Thanksgiving is one of my very favorite holidays. I love that it’s a day completely dedicated to spending time with family and friends. I love the preparation and anticipation for an amazing meal and even more amazing desserts. My family has the best Thanksgiving tradition in the history of traditions. Ever since I can remember, we have eaten pie for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. My parents used to say that we ate pie in the morning because after eating Thanksgiving dinner, everyone was really too full to enjoy it! And I have to tell you- my plate full of pie in the morning tastes way better than my plate full in the evening. And we do eat it at both times. 🙂
Now that my siblings and I all have families of our own, I love knowing that on Wednesday night we are all baking pies to carry on the tradition. Some of us are traditionalists: pumpkin pie in the morning will suffice for everyone. At my house- not so much. My kids aren’t pumpkin pie eaters, so we do different. We always have chocolate (Marie Callendar’s store bought Chocolate Silk Pie) and raspberry pie. I usually buy a pumpkin because my husband loves it. And I almost always have my mom’s Apple Slices made.
What is Apple Slices? It’s an apple dessert with a flaky, delicious crust that tastes better than any apple pie. And I’m sharing the recipe with you!
- 2 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 Tbs. Sugar
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 1 cup Butter
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 ounce Corn Flakes
- 10 large Apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar
- 1 tsp. Cinnamon
- 2 Tbs. All-purpose flour
- 1 cup Confectioner's sugar
- Milk
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 Tbs. sugar, salt and butter to make pie crust.
- Add milk to 2 egg yolks to make 2/3 cup.
- Stir with fork and combine with crust mixture.
- Use slightly more than half the crust and roll out to fit a 9x13x2 inch pan.
- Crush two handfuls of corn flakes and sprinkle over crust.
- Add sliced apples.
- Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon and 2 Tbs. flour and sprinkle over apples.
- Dot with butter.
- Roll out remaining crust and spread over top of apples.
- Beat two egg whites until a meringue forms. Spread over crust.
- Bake for one hour.
- Mix powdered sugar and hot water until a thin glaze forms.
- Drizzle glaze over the top of apple slices while it's still hot.
Helpful Tips
The easiest way I have found to get the apples ready for any apple dessert is to use an apple peeler/corer/slicer. Many of you either have one or have seen them before. It saves so much time AND makes all your apples uniform, which makes them cook more evenly. 
My kids love this part and I’m happy to pass this job over to them! You can find them at Amazon here or head to your closest kitchen store. I haven’t seen them at Target or WalMart, but Bed Bath and Beyond should be able to hook you up! Once they’re all peeled and sliced, just cut the whole thing in half. Done!
The top crust of this dessert is always a stretch. As you can see from the picture, it’s OK if the whole pastry isn’t covered perfectly. Holes in the top can be patched as best they can, but if apples are showing through, no problem! 
This is the difference between a pie and Apple Slices- perfection isn’t necessary for this crust because you are covering it with the meringue, which makes it more flaky on top. I love this part, as I am lousy at perfect pie crust tops! 
The recipe says to make this dessert in a 9x13x2 inch pan, which will work fine. However, we’ve always made ours on a cookie sheet with an edge around the sides. I love that it gives you a little more dessert and it’s much easier to cut and serve. The crust will be even more of a stretch if you choose to use the cookie sheet, but it’s still doable!
Once pulled out of the oven, the top will look much like a pastry- it’s flaky and browned- almost puffy! 
The drizzle on the top is just a simple hot water and powdered sugar mix. I never measure, but get it to a consistency that I like. The whole top does not need to be drenched! This is just an accent to the already delicious dessert. Plain old apple pie just won’t do after this, I promise! 🙂
