Somewhere between bars, a cobbler, and a pie – this particular slab pie has a shortbread crust and no sides.  This might be the best apple pie I have made to date.  Although, it is nothing like a traditional apple pie, and its obscene amounts of butter make it an indulgent treat that I am unlikely to make again anytime soon – it was soooo… SOOOO… GOOOOOOOOD…     ….and pretty to look at…

Cran-Apple Slab Pie

This recipe makes about 18 servings (~36 smaller servings), and is best if served with vanilla ice-cream.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Butter + 1/2 cups Butter (3 sticks total)
• 1 1/2 cups Flour + 1 cup Flour + 1/2 cup Flour (3 cups total)
• 1 tsp Salt + 1/2 tsp Salt (less if you are using salted butter)
• 1/2 cup Confectionary Sugar + 1/2 cup Confectionary Sugar
• 8 – 10 Apples – peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 tbsp Cornstarch
• 1 cup fresh Cranberries
• 1 cup Gingerbread-Caramel 

Direction:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grease a 9″ x 13″ baking dish.
3. In a food processor combine: 1 cup butter, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup confectionery sugar.
4. Remove the dough from the food processor and roll it out to about 1/4′ thickness.
5. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes for the top of the pie.  I settled on a woodland theme for this particular pie – fawns, trees, squirrels, and bunnies. Cut just enough shapes to cover most of the top of the pie, the remaining dough will be used for the shortbread bottom.
6. In the food processor combine: 1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup butter.
7. Add 1/2 cup confectionary sugar, and pulse until the sugar is fully combined with the butter and flour.
8. Add the remaining dough to the food processor and continue to pulse and combine.
9. Add the final 1/2 cup flour.  The dough should be crumbly.
10. Dump the shortbread dough into the bottom of the baking dish.
11. Cover the bottom of the dish with the shortbread crumbs and press together lightly.  You want to make sure that the entire bottom of the dish is covered and the liquid will not seep down, but you also do not want to press down so hard that it messes with the texture of the shortbread.
12. Coat the apples in the cornstarch.
13. Layer the apples into the baking dish.
14. Add the cranberries.
15. Pour the gingerbread-caramel over top.  If you do not want to mess with the caramel you can toss the apples in 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp allspice, and 1/2 tsp cloves before layering the apples in.
16. Arrange the cut dough on top of the apples and cranberries.
17. Bake the pie for 10 minutes before reducing the heat to 350 degrees.
18. Bake for another 50-60 minutes.