pie out of the oven a few minutes ago: Wow. It is gorgeous! If it tastes half as good as it looks, it’ll be a big hit. I did make a small adjustment to the recipe. I don’t own a jelly roll pan so I used my roasting pan instead. No one will know the difference. :-)
My favorite apple recipe!
I have made this recipe many times. IT is by far the best apple pie recipe I have tried or tasted anywhere. It even beats my aunt’s thanksgiving pie which used to be my most favorite food.
Depending on circumstances I make the crust either in food processor or by hand (same pastry cutter as Deb uses), it always comes out great: flaky, never soggy. Even when my 2 and 4 year olds help me with their hot little hands.
I used to peel apples but stopped bothering with it. The peel actually adds a lot to the texture. I use more apples than Deb recommends, always a mix of whatever we happen to pick.
I use 1/2 cup sugar for early season apples as they tend to be sweeter than granny smiths, stymans, northern spies and other late ones. FOr late ones I use 2/3 cup sugar.
I skip the glaze.
I bake it longer than Deb, to really deep golden color. The bottom crust becomes dark (never burnt).
The result: the most amazing, apply, autumn delight you’ll ever have on your plate.
Just made this again last night. Love it, such a great dessert for a group of people. I forgot to add the cornstarch when I made and I’m so glad I did. The apples I used didn’t put off very much juice so I didn’t even need it. Thanks again for this recipe!
I made this for Rosh Hashanah in what I thought was a jellyroll pan but was actually a half-sheet pan (18″x13″). I was cursing the crust the whole time I was rolling it out because it seemed so much thinner than your pictures, but still was not large enough. I persevered and rolled the crust large enough to cover the bottom of the pan and sides. What emerged from the oven was more like an apple streudel than a pie (because there was less filling as well), but it was amazing!! So delicate and flaky. I think this mistake has now yielded a delicious streudel recipe that I would definitely make again!
Another great recipe! I made it as written, with Mutsu and Shizuka apples since those are some of the best baking apples that grow in NC. I also just might have globbed on some dulce de leche before putting on the top crust, which just might have been a great idea!
I’m working my way through two boxes of apples (I love living in Washington state!) and this is a great way to make a dent in my boxes! Can’t wait to try it this weekend.
I just made this to take to our friends house for the Chicago Blackhawks game. The house smells delicious & we can’t wait to try it. I was surprised the crust has no egg yolk or baking powder in it as most recipes call for. I used a glass 9 x 13 dish & was happy I started reading the blog. I turned down my over 25 degrees after half the bake time was over and I’m keeping an eye on it. Thanks!
I just made this tonight. I thought that I messed it up…my dough was weird and falling apart and the juice ran out under my crust…which was crammed into the bottom of my 13×9 cake pan. It didn’t look pretty at all when I put it into my oven. But, oh my, what came out was delicious. We didn’t wait the recommended 45 minutes before eating it…how could we? It wasn’t too sugary like a lot of pies, the spices really came through. Plus, the crust was so flaky. I’ll be making another one for Thanksgiving.
I just made this last night! It came out delicious. I halved the recipe to make a smaller slab for just two people and that was perfect. It is a great crust (which is always tough) and I can’t wait to make it for Thanksgiving! In the future I will also switch out the filling for blueberries, pears, etc. :)
I’m planning to make this as one of the desserts for Thanksgiving. I will need to make it in advance. Has anyone made it up until the point that it goes into the oven, but then frozen it and baked it from frozen? This is what I plan to do….I hope it works out.
This is quite similar to my mother’s recipe, though quantities are generally 50% more. I used Mom’s quantities except for the sugar and spices which I used from this recipe. Fit perfectly in a 1/4 sheet pan.
I used Mom’s crust (egg yolk)but skipped her corn flakes and opted for the corn starch instead.
Mom’s recipe also uses a an egg white glaze, beaten stiff and spread on just befroe baking. As a child, this crispy brown topping fascinated me. The other wise woman in my life suggested bourbon icing. “Why not?” says I.”Everything’s better with bourbon.”
what’s the best way to store this on the counter? saran wrap? or is it better in the fridge (making tuesday and serving thursday, obviously!)
elana — I’d say loosely wrapped in foil on the counter, or in the fridge wrapped in plastic. These days, I lean more towards the fridge for pies, especially for more than a day’s storage. Enjoy!
i have yet to make a pie crust that did not break apart i hope this one stays firm but aside from that all of your receipts have been tops….and i also bought your book.
thanks …alsonset
I’ve made this twice now, and it’s going in the regular rotation. The first time was for a church do with a bajillion goodies, but it went first! Helped that I just happened to have some of Deb’s salted caramel sauce lying around to adorn it.
It helps that I’ve finally conquered pie crust, thanks to J. Kenji at Serious Eats. His food processor technique is damn near foolproof. I hadn’t attempted pie crust in decades until I saw his trick.
I’ve been making it in a home cookie sheet with a lip, but I think it’s a bit larger than the standard quarter-sheet pan, so it gets a bit wonky around the edges. There’s a restaurant supply place next door to the body shop that has my car; may have to pick up a sheet pan along with the Mazda!
Just found this; looks great! Off to look up your book :)
Deb I made this for Christmas and followed the recipe exactly. It was awesome. Took some time to roll out all that dough but totally worth it. Thanks
I just made this for Pi Day! I used and orange muscat champagne vinegar for the sugar drizzle. I think it might be grand.
This week I made the slab pie for the 3rd time since 2/1/15. These were my first attempts at making my own pie crust, and thanks to your great advice, they all turned out well. This last one was the best – very flaky, crisp and tender crust. My extended family devoured the first two the same day I made them, and my work mates loved this week’s – had to hide a couple of pieces for my husband. I’m thinking of making this my signature dessert! Thank you!
This was DELICIOUS. I made it with strawberry rhubarb filling, from MS, and baked for 45 minutes exactly. I skipped the glaze because I thought it might be too sweet w. the strawberries, but will use it next time. Thank you!
Made this today to bring to work – coworker requested apple pie for her birthday and you know one 9 inch circle was not going to feed a crowd. Came out beautifully! Mixed Granny Smith and Pink Ladies. Used boiled cider in my drizzle. Yum! Moist but not sloppy filling; tender crumb; nicely browned bottom crust (baked on lowest rack) but not burned or soggy. A keeper for pleasing a crowd.
Very yummy! Just made it for a dinner at church. However, though I can make an all-butter crust just fine, I used two thirds butter and one third Earth Balance Natural shortening. The crust still has buttery goodness, but is way easier to handle.
Hi Deb,
At what rack level should a slab pie be baked? I want to ensure that the bottom crust gets well baked and isn’t underdone. Would the lowest rack level be too close?
Maybe starting at lowest then moving to middle level midway through? Alternatively, would starting at a higher temp-say 425 and then lowering to maybe 375 or so be a better way to go instead of using the lowest rack level? Best temp? Gotta have bottom crust cooked through!
Thank you.
Sandra
I have used this recipe for students to make for 3 years now. We use apples I pick from my trees and I had to move so I’ll be looking for different apples. I’m not certain which kind of apples I had but you couldn’t pick one and eat. They are applesauce or pie apples, but this recipe is sooooo great. I demo the recipe and it takes a couple days to make it as I only have 50 mins so students work in groups to each make a complete recipe. That is a lot of pie but we are a small continuation high school and we share with the rest of the students, who are not just appreciative but really love this recipe. I, for one, love, love, love this recipe. Its great!!!!
Deb – have you ever had an apple slice? It looks like this except it’s usually covered in a glaze instead of just drizzled. Apple slices are common in Chicago bakeries and in other parts of the midwest but I’m a NYer now and have never seen them here. I wonder if this could be converted to an apple slice recipe. The dough tends to be more doughy and chewy than flaky though. Any suggestions? It is apple picking season so apples are on my mind and I will definitely be making my next apple pie in slab form. I too suffer from coming up with far too many lbs of apples! Hoping to find an apple slice recipe to try out too!
Hi. Have you ever done a crumble toping on this. I was thinking of doing half the top in a crumble topping. Would it work? Also, i just made your cranberry orange rolls. Oh my goodness, best thing ever! Thank you.
Myrianne — I don’t see why you couldn’t, but I always think of this as portable pie, and it wouldn’t be with a crumble topping. Doesn’t mean it won’t be delicious, however.
OOOPS!! I read it too quickly and thought the salt and sugar were equal portions! The word “table salt” threw me. It’s cooling on the counter now and simply beautiful. I’ll have to try it again!
The dough tends to be more doughy and chewy than flaky though. Any suggestions?
resep — It might have gotten overmixed. The buttery bits need to stay somewhat cold and separated in the dough to make flakes. If overmixed, they get warm/soft and mix into it, reducing flake-age.
Made this for a dinner party my husband and I attended tonight. Wow – absolutely delicious!!! This will definitely be bookmarked for making again. I cheated with the pastry and made it in my food processor. Used Granny Smiths for the apples (am in Australia). Thanks for an absolutely beautiful recipe.
Made this yesterday because I had apples going wrinkly and I’ve been wanting to make a slab pie. SO AWESOMELY DELICIOUS. Note to self: only make when having company or taking somewhere. This is far too much pie to have in one’s house. :-)
I made this to bring to a work party, ended up getting compliments from everyone by the end. It was delicious, and a great way to bring pie to masses (who doesn’t like apple pie?!?)
This is just so so good. No modifications, perfect as is. Top 5 fav dessert recipes.
I made two of these for the teachers at my kids’ school for teacher appreciation. They were delicious and a big hit. My only suggestion/comment is about the temperature. I baked one at 375 for about an hour and five minutes (at 40-45 minutes, the crust was still raw). When the second one was in the oven, I finally turned the oven to 400 to speed things along because I was running late. Maybe next time I would to have time at 375 and half at 400? But delicious regardless and praised by all. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for the apple pie slab recipe. I just made it and followed your instructions. Delious! The best one i have made so far.
Fabulous! Made it for the office last month on Pi Day (3/14) and it disappeared in a flash! I’m a regulat pie baker, have a favorite go-to crust from Cooks Illustrated, but since I’d decided to try a slab pie for the first time (seemed easier, large crowd, fewer utensils) I decided, since I can ALWAYS trust your recipes, to use your crust one. Cannot even say how great, how flaky it was… two coworkers assumed it was puff pastry… it was THAT flaky! Used a combo of Granny Smith, for tart/firm and Galas, for sweet/soft, worked great.
I also used your crust and threw together a (frozen) peach filling for a 2nd pie. Also good, not quite as good a choice for a slab/eat by hand pie due to the more liquidy peach filling… but your crust still shone!!!
This has become my go-to recipe during the holidays, especially Thanksgiving. I made this for a large family gathering where there was about 20 pies to choose from… Not only was mine the easiest to serve (it matters!) but it was voted best pie by my aunt who has been making pies from a wee age. Thanks Deb!!
This recipe , this delightful delicious apple 🍎 creation is a must-do. Be generous with the apples , use a. Mix of apples if you do not have one
I just made this and it’s cooling on the counter but it is truly beautiful and I can’t wait to try it. I made the dough in the proper proportions, and only then did I realize I didn’t have a jelly roll pan, only a half-sheet (11×17) pan. I rolled the dough as thin as I could, and had to do some patching here and there on the edges, but there was just enough dough and filling to fill the half-sheet pan.
Amazing, I didn’t know this had a name. Have made and eaten this since childhood! We called it cobbler, but cobbler had two variations, wet and dry! As you might expect this is dry cobbler. Wet cobbler is juicy and runny, great over ice cream. But the crust is the same. We (read I) love crust. Any left over scraps are squeezed back together in a ball, rolled out then slathered with melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon/sugar mixture. I always make just a little bit more crust than I need so I have plenty left over. My children insisted on cinnamon pie any time I make a pie. My mother did this trick as well. So this tradition started in the 1950s unless she learned it from her mother!
Every year we have loads and loads of apples – such much it’s almost impossible to use all of them. I make everything from apple vinegar to apple butter, sauces, dried apples and so on. So now I make this apple pie every year because it uses so many apples! It is delicious too – I only add a bit more lemon juice as I like it a bit more tart. Thanks for the recipe!
Also, I dont boher peeling the apples – the skins break down while baking and you can’t feel them at all.
can i use frozen apple slices?
One thing I would add as a note to this recipe is to drain any liquid that accumulates when the apple mixture is sitting. My apples caused a lot of liquid to pool at the bottom of the bowl. Being new to baking with fruit, I thought I should put this in the pie, figuring all the delicious spices were now in the bowl. What I ended up getting was a pie that was very soggy, which is a shame because apple pie doesn’t taste very good with the slime! Are there specific types of apples that I should have used for the pie, or just drained the liquid?
Addition: I used arrowroot instead of cornstarch – could that have caused the issue?
I once made pudding with arrowroot powder and it was like a recipe for slime, straight up. Arrowroot is the slime factor you are describing.
I add about 6 Tbs tapioca pearls to the apple/liquid mixture and let the pearls soften/puff up in the liquid prior to baking. This has eliminated the slime issue, which plagued my pies until I was introduced to the pearls.
I usually have the same issue with liquid in the apple bowl and do drain it for non-soggy pie crust but I save it to use as the liquid part of the glaze for extra apple and spice flavor
This was outstanding! Mine didn’t look as pretty as yours because I’m not too good at rolling out the dough, but it was delicious! Used a combo of golden delicious, granny smith, macintosh, and pink lady. I sprinkled coarse sugar on the top after I did the egg wash before I put it in the oven because I wasn’t going to have time to let it cool and do the glaze before I had to take it to the party. Thanks for making your recipes so approachable, Mel!
I love this pie. I made the tart cherry version for my wedding, but I like the apple version better. I don’t use the glaze or even the egg/cream wash. This time I only had four apples and added a cup of fresh cranberries too. Took the pie to a work potluck today and hardly any got eaten. I have a bit less esteem for my colleagues now, who went for the supermarket pies and cookies instead. Oh well, more for me.
The egg wash or cream would have definitely made it look more appealing- pastry without a finish can look flat and drab. Maybe more people would have tried it. Takes such a small effort
Made this for Christmas Dinner and it was amazing! I have 3 boys and a single apple pie goes to quick. The crust was surprisingly flaky I was worried I messed around too much with the dough trying to get it in the dish but I must not have because it turned out perfectly! I did cook it for about 60 minutes though as the top wasn’t quite done at 45 other than that I followed the recipe exactly! Thanks for sharing this!
Made exactly as written and it turned out to be excellent! Used the heavy cream
brush on the crust, then 10X sugar with fresh lemon juice for icing. Love this recipe! Thank you.
I vow that this year I will go and buy the right size pan for this pie. My family loves it and it turns out well every year, but my pan is a bit bigger than the size this recipe calls for and the swearing gets louder and louder as I realize most of the way through the rolling out that there is no way I can roll it big enough for my stupid pan every.single.year. As this recipe is a holiday staple now, I must give in and get the pan. My husband will miss hearing the swearing get louder and more creative.
I bought a 10 x 15 pan for the sole purpose of trying this recipe! Seemed absurd at the time, but I knew it would be too stressful to try and stretch to a half-sheet pan. OXO makes a sturdy 15×10 that looks just like the one in Deb’s photos.
Love this recipe. This is my go to recipe for pie! I’ve seen lots of copy cats recently on pinterest but you were there first and its the best. We make this in my classroom each year and when students win food, they always ask for this.
I didn’t need quite so much pie and was a little wary of rolling out such a large dough so I made 3/4 of the recipe and baked in a 9×13. I’ve made pies off and on for years and had recently been making a half butter/half shortening crust, but tried the all butter crust–preparing it the night before and refrigerating it until the next afternoon. When rolling, I had a baking sheet ready to throw the crust on and place in the freezer, but found I didn’t need it–the crust rolled out easily considering the size. The tip to use a generous amount of flour for rolling was very helpful and didn’t make a tough crust at all. I used egg wash to seal the top and bottom crush and brush the top and the pie came out golden brown and kind of impressive-looking.
The pie is delicious and the crust is the best part. It really lives up to the flaky buttery name. I think this recipe has converted me back to all butter crusts. The apple filling is standard, but good, and I’ve decided I really like cubing the apples v. slicing since it seemed to result in less filling shrinkage–probably because the apple cubes pack into the crust a bit tighter.
I got 16 easy to serve slices out of the 9×13 (something I could never say with a round pie) and my coworkers really seemed to enjoy it. I did too and also appreciated the techniques (be prepared to freeze the crust, use plenty of flour for rolling, cube the apples) which could be applied to other recipes.
Perfect ratio (for me) of flakey pastry and apple filling. I increased the salt in the dough to 2tsp and I don’t know if it helped but it didn’t hurt. My lemon was super juicy so I probably had about 2tbsp of juice added to the apples (granny smith and honey crisp) and it was tart but in a good way. The only other thing I changed was to add some homemade vanilla extract to the drizzle frosting and it came together beautifully. Lots of compliments and easy enough to be a go-to dessert. Thanks, Deb!
This was a big hit (along with your favorite brownies) at our condo potluck – so easy to slice (used a pizza cutter) and share. I did use the Hoosier Mama apple pie filling method instead, which involves macerating, draining, and thickening the resulting syrup, because apparently I’m incapable of doing things the totally easy way? Can’t wait to give some other fruit the slab treatment.
amen on the pizza cutter for this pie! :)
Two questions! I was all set to assemble when it suddenly looked like my apples had shrunk. And indeed, I re-measured and my eight cups of chopped apples turned into about 6.5 cups after sitting around in the lemon/spice mixture while I rolled out the dough. Should I have proceeded with them? What I did do was put the top layer of crust back in the freezer and made a crostata with just the bottom half (and I left the majority of the apple liquid in the bowl so it wouldn’t be too soggy). The crostata is delicious. But second question — do you have tips for rolling out this quantity of dough in a tiny kitchen? The crostata also worked out better because I wasn’t really getting to a jelly-roll-pan-size crust anyway.
loved this recipe! perfect for fall apple picking time! I feel like it could have used some more apple, so I will try that next time. have you ever ‘crammed’ a bit more apple into it? what was the result? thanks Deb!
Can I freeze the Apple slab pie?
Love your blog!
Kathy
Yes!
Before or after baking?
I just made this, using mostly your recipe but adding quince too–since apple/quince is my very favorite pie filling. The thing is, 8 cups of fruit didn’t come close to the height of filling I would have liked for this pan. I used the exact pan size you mention, but the filling was so low that there was no chance of it bubbling up and over. (ok, that’s good news too). I used the crust color to determine whether it was done because I never did see any bubbles. Next time I will add at least three more apples. Somehow, that potential bubbling mess makes me feel I’m baking something great.
I also made the streusel topping from my apple/quince pie recipe, tripling it. I decorated the edges with little maple leaves, with a few bigger ones in the middle. It looks fabulous–we’ll see if it all works together tonight. Thanks for the recipe!
Amy
Ps. Here’s my favorite pie recipe. Cooking the quince before adding it to raw apples makes all the difference. http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Apple-Quince-Pie
This week’s version was Jonagold plus Granny plus Braeburn (about equal amounts of each), and it was the best combination yet! I used a hefty amount of lemon juice and erred on the sweeter side of the sugar range (I know my audience) and encased it all carefully in a 75% lard/25% veg shortening crust. I also added a dash of cinnamon to the glaze, inspired by your frosted oatmeal cookies – the ones with the ton of cinnamon in the glaze. It all turned out really delicious and satisfying. Next time, I’d like to try increasing the amount of apples AND the glaze as well as turning the tart-to-sweet apple ratio more toward tart. This one’s such a winner.
I made this last night for an office pie palooza. Of course I had to test a square or two before taking to work-and it is delicious. I wanted the homemade crust to be “meh” so I wouldn’t have to bother with it again and just buy frozen pre-mades, but alas, of course it is undeniably better.
My question is this: I had this dang pie in the oven for nearly two hours before the crust started to brown just a little. It took the filling nearly as long to start bubbling as well. Is a cook time this variable normal?
Browning should happen, but may not always. Bubbling is good, though. You can sometimes hear it before you see it. I’ve never heard of it taking two hours, though, but if the results were delicious, I’d say you did it right.
Making this today to freeze for Thanksgiving. Is it just preference that the apples are chopped into chunks instead of sliced?
Totally up to you how to chop them
I made just the filling to top some pancakes for a brunch with friends this morning. Cooked it on the stovetop, and it was ready in 10 minutes. We dialed down the sweetness just a bit so people could still add syrup as they saw fit. It was a hit!
So I made this recipe ; I used my own recipe for the crust but followed it exactly for the filling. I realized too late that I didn’t have the right size pan so I did it in a 9 by 13 pyrex dish, baked it at 400 for 70 minutes. It was very good.
I am worried that the filling will be too “liquidy” without tapioca. I was just introduced to tapioca for standard apple pie filling and it was finally the consistency I had been looking for. I saw in one of your apple pie recipes that you use tapioca flour. Is there a particular reason you are not incorporating tapioca here? Thank you- your recipes gave me the confidence to start cooking in the kitchen 7 years ago!
This is an older recipe and it wasn’t as easy to find back then. You can use it here instead — maybe a little less.
I can’t say enough about how great this recipe is! Besides being delicious and (sorry) better looking than the picture, it solves some problems. Need more than one apple pie for company, this is better than two pies. Secondly, it cuts and serves neatly because it cooks evenly, no sinking! Perfect for a potluck too.
Need an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 version for this year. Tips?
You can halve everything.
Thanks so much for the quick reply! Like so many, T-day will be for a smaller crew. Best to you and yours.
What size is this sheet pan? 13×9” ?
Delicious. I made this for Friendsgiving 2020 and we all enjoyed it. I will definitely make it again. The crust was crisp, the filling just the right sweet. I’m in inexperienced pie maker and I was able to get it to turn out fairly well. Thanks for your recipes.
Made this with peach pie filling (made with frozen peaches) as a thanksgiving offering. My boyfriend’s mother had pointed questions about the seasonality of a peach, but it was incredibly delicious. It was also easy enough to bake as a fun two person project. I’m an intermediate baker and my co-baker is a rookie.
OMG, this was soooo good. I served it to my book club and after we all ate a piece, there was still a lot left over. Everyone got to take some home. Once again Deb, thanks for a great recipe.
I made this today and OMG!!! It’s amazing.the crust is so light and flaky and the filling is delicious.it was a huge hit and will be my go to.so much easier I feel than an apple pie and serves more…thank you!!!
You’ve probably already had someone tell you this (I looked here, though!):
in the Midwest around Chicago, this kind of pie is sold in bakeries in individual pieces that are called “apple squares” … people who still HAVE local bakeries will go in and buy just one or two or four from that half-sheet-pan pie in the baker’s case —
(and now I can make my own! — buwahahaha!)
We’ve made this multiple times and every single bake I wish I had doubled it, because people seem to know we made it and show up at the house “randomly.” It’s my fave ratio of crust/filling, and perfect for a bring along. For some reason I find it less intimidating to bring a flat pan than one of my grandma’s pie plates to a get-together.
Turns out every time. For my own make / taste, I do the following:
* I like a cream wash + a little cinnamon sugar for top crust looks, then go tart with the glaze.
* Out of allspice? Ground cloves it is.
* I’m exceptionally liberal with the nutmeg, and don’t measure the volume.
* I usually make this when we are threatened by apples in the bowl, so the mix varies greatly. I prefer a tart, toothsome apple, but people like Honeycrisp and even Opal in this. Slices work if you forgot to cut in chunks.
* My oven runs hot. A FULL preheat then bake at 45-50 works for me, every time.
Thanks for the well-tested, sticks-the-landing recipe Deb
I have both shortening and lard and am not afraid of either.
Can you sub them for the butter without any weight adjustments?
I’m working through the last of my 25 bushels (1 tree in the backyard)
Yes, you can.
I made this using the 2019 extra extra flaky pie crust and it came out phenomenal. I wasn’t sure whether to use baking temperatures from the pie recipe or the crust recipe, so I split the difference and baked at 400F for 40 minutes….perfection.
I used a 9×13 pan and filled it pretty deep with apples, maybe about 1″ thick with diced apples, so it’s not handheld slab but it cut into great rectangular slices and was loved by all.
Despite being a pretty seasoned baker, I’d never made pie dough before (though I’ve eaten PLENTY), so this was my entry point. I cannot believe how perfect this came out on my first attempt. The dough was still a bit crumbly when I assembled the two disks but I didn’t want to risk losing flake-age by trying to manipulate it more, so I did my best to shape it as it was. I refrigerated overnight and rolled it out today, worried I was using too much flour, it didn’t perfectly fit the pan, etc. I should’ve known my fears would be for naught – it’s a Smitten Kitchen recipe. It’s amazing. Will for sure be making again. Thanks, Deb!
Love this recipe! It reminds me of the apple kuchen my eastern European great grandmother used to make (very much like this with a streusel topping). While I love trying to interpret 50 year old recipe cards, I would LOVE to see a Smitten Kitchen version as your recipes turn out EVERY.SINGLE.TIME! Thanks!
This was great! I used mostly butter (subbed 1/2 c lard after I ran out of butter), 1 box gf pie crust mix plus an extra third batch of rye flour. I would dial down the sugar and the cinnamon next time.
Perfect pie for large groups. I made three of these for dessert after a crab boil for 75 people. Everyone loved it.
Does this freeze well? Any tips? It’s nice to make as much ahead for thanksgiving as possible.
I made this for a Thanksgiving potluck and it was a hit! I made it the night before and that gave the filling time to set up for easier cutting. The crust was flaky & the filling was flavorful. I added rum-soaked raisins for contrast and sprinkled coarse sugar on top before baking instead of making the icing drizzle. The 10×15 pan gave me 24 perfectly sized apple pie slices.
I’ve made this twice this fall, once a double batch for an event. I don’t have the size pan Deb does, but for a quarter sheet pan I use 3 cups of flour, 3 lbs or just under of apples, and everything else proportionally. It works great and with the slightly smaller pan the dough is easy to roll out and there are more edges :)