Make Rimmed Baking Sheet Fruit Pie to Serve 20
When baking for a large group, consider scaling up to a slab pie. You can even use the same crust and filling as for a regular 9-inch pie—just bigger batches of them.
Does anyone ever tire of pie? We sure don’t. We love berry pies in the summer, apple pies in the fall, mince pies in the winter, and rhubarb pies in the spring. Plus every other pie you can think of practically any time of the year.
But the next time you find yourself baking pie for a party, put down the pie plate.
Instead, try your hand at making the biggest (and possibly easiest) pie of them all—slab pie.
Slab pie is essentially an enormous, shallow, rectangular pie made in an 18 by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet. Since it serves up to 20—more than twice the amount as a regular 9-inch pie—it’s great for feeding a crowd. Cutting it into squares makes for neat serving. You can even get a convenient sheet lid for easy transport.
Due to the shallow depth of the baking sheet, slab pies have less filling than those baking in a pie pan. Most are double-crusted—which makes them perfect for people who love crust, since there is a higher proportion of crust to filling. Even better, the top crust acts as a big canvas, so you can get creative when decorating the top.
Because there is more buttery crust than in a normal pie, we particularly love slab pies with bright fruit fillings, but almost any filling will work. Experiment on your own (keep in mind you’ll need 1½ batches of filling designed for a 9-inch pie). Or try our recipes for a streusel or key lime slab pie.
You can use a recipe for slab pie dough, or convert any of your favorite 9-inch double-crust fruit pie doughs (you’ll need 2 batches).
1. Make 2 batches of your favorite double-crust pie dough (we highly recommend our Foolproof All-Butter Dough for Double-Crust Pie) and shape them into 4 by 6-inch rectangles. Refrigerate each until firm.
2. Roll 1 dough piece into a large rectangle and fit into a large rimmed baking sheet. Refrigerate while making filling.
3. Prepare 1½ batches of your favorite fruit pie filling recipe, shooting for 7 to 8 cups. Spread filling into the dough-lined sheet.
4. Roll the remaining piece of dough into a rectangle and place over filling. Run rolling pin over edges to trim, then crimp edges with fork.
5. Cut slits at 2-inch intervals. To make an easy approximation of a lattice top, instead of cutting small slits in the top crust, use a 1¼-inch cookie cutter (the lid of a spice jar will also work) to cut holes at 3-inch intervals before transferring it to the pie. Bake at 350 degrees on the lower-middle rack until the crust is golden brown, 1 to 1¼ hours.
