Apple Pie Squares for a Crowd

Thanksgiving is this week and I'm usually the pie-and-hot roll girl when it comes to divvying up the meal duties.  I make two standard pumpkin pies for the adults, one egg-free and dairy-free pumpkin pie for the allergic ones and one big slab apple pie good for everyone.  I first had apple pie squares like this at the Flour House Bakery when I worked in Sanford, Maine.  That bakery single-handedly sustained me through my second pregnancy!  When we moved back to Michigan, I was pleased to find a similar treat in my mother-in-law's baking repertoire.

The crust is a triple-batch of my standard recipe found in my 1936 copy of the Boston Cooking School Cook Book.  The recipe barely makes enough to roll out for the top and bottom crust.  Although having to roll the crust out super-thin is a bit of a hassle, especially with a crumbly crust, in the end this is a good thing, trust me.  The wonderful thing about this recipe is the delicate and thin crust.  The crust is very forgiving also, for the bottom crust I actually roll it out in the pan with a mini roller and just press it up the sides.  The top crust is so thin that it always falls apart during the transfer.  Don't stress, just patch up the top as best you can.  The broken crust kind of bakes together in the end and gets covered by the glaze anyway.

For the filling, I love using northern spy, but any combination of macintosh, ida red, golden delicious, jonathan will work. Sorry about the inexact measurements on the filling, but that is what makes this so fun.  I usually slice up 10-15 or so apples, enough to pile up to the rim of the baking sheet.  I sprinkle on 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar, depending on how tart my apples are, sprinkle the cinnamon and a few dashes of vanilla.  It makes me feel like a rogue, a non-type-A, come-what-may kinda gal. Ha, keep dreaming.

Waiting for the pie to cool!

Dairy-Free and Egg-Free Apple Pie Squares

Crust


4 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups frozen shortening (butter flavored Crisco is reportedly dairy-free)
Ice water (about 1/2 cup)


1.)  Crust really is a pain in the butt.  I've probably made a hundred pies and I still doubt myself every time.  I now make crust with my food processor, but it is very easy to make a gloppy mess with it, especially when adding water.
2.)  Pulse the flour and salt together in the food processor or whisk together in a large bowl if making by hand.
3.) Add half the shortening and pulse 8-10 times.  Add the other half and pulse another 8-10 times.  If making by hand, cut the shortening in and blend well with a pastry blender.
4.)  Now comes the water part.  I hate the water part. Add too little and crust is crumbly and impossible to roll out.  Add too much and it is a gummy tough mess, impossible to fix. It is alway better to under-water, you can fix that.
5.)  If you are new to crust-making, it is safer to dump the dough into large bowl to add water by hand, but you can do it in the food processor if you're careful. Take the lid off the food processor and sprinkle 1/4 cup of water on the dough, mix it around the bowl with a spoon.  Replace the lid, give it a few pulses and check the dough by pinching it between your fingers.  If it seems crumbly add another 2-4 T of water, stir around with a spoon, give it a few pulses and see where you are at. Don't over pulse!
6.)  Divide the dough in 2 blobs, wrap in plastic wrap and shape into flat disks.  Freeze until needed.


Filling the Pie


1.)  Roll out half the dough and press into and up the edges of a 13 x 18 inch jelly roll pan.
2.) Peel and thinly slice 10-15 apples into the pan.  I have a cool peeler-corer-slicer for this task.  Add enough apples to fill the pan completely, up to the pan edge.
3.) Sprinkle cinnamon over the apples, about 1-2 teaspoons to taste.
4.) Sprinkle sugar over the apples, about 1 cup.
5.) Sprinkle some vanilla over the apples, 1-2 teaspoons.
6.) Roll out the second half of the crust, very thinly, and place over the apples. Seal the edges the best you can. Cut steam holes in the top.
7.)  Put the whole pan in the freezer while oven preheats to 375.
8.)  Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling bubbles in the center.
9.) Cool a bit before glazing.


Glaze


Juice from 1/2 lemon
Powdered sugar


1.)  Mix enough powdered sugar into the juice to make it honey-thick.
2.)  Drizzle over the crust in a rogue, non-type-A, come-what-may manner.