This Apple Slab Pie recipe is a fun twist on classic apple pie. Made with a rich, buttery crust, a baked apple filling, and a sweet cream topping, it’s baked on a single sheet and sliced into squares. One batch makes enough to feed a crowd, and is perfect for holiday parties, family gatherings, picnics, and potlucks!
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Pin RecipeI love a traditional homemade apple pie when baking for my family or a small gathering. However, this apple slab pie is my all-time favorite fall pie to make when serving a crowd. I love that I can make a 14-serving pie in one big pan rather than baking multiple pies! Plus, everyone loves it when I come out of the kitchen with a huge tray of homemade apple slab pie. It’s quite impressive, I must admit! It’s the perfect dessert recipe to make for apple season, the holiday season, or any season, really.
Apple Slab Pie Recipe
This apple slab pie recipe is easy, but it does contain several steps and requires a bit of planning. So, set aside a chunk of time before you begin. Then, roll up your sleeves, get out your favorite rolling pin, and get ready to have a little fun in the kitchen!
The first step is to create a homemade pie crust. Then, we’ll prepare the filling using crisp, fresh apples. Once prepared, we’ll combine the ingredients, starting by layering half of the pie crust on a pan. Then it is topped with the filling, and the remaining crust is placed on top. All that’s left to do is place your slab pie in the oven and try not to drool as its warm aroma fills your home!
Serve this perfect apple pie à la mode, drizzled with some caramel sauce, or just warm out of the oven. Once you try apple slab pie, it is sure to become your go-to pie recipe for entertaining this fall.
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Ingredients for Apple Slab Pie
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Flour – Regular all-purpose flour is perfect for this recipe. Be sure to have a little extra on hand for dusting the countertop when you roll out the pie dough.
- Salt
- Butter – Grating the cold butter turns it into nice, small, uniform pieces. This helps make the pie crust flakey. Use a large box grater, and make sure your butter is very cold before grating.
- Water
- Apples – I like to use a mix of apples in my apple pie recipe. Honeycrisp apples, Fuji apples, and Granny Smith apples are my favorites for baking. Regardless of the specific variety, a firm, tart apple is always best!
- Lemon juice
- Brown sugar
- Cornstarch – Cornstarch will help thicken the juices in the filling so they aren’t too runny.
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Heavy cream – Brushing heavy cream over the top of the pie crust will help seal the edges and make the top golden brown.
- Sugar – A sprinkle of regular granulated sugar adds extra sweetness and caramelizes in the oven, creating a crisp, golden pie crust.
Variations
Here are a few ingredient substitutions and recipe alterations you may want to try.
- Use store-bought pie crust rather than making homemade pie dough. You will need two frozen pie crusts to make this recipe. Let the crusts thaw a little bit before rolling them out to the correct shape.
- Add 1 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans to the pie filling to give the apple pie a nice crunch.
- Serve the slab apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a little bit of whipped cream.
- Drizzle 1/2 cup of caramel sauce over the apple pie filling before adding the top crust. It will add extra depth and replicate the flavor of caramel apples!
How to Make Apple Slab Pie
- Make the pie crust: Mix the flour, salt, and cold butter into a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to mix the butter into the flour until it resembles sand-like crumbles. You can also use a food processor or pastry blender to pulse the ingredients together at this step. Add the cold water, and mix until the dough forms. Divide it into two balls, one a little larger than the other. Wrap both balls of dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
- Make the pie filling: Add all of the ingredients for the pie filling to a large bowl, and toss together until well combined.
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F, and line a 10X15 inch baking tray or jelly roll pan with parchment paper.
- Roll the dough: Roll the larger ball of pie dough into an 18×13” rectangle, and place it on the parchment-lined tray. The dough will hang over the sides! Roll the second ball of dough into a 16×11 rectangle.
- Assemble: Pour the pie filling onto the pie dough in the tray. Cover the filling with the second pie crust, and seal the edges.
- Brush: Brush the top of the crust with heavy cream, and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake: Bake the pie for 40 minutes. It will be golden brown and bubbling out of the slits in the top crust.
- Cool: Let the pie cool for about 25 minutes, slice, and serve while warm!
Quick Tip
You can cut the apples into slices or smaller pieces to make the pie filling. I like thinner slices as they cut easier and have a more traditional apple pie look!
How to Store Apple Slab Pie
If you have leftover apple pie, you can wrap it loosely with plastic wrap, and store it at room temperature for 2-3 days. You can also keep the apple pie in the fridge for up to one week.
Apple slab pie does freeze well, too! If you want to store your pie even longer, wrap the entire tray tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze the baked pie for up to three months. When you’re ready to eat, unwrap the frozen pie, and pop it back into the oven for about 20 minutes to heat and thaw. It’s always great having easy recipes that you can make ahead for next time!
FAQs
One way to prevent the bottom crust from getting soggy is to brush it with whisked egg whites before adding the pie filling. The egg wash will bake and form a barrier across the bottom of the pie, keeping it safe from moisture.
I like to use firm, tart apples for baking. Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Braeburn, Rome, and Gala apples all work well.
No, you’ll want to leave both crusts unbaked until you transfer the dish to the oven. Baking the bottom crust makes it impossible to fuse the top and bottom together and can cause the pie to overbake.
More Delicious Apple Recipes
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Apple Slab Pie
Equipment
- 10x15x1 pan
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- peeler
- cutting board and knife
- Rubber spatula
- roling pin
Ingredients
Pie crust
- 4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 cups cold butter, grated
- 3/4 cup cold water
Apple pie filling
- 8 apples, peeled and sliced
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 3 Tablsepoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Topping
- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Start by making the crust for the apple pie. Add the flour and salt to a large bowl. Then, use a large box grater to grate the cold butter into the flour. Once all the butter is in the bowl, use your hands to rub the butter into the flour until the mix resembles small crumbles.4 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 1/2 cups cold butter, grated
- Add the cold water to the bowl, and mix well. Use your hands to blend the dough until it forms a loose ball. Add a little more water if the mix is too dry or a little more flour if it is too wet.3/4 cup cold water
- Divide the dough into two balls, one a little bit larger than the other. Wrap both balls in plastic wrap. Then, gently pat them both into the shape of a rectangle. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but having the rough rectangle shape will help you roll the dough later.
- Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours.
- While the dough chills, make the apple pie filling. Add all of the ingredients for the filling to a large bowl, and toss to combine and coat the apples.8 apples, peeled and sliced, 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, 2/3 cup brown sugar, 3 Tablsepoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 Tablespoons heavy cream, 2 Tablespoons sugar
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Cut a piece of parchment paper into a 10×15” rectangle, and put it in the bottom of a 10x15x1 inch baking sheet tray.
- Roll the larger rectangle of dough out on a floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle that is about 18×13 inches. Place the rectangle into the prepared pan. The dough will hang over the edges of the pan on all sides.
- Pour the apple filling and all the juice on top of the dough in the pan. It will seem like a lot, but it will cook down and shrink.
- Roll out the second dough into a 16×11 rectangle. Place this dough on top of the apples, covering the whole pan. Seal the edges of the dough, pinching the top crust and the bottom crust together with your fingers.
- Brush the top crust with the heavy cream. Then, sprinkle the top with the sugar. Make a few slits in the top of the pie crust to allow steam to escape while the pie bakes.
- Bake the slab pie in the oven to bake for 40 minutes. I like to put a second empty tray under the pie on the lower rack in the oven to catch any juices that may bubble over.
- The top crust will be golden brown when done, and the pie juices will be bubbling out of the slits in the top crust.
- Remove the pie and let it cool for at least 25 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Use a mix of apples for a complex flavored pie.
- You Can use pre-made pie crusts rather than making your own homemade crust. You will need two frozen, thawed pie crusts. Try to gently roll each thawed crust into a rectangle, making it about the same dimensions as directed in the recipe. Work your way from the center of the round crust toward the edges as you roll to make that rectangular shape. Using pre-made crust is a great way to save time!
