Okay so, if you asked me—like, if you just walked up and said “hey, what’s the most classic American dessert?”—I mean, it’s gotta be apple pie, right? I feel like that’s not even up for debate. It’s just… the one. Apples, cinnamon, sugar, flaky crust—warm, comforting. Smells like someone’s kitchen in the fall, or Thanksgiving, or like… just a good day. It’s one of those desserts where you are not really a dessert person, but still want to have a bite of it.
Now, the manner is that traditional round pie pan—you know, where you kinda have to slice out wedges and the filling gets all congealed. Someone gets a crustless piece and it just gets awkward. So here we have a recipe for apple pie that’s really a different format. Same flavor, same vibe. But baked flat. Like, on a sheet pan, and then plop it down to cut. Baked flat. It’s called apple slab pie. To be honest, I didn’t even know apple slab pie was a thing until early this year. Now I’m mildly obsessed with it.
So the Smells Like Home came up with this recipe, or maybe not invented it exactly, I don’t know, but they have a recipe for it and it’s solid. And it still has all the ingredients you’d want in a classic apple pie. Let me tell you, you are not going to miss any flavor here. It’s not like one of those knock-off “quick” ones that taste like misery. This one has the same sweet, cinnamon-y filling, buttery crust, all of it. Just… made in a way that makes actual sense when you’re feeding more than, I don’t know, four people at the same time.
Because can we just admit, round pies are adorable. But then you’re at holiday dinners or big family functions, and people are grabbing dessert at different times. You try to cut around the crust in a neat way. Now everyone is a confused mess? Slab pie, you just cut it into squares—like brownie style—and people can help themselves. No more fighting for the corners. No weirdly sized pieces. Just clean little squares. And, also, much easier leftovers to pack up. If there are leftovers. (Doubtful.)
Honestly, it kind of feels like someone said “Hey, what if pie but in reasonable, size?” Like, unless you are a total crust person (and I am), it has a lot more crust per bite, plus it is easier to serve. Look nice, or let people grab and take hunks of it with their hands; no judgment here.
I also think this could be very ideal for potlucks and work functions. Where people are expecting you to bring something homemade. And you don’t really have energy to really build a whole desert from Pinterest. Honestly, it also looks impressive, but you can totally pull it off. Feels homey, but you could probably convince someone that you had built a ‘rustic tart’ if you wanted it to be fancy.
If you’re really going to make this—and you should—there is a whole recipe on Smells Like Home that shows you step-by-step how to do it. They go through pretty much everything: ingredients, crust, how to actually layer the filling so it doesn’t get soggy, etc… One of those recipes that looks like a lot at first glance, but once you begin it all kind of just flows after that. You make the dough, roll it out to fit the sheet, pile the apples on, toss on the top crust. It is not harder to make than your more traditional pie; it is just… shaped differently… but somehow for me, it feels more casual?!
In any case, it is one of those things that you can have in the back of your mind to bust out the next time someone asks you “can you bring dessert?” and you don’t want to revert to cookies. You get that same warm fuzzy apple pie feeling, but without the added stress of how to slice it or presenting it. You literally just cut, serve, done!
Happy baking—and if this ends up being the dessert everyone is talking about all night long, don’t be surprised—it’s that good.
