Apple Squares

Apple pie bars, apple bars, apple slab pie, French apple squares, or simply apple squares, this large, rectangular format adaptation of the classic apple pie is literally a crowd pleaser serving anywhere from two to three times the number of people as a standard 9″ inch pie. Just like a traditional apple pie, this recipe nestles tender, sweet, warmly spiced apples and thick gooey syrup into a flaky, buttery crust. Unlike its parent pastry, apple squares are commonly topped with a glaze, providing a beautiful finish and a extra layer of sweetness and hint of vanilla. Apple squares have been a staple at our family holiday meals for at least three generations, with each generation putting their own spin on the classic dessert.

This is really more of a method than a recipe – as far as I could tell, neither grandma nor mom wrote down a recipe for apple squares and, until now, neither had I! I have vague memories of helping grandma make her raisin studded version of apple squares when I was very young, and many clearer memories of enjoying them every Christmas – they were definitely one of my favorite desserts that grandma made. Later, I remember helping mom make her version – she eschewed the raisins in favor of dried cranberries which added a sweet-tart element to the flavor profile. For a long time, mom made both an apple pie and the apple squares for Christmas dinner. When I started making my own holiday meals, it took me a few years to settle on the recurring items for my menus – I landed on an apple pie for Thanksgiving and apple squares for Christmas. For my version of apple squares, I continued to use dried cranberries in the filling, but I replaced the vanilla glaze with an apple cider caramel glaze instead.

Despite the fact that she never recorded her recipe, mom’s apple squares were amazingly consistent from year to year. Tender, flaky crust, sweet-tart, gooey, cranberry-studded apple filling and a thick layer of vanilla glaze to top it off. I know, logically, that they could not be exactly the same every year, I never saw her actually measure the filling or glaze ingredients – she did it all by look, feel and instinct – but I will tell you, they always tasted exactly the way I remembered. I think that is one reason why we have, over the course of time and generations, made changes to the “recipe” – trying to recreate exactly what mom (or grandma) had made was doomed to disappoint. Over the years mom’s version became a special favorite of my oldest nephew and was one of the treats she made especially for him. After he passed away, the thought of making apple squares became more bitter than sweet and she could no longer bring herself to make them.

When she was still making it, this was one of the few desserts for which mom continued to make a from-scratch pie crust. This was simple necessity – unfortunately, you are not going to find a pre-made crust that is not round on most grocery store shelves. If you are looking for a semi-homemade or shortcut option for the crust, you may have luck finding a boxed mix for pie crust in the grocery stores – Betty Crocker, Jiffy, King Arthur and Williams Sonoma all have boxed pie crust mixes (depending on the boxed mix you will need either two or four boxes). Otherwise, simply use your favorite homemade pie crust recipe and make enough for four standard 9″ pies – I use two and a half times my Basic Pie Crust recipe when I make this.

If you’d like some filling ideas that help get your apple squares in the oven a bit faster, you do have some options. First, the pre-cooked apple pie filling I use can be made well in advance (up to a week, or longer if you can or freeze the filling). Alternatively, you can take grandma’s and mom’s approach and use a raw apple mixture to fill the crust (the apples will get plenty of time to cook down in the oven – see the recipe notes for a quick recipe for this option). Finally, you can used canned apple pie filling – but, if you do, I would recommend that you add a touch of salt, a bit more spice (cinnamon and nutmeg at least, maybe a touch of allspice and/or cloves) and a generous amount of raisins or dried cranberries (I would recommend rehydrating them so they don’t absorb too much moisture from the filling).

If you prefer a more traditional/classic vanilla glaze like grandma and mom made, I would recommend the vanilla glaze included in mom’s Cinnamon Braid (aka Coffee Cake Braid or Ring) recipe. I would say that a light drizzle is probably more traditional and a single batch of the glaze will suffice for that. But, if you want to do as mom did, you’ll need enough for good thick layer of glaze covering the entire surface of the dessert, in which case you’ll want to at least double the glaze recipe.

Apple Squares

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Sweet apples, tart cranberries and warm spices make this classic slab-pie a long time family favorite. This dessert spans multiple generations with my grandmother, my mother and I all putting our own spin on it.

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Prep Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Cooling/Chilling Time 4 hours hrs

Servings: 24

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Calories: 564

Equipment Ingredients Method Notes Nutrition

Equipment

• ▢
  10″x15″ sheet pan with sides
• ▢
  larger sheet pan (to catch drips)
• ▢
  rolling pin

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x4x

Crust:

• ▢ 2 ½ Basic Pie Crust or 4x your favorite standard 9″ pie crust recipe
• ▢ 15 ml milk, cream or egg wash

Filling:

• ▢ 4 kg Caramel Apple Pie Filling cranberry variation (or your favorite apple pie filling)

Glaze:

• ▢ 80 ml Salted Caramel Sauce Apple Cider Caramel variation, room temperature
• ▢ 60 ml apple cider or juice, room temperature
• ▢ 10 ml vanilla
• ▢ 320 g powdered sugar
• ▢ ¼ tsp fine salt

Method

 

Cook Mode Cook Mode

 

Assembling the crust and filling:

1. When making your pie crust, instead of forming the dough into disks, form it into two rectangles, wrap in plastic and chill for at least a couple of hours before using. (I like to make my two rectangles slightly uneven, using the larger rectangle for the bottom crust and the smaller for the top crust)
   2 1/2 (2 ½) Basic Pie Crust
2. Preheat your oven to 375°. Line a sheet pan larger than 10″x15″ with foil – this will catch any drips from the apple squares while baking.
3. Remove the dough for your bottom crust from the fridge and roll into a large rectangle. The dough should be about 1/8″ thick and large enough to cover the entire 10″x15″ sheet pan with a slight overhang around all the edges.
4. Fill the crust with the cranberry Caramel Apple Pie Filling. I like to really pack the filling in and mound it up a bit – feel free to adjust to your preference.
   4 kg (14 cups) Caramel Apple Pie Filling
5. Put the pan in the fridge while you roll out the top crust.
6. Remove the dough for your top crust from the fridge and roll into a large rectangle. The dough should be about 1/8″ thick and large enough to cover the apple filling and provide a slight overhang around all the edges to match up with the bottom crust.
7. Remove the pan from the fridge, moisten the edge of the bottom crust with a little milk, cream or egg wash.
   15 ml (1 tbsp) milk, cream or egg wash
8. Gently lay the top crust over the apples, press lightly over the surface to ensure there are no air gaps under the crust.
9. Press the edges of the crust together to seal them, crimping or fluting the dough to form a decorative edge. (I generally don't bother brushing the top with any egg, cream or milk because I cover the whole top with glaze, but you can brush the top crust with egg wash, cream or milk to aid in browning and give a bit of shine.)
10. Cut several small slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape during baking.
11. Place the assembled apple squares on the larger, foil lined pan. Put the entire thing in the preheated oven. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until the filling is bubbling up through the vents and the top is golden brown.
12. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Making the glaze:

1. Whisk together the salted caramel sauce, apple cider and vanilla until the caramel is fully incorporated.
   80 ml (⅓ cups) Salted Caramel Sauce, 60 ml (¼ cups) apple cider, 10 ml (2 tsp) vanilla
2. Add the powdered sugar and salt, whisk until it forms a smooth glaze with no lumps of powdered sugar remaining.
   320 g (2 ⅔ cups) powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp (¼ tsp) fine salt
3. Drizzle the glaze over the surface of the baked and cooled apple squares. This amount of glaze will nearly cover the entire surface, if you want a lighter drizzle, cut the glaze recipe in half.
4. Allow the glaze to set before serving. The apple squares can be served room temperature or chilled. Enjoy topped with a drizzle of caramel sauce or some ice cream.

Notes

• Neither mom nor grandma used a pre-cooked filling for their apple squares – they would mix the raw (peeled and sliced) apples with sugar, spices, and a little bit of flour. After cramming what looked like way too many apples into the bottom crust, they would dot butter all over the top before sealing everything in with the top crust.
  • If you’d prefer to take this approach, toss the following ingredients together in a large bowl (reserving the butter to dot on the top):
    • 12 large apples (peeled, cored and chopped or sliced)
    • 1 tbsp lemon juice
    • 1 cup sugar (or more to taste)
    • 1 cup brown sugar (or more to taste)
    • 1 tbsp cinnamon
    • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
    • 1/4 – 1/3 cup flour (use the larger measurement if the apples are very juicy)
    • 6 oz dried fruit (i.e. raisins or dried cranberries) [optional]
    • 1/4 cup butter (cut into small pieces)
  • Once the apples are evenly coated with the sugar, spices and flour, transfer the mixture into the bottom crust, dot the surface of the apple mixture liberally with the reserved butter.
• Grandma made her apple squares with raisins rather than cranberries – I don’t recall her doing anything to rehydrate the raisins before using them, but it has been a very long time since I helped grandma with her apple squares.
• Mom made her apple squares with dried cranberries. She would rehydrate the cranberries over night and drain any excess liquid from them before mixing them into the raw apple mixture.
• Mom and grandma would have made this with a classic vanilla glaze like the one included in the Cinnamon Braid recipe. That is my dad’s preferred topping, although he tells me that mom’s layer of glaze would be much thicker than in my recreation. I would start with double the vanilla glaze from the Cinnamon Braid recipe for full coverage or a single recipe for a lighter drizzle.  

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Nutrition

Serving: 1squareCalories: 564kcalCarbohydrates: 95gProtein: 5gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 415mgPotassium: 152mgFiber: 4gSugar: 38gVitamin A: 47IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 23mgIron: 2mg

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