Easy Apple Pie Bars (Slab Pie Recipe) is a traditional dessert from Transylvania, Romania, baked in a jelly roll pan, cut in squares, and dusted with powdered sugar.
October is here, and apples are in season, which means it is time to bake an apple pie, Romanian style. I have to confess that writing this recipe, as easy as it looks like, kind of kicked my butt.
I always try to do the best work I can when bringing my own culture into the American one with my recipes. American apple pie is not the same as the Romanian version; therefore, I had to research and figure out how to name the pie.
Most Romanian pies are baked in trays, cut into squares, and served with powdered sugar on top. They look more like bars.However, it came out that the proper English term for this kind of pie is a slab pie.
What Is A Slab Pie
For those who do not know what a slab pie is: A slab pie is simply a shallow pie made in a rimmed baking sheet, usually a jelly roll pan. It feeds a crowd, and it takes less time to prepare, as you don't have to hand shape a bunch of pies.
However, as the slab pies are very traditional and standard in Romania and most Eastern European countries, I guess this is the right name for my recipe. This recipe comes from my German grandmother, who lived in Transylvania. The apple filling is slightly sweet and also cooked before assembling the pie.
We cook the apples first, with butter, sugar, and spices, until the apple juices are reduced to almost nothing. There is no cornstarch, flour, or other ingredients to thicken the filling. We sometimes add raisins and walnuts, as I did in this recipe. It is not mandatory, but that makes the pie delicious and different.
The slab pie can be filled with anything, farmer's cheese, apples, berries, quinces, or pumpkin. We take advantage of what fruits are in season and make a pie.
Ideal for Gatherings
These pies are excellent for potlucks, parties, and other events with lots of people. Call them rustic. I think this is a good word for them.
Ingredients Needed
Pie Crust:
- All-purpose flour: It is the standard flour for baked good, in general.
- Lard/cold unsalted butter: The original recipe requires pure lard, as this recipe might be 70-80 years old. If lard is not your thing, use cold unsalted butter. Salted butter is not an option, the crust will be too salty.
- Granulated sugar: Used to sweeten the crust.
- Salt: you need just a pinch of salt to enhance the flavors.
- Baking powder: Helps to make the crust more tender and flaky.
- Large egg
- Sour cream: Brings moisture and more fat.
The Crust Is Special: My grandmother writes on the recipe that you can use different combinations of liquids for the dough, so it could be any of the following versions:
- Six tablespoons wine
- One tablespoon rum (yum!) and five tablespoons water
- One tablespoon vinegar and five tablespoons water.
Basically, you have three versions of the same recipe that will taste slightly different. I tried all of them, but I loved the one with the wine. There is no alcohol left after you bake the pie, but the crust had a subtle taste which I liked a lot.
Apple Filling:
- Apples: any type you like, coarsely grated(use a food processor if you have)
- Granulated sugar
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Lemon juice
- Unsalted butter
- Raisins: Optional
- Chopped walnuts: Optional
- To finish: milk or egg beaten for glazing the surface of the pie and powdered sugar for sprinkling on the top.
How To Make The Slab Apple Pie
Step 1. Make the pie crust: You can make the dough by hand or use a food processor. Make your life easier if you can!
Step 2: Make the apple filling: Shred the apples of your choice, cook them with the spices, butter and sugar.
Step 3. Assemble the pie and bake.
(For full instructions and ingredients scroll to the bottom of the article for a full printable recipe card.)
Keep this pie refrigerated for up to a week. I do not recommend freezing it, unless you choose to freeze the unbaked crust and the unbaked, but cooked apples.
Serve the slab apple pie with coffee, tea, or your favorite beverage. It is a great recipe for parties, gatherings and during the holidays.
Pin This For Later:
Happy baking a delicious and awesome piece of my cultural heritage. Call it bars, slab pie, or placinta cu mere (in Romanian), and let me know what you think! See you next time!
More Recipes To Love
- Sweet Cheese Slab Pie
- Ham Cheese And Onion Puff Pastry Slab Pie
- Apple Pie- Romanian Style
- Baked Apple Rice Pudding
📖 Recipe
Easy Apple Pie Bars (Slab Pie Recipe)
Ingredients
Pie Crust:
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons lard/cold butter
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- Choose one option for the liquid:
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar + 5 tablespoons water
- OR 1 tablespoon rum plus 5 tablespoons water
- OR 6 tablespoons white wine
Apple filling:
- 2 pounds apples any type you like, coarsely grated(use a food processor if you have)
- 4-5 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Optional:
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- To finish: 2 tablespoons milk or 1 egg beaten
- 1-2 tablespoons of powdered sugar to sprinkle on top before serving
Instructions
Pie Crust:
- In a bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Cut in lard/butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Incorporate the egg and the sour cream.
- Add the liquid and incorporate. The recipe requires six tablespoons of liquid that can be: 1 tablespoon white vinegar + 5 tablespoons water, OR 1 tablespoon rum plus five tablespoons water, OR 1 tablespoon vinegar plus five tablespoon water. Use the combination of ingredients you have available.
- Shape dough into a ball; chill for 30 minutes.
- TIP: If you use a food processor, start the same, pulsing 1-2 times together flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Add lard/butter and pulse a few times until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg, sour cream, and liquid and pulse until a dough is formed. Shape it into a ball and chill for 30 minutes.
Apple Filling:
- Meanwhile, grate the apples. You can peel them first, but it is not necessary if, the apples are organic and don't have the skin waxed.
- In a large cooking pan, melt the butter and add the apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. Mix and cook the apples for about 10 minutes until the juices are reduced. Set aside to cool.
Assemble The Pie:
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease and flour the baking pan. Set aside.
- On a floured surface, divide the dough into two parts.
- Roll one piece of dough the size of the pan. Place it on the bottom of it.
- Add the apple filling and spread evenly.
- Roll the other half of the dough to the pan's size and cover the apples with it.
- To finish, brush the surface of the pie with milk or an egg wash.
- Use a fork to pinch the surface of the pie.
- Bake at 350/180C for about 45-50 minutes or until the top crust is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven, place the pan on a metal rack and let it cool for an hour.
- The traditional Romanian way is to sprinkle powdered sugar on top. It is served cut in squares.
Carrie LaFord says
Do you have a recipe for placinta?
I grew up Italian, my father was a musician and would play accordion at Romanian picnics in Michigan on Sundays. He would sometimes take us along. We learned to dance Romanian and loved eating the placinta, not sure if I’m spelling it correctly. It was long ago, but I believe them to be almost dough-nut like pastry filled with cheese and dill. Hope you know what I’m talking about. I would love to make them for my brother.
The Bossy Kitchen says
Hi Carrie, there are multiple ways to make the placinta(which by the way, you spelled right) with cheese. It could look like the apple recipe you commented on, but instead of apples you can do a mixture of cheese from ricotta and feta cheese with 1-2 eggs and some fresh dill. It would look like a slab pie. Another way to do it is to make this recipe:https://www.thebossykitchen.com/feta-black-caraway-pastries/
There is another type of placinta(usually made in the Romanian Moldova region), an yeast dough that is filled with cheese and dill, flattened and then cooked in the pan. I do not have a recipe like that on the blog yet, but I am working on it. However, if you Google for example Romanian cheese pie placinta, there are a bunch of recipes that might be helpful. Thank you though for visiting.:-)
Tatiana says
Hi,
You put an “Or” in the ingredients list and it should be an “and” or just nothing.
Best,
Tatiana
The Bossy Kitchen says
Hi Tatiana, Thanks for letting me know. I made a correction there. The dough requires 6 tablespoons of liquid that could be only white wine, or a combination of vinegar and water, or rum and water. Thanks again for noticing the glitch.
Maria says
Hi Tatiana, I’d like to make the slab pie with Filo dough so I think I need the Apple filling to be very thick how can I make it thicker do you just cook it till it’s very very thick? Thank you Maria
The Bossy Kitchen says
Hi! Gabriela here! You can follow the same recipe and use phyllo dough instead of the pie dough I made. I use phyllo dough this way very often too, so go ahead and try it!
Maria says
Hi Gabriella, I’m going to try it with the Philo thank you so much Maria
The Bossy Kitchen says
You are very welcome. Let me know if you liked it.
Claire says
Dough was very hard to roll out to fit into a 9x13 pan. The dough was more for an 8x8 or 9x9 or a pie pan.
The Bossy Kitchen says
Hi Claire, I am not sure why this happened to you. I make this pie in a 9x13 Pyrex pan and works just fine.
Claire says
@The Bossy Kitchen, It took alot of rolling and I finally got the dough rolled out to fit. I let my dough chill longer than 30 minutes. That might have been the reason!
Anyway--made the bars and they are really good. They are not sweet at all-which is a good thing. I can't handle a sickening sweet dessert. For those that think these might be too sugary or sweet - they are not. Not even with the powdered sugar on top.
How cool this recipe is to have been handed down from your Grandma!!
The Bossy Kitchen says
Yes, probably the dough was too cold and hard to roll. I am happy you liked the dessert. You are right, the bars are not very sweet, and I love cooking the apples before baking the pie. We make apple pie like that all the time and I love it. Happy holidays to you, Claire, and thank you for taking the time to write a review!
Miri says
Do you have a recipe to make the cake with farmer cheese instead of apples ? Thanks
The Bossy Kitchen says
I don't have a specific recipe for that, but you can try this Sweet cheese slab pie or Lemon Ricotta Cheese Cake .