Applejack Pie
Submitted by Immanuel
Applejack apple slab pie bakes 25 sliced tart apples with cinnamon and butter between a shortening pastry crust in a sheet pan, then drizzles with a sweet cream glaze. Crowd-feeding holiday pie.
YIELD
1 piePREP
20 minCOOK
50 minREADY
85 minThis is a slab pie, the kind that feeds a crowd on Thanksgiving without committing you to making four round pies. Twenty-five tart apples (think Granny Smith, Cortland, or Northern Spy), pile into a 12×18 sheet pan between two lattice-friendly crusts and come out feeding twenty.
The pastry uses shortening instead of butter, an old-school move that gives a flakier, more shatter-prone crust at the cost of some flavor. Cut the shortening in until the pieces are pea-sized; that uneven distribution is what creates the layered, bubbled flake when steam hits it in the oven.
A drizzled powdered-sugar glaze finishes the warm pie, the milky-sweet ribbons across golden lattice are what give applejack pie its name and Pennsylvania Dutch heritage.
Watch the crust around minute 35. If it’s browning faster than the apples are softening, drop the oven to 350°F (175°C) and tent loosely with foil.
Pro Tips
- Use a mix of tart apples for complexity. Granny Smith for sharpness, Honeycrisp or Braeburn for sweetness and structure that holds shape during the long bake.
- Toss the sliced apples with the sugar and cinnamon and let them sit 15 minutes before filling. That maceration draws out excess juice you can drain off, preventing a soupy pie.
- Cool 15 minutes, glaze while still warm. The glaze sets into a thin, slightly cracked sheen instead of melting away.
- Cut into squares, not wedges. Slab pie wants a square serving knife, not a pie server.
Variations
- Add a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg or a tablespoon of bourbon to the apple filling for depth.
- Stir a handful of dried cranberries into the apples for tart pops.
- Use butter in the pastry instead of shortening for richer, flavor-forward crust at the expense of some flake.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃).
Mix flour and salt in large mixing bowl.
With pastry blender, cut in shortening until particles are pea-sized.
Sprinkle with milk, a little at a time, mixing with fork until all flour is moistened.
Gather dough together and press firmly into a ball.
Roll out half dough to fit bottom of 12×18 pan, allowing for sides.
Mix all filling ingredients together and pour into pastry shell.
Roll out remaining dough, cut air vents, and place on tip.
Crimp bottom and top crusts together and bake for 50 minutes.
If crust is browning too fast and apples aren’t cooked, reduce heat to 350℉ (180℃) and continue baking until done.
Cool about 15 minutes and then glaze.
Make glaze by mixing ingredients thoroughly, adding just enough cream to make thin frosting.
Drizzle over wark applejack.
Comments




where is the applejack in this recipe?