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Cranberry Walnut Apple Slab Pie is a favorite easy party dessert designed to feed apple pie to a crowd. Made using refrigerated pie crusts, fresh apples and dried cranberries, this Cranberry Walnut Apple Slab Pie is the ultimate deconstructed homemade apple pie perfect for holiday parties, family gatherings and any occasion you need lots of dessert to feed a crowd.
There are just some times when a simple homemade apple pie just won’t do. Not that there is ever anything wrong with homemade apple pie… ever! But when you have a hungry crowd of people that need to be fed, that cute little pie tin of Dutch apple pie isn’t going to go very far, is it? So how exactly do you feed apple pie to a crowd? How do you make sure that every hungry person at your party gets a crisp, tangy bite of your amazing streusel topped apple pie of happiness? Do you slave away in your kitchen, peeling apple after apple after apple and bake 6 apple pies in preparation of your guests arriving? Let me skip to the end of this narrative… that answer is NO! You do not bake apple pie after delicious apple pie .. you make things easy on yourself and treat you guests to an apple slab pie and more specifically, this Cranberry Walnut Apple Slab Pie. Problem solved.
WHAT IS AN APPLE SLAB PIE?
An apple slab pie is a huge deconstructed apple pie baked using a large 10×15 sheet pan called a jelly roll pan opposed to a traditional pie tin. Since you are spreading the apple pie ingredients out on a pan, you are able to serve up a sheet pan apple pie to feed the masses with the same amount of time and effort you would put into baking just one traditional apple pie.
WHAT APPLES ARE BEST FOR APPLE PIE?
I like a mixture of apples when it comes to making homemade apple pie filling. My favorite apples to use are Honeycrisp apples and Granny Smith apples but you can certainly use Gala, Fiji, Red Delicious and variety of others. Granny Smith apples are tangy and tart and Honeycrisp apples are firm and sweet and that is my perfect combination of apples when it comes to apple pie filling.
CAN I ADD A VANILLA DRIZZLE TO THIS APPLE SLAB PIE?
Um … heck yes!!! In a medium sized bowl, combine 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons of milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and once your icing is made, drizzle over the Cranberry Walnut Apple Slab Pie. If you want to get really crazy, try drizzling a bit of my Bourbon Salted Caramel Sauce on top too… you won’t be disappointed!
APPLE PIE FOR A CROWD?
So where exactly would you serve up an Cranberry Walnut Apple Slab Pie?
- Holiday parties
- Family reunions
- Fourth of July celebrations
- Thanksgiving dinner
- Kids birthday parties
- Fall gatherings
What I love most about this Cranberry Walnut Apple Slab Pie is how easy it is to make and how perfect it is for parties and feeding a large crowd. There is no extra work when transporting and serving up this apple pie because you simply bring your tray of apple happiness to your occasion, slice it and let the masses serve themselves. And when I say this Cranberry Walnut Apple Slab Pie serves a crowd, I am no kidding!! This sheet pan apple pie feeds dozens of people instead of the ususal 6 to 8 people from a regular homemade apple pie. That’s a whole lot of happy pie eating people with no extra work.
HOW DO YOU MAKE CRANBERRY WALNUT APPLE SLAB PIE?
Easy! To make this Cranberry Walnut Apple Slab Pie, remove the pie crusts from the packaging and lightly dust work surface with flour or work on a large glass cutting board. Unroll the crusts and stack on top of each other. Roll the crust out into a large rectangle approximately 18 x 12 large. Gently fold the dough in half and then move to a large jelly roll pan (larger than your average baking pan) lightly sprayed with non-stick spray. Carefully unfold the crust and gently lay out on the pan, pinching the edges as you go to make a crust. Move your pie crust sheet pan to the refrigerator to chill.
Next, work on the apple slab pie topping, Mix the sugars, oats, walnuts, flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and cut together using a fork or the tips of your fingers until you have a crumbly mix. Also move to the refrigerator to chill.
For your apple pie filling, mix together the sugar, brown sugar, flour, vanilla and seasonings together in a medium sized bowl, stir in the walnuts and cranberries and then set aside. Peel, core and thinly slice your apples and move to large mixing bowl. Squeeze the lemon over the apples and mix well. Pour the sugar mixture over the apples and toss to combine.
Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour the apple filling into the crust and lightly spread out into an even layer. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes. Check your pie after 20 minutes and if your crust is starting to brown, tent lighly with foil so that your crust doesn’t burn. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve topped with ice cream or whipped cream!
Looking for more easy apple desserts? Check out a few of my favorites below…
Enjoy!
CRANBERRY WALNUT APPLE SLAB PIE
Cranberry Walnut Apple Slab Pie
Ingredients
Crust
- 14 ounce box of refrigerated pie crusts
Topping
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cup quick oats
- 1/2 cup walnuts chopped
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter cold
Filling
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 1 /2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 7 large Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Gala apples peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups walnuts chopped
- 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
- Juice of one lemon
Instructions
Crust
- Remove the pie crusts from the packaging and lightly dust work surface with flour or work on a large glass cutting board. Unroll the crusts and stack on top of each other. Roll the crust out into a large rectangle approximately 18 x 12 large. Gently fold the dough in half and then move to a large jelly roll pan (larger than your average baking pan) lightly sprayed with non-stick spray. Carefully unfold the crust and gently lay out on the pan, pinching the edges as you go to make a crust. Move to the refrigerator to chill.
Topping
- Mix the sugars, oats, walnuts, flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and cut together using a fork or the tips of your fingers until you have a crumbly mix. Move to the refrigerator to chill.
Filling
- Mix together the sugar, brown sugar, flour, vanilla and seasonings together in a medium sized bowl, stir in the walnuts and cranberries and then set aside. Peel, core and thinly slice your apples and move to large mixing bowl. Squeeze the lemon over the apples and mix well. Pour the sugar mixture over the apples and toss to combine.
Assembly
- Remove the crust from the refrigerator and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour the apple filling into the crust and lightly spread out into an even layer. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes. Check your pie after 20 minutes and if your crust is starting to brown, tent lighly with foil so that your crust doesn't burn. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve topped with ice cream or whipped cream!
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