Apple Slab Pie (Cook's Country)

Unlike a traditional apple pie, a slab pie is prepared in a baking sheet and can feed up to 20 people. Its filling is thickened to ensure neat slicing, and it’s topped with a sugary glaze. Rolling out the dough to cover both the bottom and top of this mammoth pie can be problematic, but store-bought crusts proved sturdier than homemade. Gluing two crusts together with water and then rolling the dough into a large rectangle allowed us to get the crust into the large pan without a tear. To improve the bland flavor of the pie crust, we rolled it in crushed animal crackers, which contributed a sweet and buttery flavor to the crust. Flour helped thicken our apple filling, but the result was too pasty. Cornstarch made the filling slimy, but tapioca thickened it well without making it starchy. An 18 by 13-inch nonstick baking sheet is preferred; if using a conventional sheet pan, coat it lightly with cooking spray.

• Ready In: 2 hrs
• Serves: 18

Ingredients

• Pie

• 8  granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin (about 3 1/2 pounds)
• 8  golden delicious apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin (about 3 1/2 pounds)
• 1 1⁄2 cups granulated sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 lb  animal crackers (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 (15 ounce) boxes  pillsbury ready to roll  pie crusts
• 4  tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 6  tablespoons minute tapioca
• 2  teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3  tablespoons lemon juice

• Glaze

• 2  tablespoons lemon juice
• 1  tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1⁄4 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Toss apples, 1 cup sugar, and salt in colander set over large bowl. Let sit, tossing occasionally, until apples release their juices, about 30 minutes. Press gently on apples to extract liquid and reserve 3/4 cup juice (any excess may be discarded).
2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees F. Pulse animal crackers and remaining sugar in food processor until finely ground. Dust work surface with cracker mixture. Brush half of one pastry disc with water, overlap with second pastry disc, and dust top with more cracker mixture. Roll out dough to 19 by 14 inches and transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Brush dough with butter and refrigerate; roll out top crust in the same way.
3. Toss drained apples with tapioca, cinnamon, and lemon juice and arrange evenly over bottom crust, pressing lightly to flatten. Brush edges of bottom crust with water, and arrange top crust on pie. Press crusts together and use a paring knife to trim any excess dough, leaving a 1/2" rim of pastry; fold pastry under itself and tuck into rim of baking sheet. Use fork to crimp and seal outside edge of pie, then pierce top of pie at 2-inch intervals with fork. Bake until pie is golden brown and juices are bubbling, about 1 hour. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 1 hour.
4. For the glaze: While pie is cooling, simmer 3/4 cup apple juice (which you reserved in step 1) in saucepan over medium heat until syrupy and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 6 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and butter and let cool to room temperature. Whisk in confectioners' sugar and brush glaze evenly over warm pie. Let pie cool completely, at least 1 hour longer. Cut into thirds lengthwise, and into sixths widthwise, making 18 pieces each about 4"x3".
5. Make Ahead: The pie can be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.