Unlike traditional apple pie, apple slab pie can feed up to 20 people because it is baked on a baking sheet rather than a pie pan. It is also shorter, its filling is thicker for neat slicing, and it is topped with a sugary glaze. One downside to this apple slab pie is that it requires much more dough than traditional. Rolling the dough out to such a large size can be very difficult and time consuming.
Keep in mind, although it might not taste as homemade, that store-bought dough is much more sturdy and can be easier to deal with in this recipe. Gluing two together with water, helps molding it into a large rectangle. To improve the flavor of the store-bought dough, add crushed up graham crackers to the bottom of the baking sheet before adding the dough.
Here is the recipe that people in senior living may enjoy baking and sharing, especially with younger relatives:
Ingredients:
Filling:
- 3 ½ pounds Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
- 3 ½ pounds Golden Delicious Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ tsp. of salt
Crust:
- 1 ½ cups of graham crackers
- 2 boxes of store-bought pie crust
- 4 tbsp. of unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
- 6 tbsp. instant tapioca
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 3 tbsp. lemon juice
Glaze:
- ¾ cup of apple juice
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. unslate butter, softened
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
Cooking Directions:
Filling:
- Combine apples, 1cup of sugar, and salt in a calendar over a large bowl
- Let it sit, tossing occasionally, until apples release their juices, about 30 minutes
- Press gently on the apples to extract and reserve ¾ cup apple juice
Crust:
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
- Pulse crackers and ½ cups of sugar in a food processor
- Dust work surface with half of the cracker mixture
- Brush 1 pie round with water and overlap with the second dough round
- Dust the rest of the crackers over the top of the 2 pie rounds
- Roll out the dough to 19 by 14 inches and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet
- Brush the dough with butter and refrigerate
- Combine and roll out the remaining 2 dough rounds
Filling (Cont.):
- Toss the drained apples with the instant tapioca, cinnamon, and lemon juice
- Arrange evenly over the pie dough-lined baking sheet
Crust (Cont.):
- Brush the edges of the bottom pie crust with water
- Arrange the top dough over the pie
- Use a knife to trim excess dough
- Use a fork to seal the edges and pierce the tops of the dough in 2-inch intervals
- Bake until the pie is golden brown or until 1 hour has past
- Transfer to wire rack and let it cool
Glaze:
- Simmer the reserved apple just from the filling in a saucepan over medium heat until reduced to ¼ cup (about 6 minutes)
- Stir in the lemon juice and butter and let it cool at room temperature
- Whisk in the powdered sugar
- Brush the glaze evenly over the warm pie
- Let the pie cool for 1 hour longer before serving
Enjoy with friends and family!