"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." -- Carl Sagan
The late astronomer, Carl Sagan said it correctly, especially if you are to make homemade apple pies for my church family of 300! I think Mr. Sagan was talking about something very brainy and cosmic rather than edible pies, but I really like this quote by him.
Last week, my dear friend, Leigh, sent me a link for this
Old-fashioned Apple Slab and said she thought of me and the church. It totally got me excited, especially since I have been wanting so badly to make some apple pies for my beloved church family. Well now with these easy and delicious apple slab pies, I wouldn't have to create the universe first after all!
For the crust, we multiplied
Fran's Never Fail Pie Crust recipes by 8 to create 8-double crusts for the half sheet pans (16x12x1), your jelly roll pans will be smaller.
Then to add a bit of sweetness and texture, I added ground up animal crackers during rolling out the dough.
Massive amount of dough was divided into flat 16 rectangular dough blocks and chilled well in the refrigerator. Then it was time to roll these babies out. Sprinkle flour and ground animal cracker crumbs generously on the parchment paper, center it on the paper and begin rolling the dough out: from center, outward.
Thinly rolled out dough can be stacked on a full size cookie sheet and refrigerated (or frozen until needed). Chill while you are working on rolling out the rest of the dough if making large amount.
Take the chilled dough sheet and flip it over the shallow baking pan you are using. It's quite easy to handle this massive dough when you use parchment. Peel off the parchment paper gently.
Trim access dough with scissors and fold and tuck the dough on the edge of the sheet pan, you may need some patch work on the corners. Using your finger, lightly apply water and add pieces of dough where you need it. This can be done days ahead: cover well with plastic wrap and freeze until ready to assemble.
Gala and Granny Smith apples were used for filling. We didn't peel Galas to add some color and texture in the filling. Also, it cut down on our labor since we had to core/peel 45 pounds of apples.
And note these apples in the photo. They were cored and and peeled two days prior to assembling and baking. A little tip on keeping cut apples from turning brown: quick dip in salt water solution (2 cups of water : 1 1/2 teaspoon table salt) will keep them from turning brown for days.
Thank you, my BFF for this tip!
Adding tapioca ensured that filling wouldn't be too runny.
Toss sugar, cinnamon, fresh lemon juice and tapioca with sliced apples. Then layer the apples on prepared pans.
The second sheet of chilled dough is topped, trimmed, then gently sealed together. Use fork tines to crimp and seal the two layers. Use a paring knife to cut some vent holes. Brush the tops with egg white, sprinkle with granulated sugar, then bake.
What glorious, shiny crusts with sturdy and most wonderful flavor of apples! And I just loved how it cut so cleanly, too. Drizzle with apple glaze and grab two forks and share it with your best friend.
We will be making these pies for my church family again....for sure.
Apple Slab Pie with Apple Glaze
Yields generous 20 pieces
Pie
1 1/2 cups animal crackers (about 4 oz), processed to coarse crumbs
1 recipe of
Fran's Never Fail Pie Crust (or your favorite double pie crust recipe)
8 Granny Smith apples (about 3 1/2 pounds), peeled, cored, thinly sliced
8 Gala apples (about 3 1/2 pounds), cored, thinly sliced (peeling, optional)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, extra for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons Minute Tapioca
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg white for brushing top crust
Glaze
3-4 tablespoon, frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1. Divide the dough into two pieces. Shape each piece of crust into a rectangle, cover, and chill for an hour. Take the first piece of pastry out of the fridge, and put it on a floured parchment paper on top of work surface. Generously sprinkle with animal cracker crumbs. Roll it into a large rectangle a bit larger than your pan you are using. Trim the dough to fit the pan and patch the corners with access dough if needed
2. Take the second chilled dough, sprinkle with animal cracker crumbs and roll the dough out on well floured parchment paper. Chill both prepared pan and top crust in the refrigerator while preparing apples. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Core, peel, and slice apples. Toss apples in a large bowl with sugar, salt, cinnamon, tapioca, and lemon juice.
4. Layer the apples in the prepared pan. Lay the top crust over and trim access dough. Press the edges together, then use fork to crimp and seal outside edge of pie, then to pierce top of pie at 2-inch intervals. Brush top with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until pie is golden brown and juices are bubbling, about 1 hour. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 1 hour.
5. For glaze, stir with a fork, confectioners' sugar and apple juice concentrate until well combined. Drizzle glaze evenly over warm pie. Let pie cool completely, at least 1 hour longer. Serve.
Make Ahead Tips:
Days/weeks ahead: Make pie dough, roll the bottom dough out and fit it in pan, cover well and freeze. For top dough, roll it out on parchment paper, lay on cookie sheet, cover well with plastic and freeze until needed.
Up to three days ahead: core and peel apples, dip in salt water solution (2 cups water : 1 1/2 teaspoon table salt. drain in colander, do not rinse, and store in zip lock baggies and refrigerate until ready to slice.
1 day prior: The pie can be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving
NOTE: If your pie crust misbehaves and gets too sticky to work with, don't fight it, stop and REFRIGERATE it! Chilled dough is always easier to work with!
