Everything you love about cherry pie, baked in a sheet pan! One cherry slab pie easily yields 18-24 slices, so it's perfect for sharing with friends.
You might also like our apple slab pie, blackberry pie, or fresh strawberry pie.
Watch our step by step video!
Cherry SLAB PIE
Cherry slab pie is absolutely delicious, and it’s sturdy enough to pick up a slice with your hands, although I prefer eating it with a fork. Slab pie is easier to serve than a regular pie and says fresh for up to 3 days, so it makes great leftovers.
I make my slab pies in a 10×15″ jelly roll pan. This is a great all-around size. It's smaller than the half-sheet baking pans that I typically use but easier to work with when rolling out the dough. You can turn any pie recipe into a slab pie by doubling your favorite two-crust pie crust recipe and making about 1 ½ batches of pie filling. Make sure to follow my tips and tricks for achieving a perfectly baked crust (top and bottom).
WHAT MAKES THIS RECIPE A KEEPER
Basic ingredients: My pie crust recipe is a keeper, a variation of my favorite pie crust recipe from Betty Crocker. It uses shortening, butter, and oil for the best texture and flavor. You can make your cherry pie filling from scratch, but cherries are expensive and not in season where I live. Storebought pie filling works great.
The crust is forgiving: Not great at making pie crust? That’s ok. Slab pie tastes delicious regardless, and because it’s made with a combination of shortening, oil, and butter, it’s a little easier to roll out than an all-butter pie crust. Do your best to roll it into a rectangular shape, but just know that once it’s baked up, the golden top and bubbly filling will hide imperfections.
Feeds a crowd: One jelly roll pan of slab pie yields 18-24 slices.
Stays fresh for several days: Mine have been kept for at least 3 days, making this a great dessert to make the night before you need it.
TIPS FOR BAKING SLAB PIE CRUST
Fruit pies, if not baked properly, can end up with an underbaked bottom crust or one that goes soggy after a few hours—don’t ask me how I know. This is because fruit fillings break down during baking and leak juice. Having a properly thickened filling (using flour) and making sure your crust is baked properly is key. This is especially important with slab pie because it has a large surface area. Here are 5 tips for perfectly baked pie crust:
Use Crust Dust: I first learned about the miracle of CRUST DUST from King Arthur Flour. It’s super easy to make, too! Crust dust is a 1:1 ratio of all-purpose flour and sugar. You simply mix the two ingredients together, then sprinkle it over the bottom crust in a THIN layer before adding the pie filling. As the pie bakes, the flour and sugar create a barrier, preventing the juices from soaking into the crust. It really works, too, and once baked, you won’t even know it’s there.
Bake In Bottom ⅓ of Oven: Baking the pie lower in the oven (I bake on the second-to-bottom rack position) helps the bottom crust to bake evenly.
Use a Baking Stone: I swear by baking my pies on top of a preheated baking stone (pizza stone). If you don’t have one, that’s ok! The first two tips will still yield a delicious crust. The baking stone just helps center the heat evenly for the bottom crust.
Use a Metal Pan: Metal pie pans work better than glass for a golden bottom crust.
Don’t Worry About Overbaking Your Pie: yep, that’s what I said. It’s better to slightly overbake the crust vs. to underbake. I bake my slab pies at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then loosely cover with foil for another 20-25 minutes. Covering the pie for the last half of the baking process will help the top not get too brown. And a tip for making fruit pies: if the filling isn’t bubbling up and almost coming out of the pie, it’s not done!
CHERRY SLAB PIE INGREDIENTS
Scroll to the end of the post for a printable recipe card
PIE CRUST
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 ¼ cup shortening
- ½ cup COLD butter (I use salted), cut into small cubes
- 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Filling
- 3 (21 oz.) cans of cherry pie filling
CRUST DUST
- 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
EGG WASH
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 Tbsp. water
HOW TO MAKE A CHERRY SLAB PIE
-
Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening using a pastry cutter. Cut in butter until the particles are the size of small peas.
- Combine milk and lemon juice together in a small bowl.
- Add oil and milk/lemon mixture to the flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms. You may need to use your hands to form the mixture into a dough.
- Divide the dough into two equal portions. Flatten into a disc and wrap with plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, place it on the oven rack to preheat.
- Roll pie crust on a lightly floured surface. Keep rolling until it is a 13×18″ rustic-looking rectangle. It won’t be exact, and that’s ok.
- Place the rectangle into a 10×15″ jelly roll pan, allowing the excess to hang over the edge of the pan.
- Sprinkle crust dust over the pie crust bottom.
- Spread cherry pie filling over the bottom crust.
- Roll the second crust out into a rustic-looking 13×18″ rectangle.
- Place on top of the pie.
- Fold the edges of the top and bottom crust back and tuck into the pan.
- Use your fingers to pinch and crimp the edges of the pie (or use a fork to crimp).
- Cut slits into the top of the pie to allow steam to vent while baking.
- Brush the crust lightly with egg wash then sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake slab pie for 30 minutes.
- Cover/tent loosely with foil and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes.
- The top should be GOLDEN and the filling should be bubbling.
- Allow the pie to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.
Storage: Store leftover pie in the pan, covered with plastic wrap to keep fresh for up to 3 days.
Baking Sheets: I only bake on light-colored baking sheets. If you bake on dark sheets, you may need to adjust the baking time.
Cherry Slab Pie Recipe
Cherry Slab Pie
Ingredients
PIE CRUST
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 ¼ cup shortening
- ½ cup COLD butter cut into small cubes
- 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
CHERRY FILLING
- 3 21 oz. cans cherry pie filling
CRUST DUST
- 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
EGG WASH
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 Tbsp. water
Instructions
- Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening and butter until the particles are the size of small peas.
- Combine milk and lemon juice together in a small bowl.
- Add oil and milk/lemon mixture to the flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms. You may need to use your hands to form the mixture into a dough.
- Divide the dough into two equal portions. Flatten into a disc and wrap with plastic. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, place it on the oven rack to preheat.
- Roll pie crust on a lightly floured surface. Keep rolling until it is a 13x18" rustic-looking rectangle (about ⅛" thick).
- Place the rectangle into a 10x15" jelly roll pan, allowing the excess to hand over the edge of the pan.
- Sprinkle crust dust (a combination of 2 Tbsp. sugar and 2 Tbsp. flour) over the pie crust bottom.
- Pour cherry filling over the bottom crust.
- Roll the second crust out into a rustic-looking 13x18" rectangle.
- Place on top of the pie.
- Fold the edges of the top and bottom crust back and tuck into the pan.
- Use your fingers to pinch and crimp the edges of the pie (or use a fork to crimp).
- Cut slits into the top of the pie to allow steam to vent while baking.
- Brush the crust lightly with egg wash then sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake slab pie for 30 minutes.
- Cover/tent loosely with foil and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes.
- The top should be GOLDEN and the filling should be bubbling.
- Allow the pie to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Brandy says
I make slab pies to donate to the local homeless resource center. They are always a hit, and I especially like making this cherry one since the filling is easy (store-bought) and the crust stays fresh for several days, so I can make it in advance.