A standard apple pie serves eight people, 10 if you’re skimping a little, but when you need apple pie to feed a crowd, an apple slab pie baked in a jelly roll pan or a rectangular dish allows you to portion the pie into squares. This recipe uses quick-roll pastry, so you can assemble the pie and get it into the oven faster than a traditional apple pie.

Ingredients for Apple Slab Pie

4.4 lb (2 kg) tart apples (such as Honeycrisp or Granny Smith), peeled, cored and sliced
¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
2 Tbsp (18 g) all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp (30 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp (15 mL) Grand Marnier (optional)
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg

For the crumble
1 cup (100 g) regular rolled oats
⅓ cup (50 g) all-purpose flour
⅓ cup (70 g) packed light brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
6 Tbsp (90 g) unsalted butter, diced and softened slightly

Assembly and glaze
1 recipe quick-roll pastry (store-bought or your fave recipe)
1 cup (130 g) icing sugar
2 Tbsp (30 mL) Grand Marnier or milk

Directions for Apple Slab Pie

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
  2. For the apples, in a mixing bowl, toss the apples with the sugar, flour, lemon juice, Grand Marnier (if using), cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
  3. For the crumble, in a separate mixing bowl, stir the oats, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add the butter and use a pastry blender or two butter knives to cut in the butter until the mixture becomes a crumbly texture. Set aside.
  4. To assemble, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry into a rectangle just larger than a shallow 10 × 15-inch (25 × 38 cm) jelly roll sheet pan or similarly sized ceramic dish. Line the ungreased pan with the pastry and trim and pinch the edges as you would a pie shell (but there will be less pastry to pinch). Spread the apples over the pastry in an even layer and sprinkle the oat crumble on top.
  5. Bake the pie for about 45 minutes, until the apples are bubbling at the edges of the pan and the pastry and crumble are a rich golden brown. Cool the pie on a cooling rack for at least an hour before glazing.
  6. For the glaze, in a bowl, whisk the icing sugar and Grand Marnier (or milk) and use your whisk or a fork to drizzle this over the pie. The pie can be served warm, at room temperature or chilled.

Tip:
Short on space to roll a large single piece of pastry for the base? You can break the dough into two pieces and roll each to fit half of the pan, overlapping slightly in the middle. Because you are cutting the pie into squares, no one will see or notice this seam.

Note:
The pie will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to three days.

Excerpted from Anna Cooks by Anna Olson. Copyright © 2025 Anna Olson. Photographs by Janis Nicolay. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.