This Chocolate Cherry Bourbon Slab Pie, made in a quarter sheet pan, combines a thick cherry pie filling with smooth vanilla bourbon, and melted dark chocolate. And it's all baked in a homemade all butter pie crust! With all the flavors together, it tastes absolutely incredible, and perfect for a small dinner or work party!
what is a slab pie?
A slab pie is a bigger, yet slimmer version of your ordinary 9-inch pie. Using a quarter sheet pan, they're great for feeding small dinner parties. For half sheet pan sizes, they're wonderful for larger size gatherings. You can cut the squares as big or small as you'd like too.
For this Chocolate Cherry Bourbon Slab Pie, I used a quarter sheet pan which uses 2 pie crusts, so it's just like what you'd use for a regular pie.
how to make chocolate cherry bourbon slab pie
Adapted from my Homemade Cherry Pie recipe, the process of making a slab pie is really no different than making a regular 9-inch pie. The only difference is we're using a quarter sheet pan—that's basically it!
homemade all butter pie crust
ingredients needed: all-purpose flour, salt, very cold unsalted butter, and ice cold water
Just as the name suggests, this homemade all butter pie crust is all butter, baby! No vegetable shortening included! And like my other pie crust recipe I've shared with you on here, it needs to be refrigerated for a minimum of one hour, and makes two pie crusts. For this particular recipe too, the pie crust does not require blind baking.
And I always want to note that you do not have to make your own pie crust! If you'd rather save some time, by all means go the store-bought route! I've done it a few times myself and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
chocolate cherry bourbon pie filling
ingredients needed: 3 cans of Oregon Fruit Products red tart cherries packed in water, vanilla bourbon, granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt, almond extract, vanilla extract, 70% cacao dark chocolate, and an egg (used for the egg wash with the pie crust)
This chocolate cherry bourbon pie filling really is simple to make! You add all the ingredients together in a large pot, with the exception of the melted chocolate, and bring it to a boil. Then you reduce the heat and continuously stir it until the pie filling thickens. You'll want to let it cool almost completely before pouring it into the pie crust.
For the bourbon, I used Jim Beam's Vanilla Bourbon because I thought it went really well with the cherry and chocolate flavors, but feel free to add whatever flavor bourbon you prefer. It adds just the slightest kick to the pie filling, but you can most certainly leave it out if it's not your thing.
For the melted chocolate, I simply broke up the bar of chocolate into small pieces and melted it in a microwaveable glass mixing bowl in 30-45 second increments at about 50% power until it melted. I recommend using the glass bowl because of heating it in the microwave. You won't be able to do this if you're using a metal bowl.
recommended baking tools
What I love most about this recipe, besides the taste, is you don't need to use your stand mixer or even your hand mixer! You will, however, need a large pot to cook down the filling, glass mixing bowl or jelly roll pan (for cooling the pie filling), and a quarter sheet pan.
Below are a few more recommended baking tools for making this slab pie recipe!
can I make cherry pie filling the day before?
Absolutely you can!
I made the pie filling the day before and kept it stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator until I was ready to bake the pie. I'll mention this several times in this post—do not add the melted chocolate part until you're ready to bake the pie!
quick tips for making the best slab pie
homemade all butter pie crust
- You are more than welcome to use store-bought pie crusts for the crust part of the the chocolate cherry bourbon slab pie. You'll need two for this recipe. One for the bottom, one for the top. With store-bought you'll have a circular shape, so make sure to roll it out an inch or two past the edges of the quarter sheet pan.
- After making the pie crust and diving it into two crusts, I recommend shaping them into rectangles instead of the typical circle shape. It will help later when it comes time to roll them out.
- I recommend chilling the bottom pie crust once you've placed it in the quarter sheet pan. Likewise, if you're doing a top crust design somewhat similar to mine, I recommend chilling it in the freezer for about 15-30 minutes after cutting out the shapes. I found the slightly chilled dough it to be easier to handle and place over top of the chocolate cherry bourbon slab pie filling.
chocolate cherry bourbon pie filling
- I used Oregon Fruit Products Red Tart Cherries packed in water for this recipe. I know some people turn up their noses when it comes to using canned cherries in a cherry pie, but these are packed in water not sugar, and they're awesome. Oh, and I'm totally not being paid to say that. I just like this brand of cherries a lot!
general
- I used the letter "V" from my set of Ateco 1" alphabet cutters for the top pie crust design. With my previous two tests of this recipe, I used this cute small cookie cutter I have for making linzer cookies, but I lost it. Ugh!
- If it's your first time making a slab pie, I recommend keeping the top crust simple. You can place the crust on top and using a knife cut in some X's. You can also use a cookie cutter like I did.
- When preheating the oven, place a larger size sheet pan on the rack. You'll place the slab pie on top when baking to catch any juice that may drip off. This will also help the bottom pie crust from getting mushy.
other delicious Beyond the Butter pie recipes to try
- Easy Chocolate Pecan Pie
- Perfect Pumpkin Pie
- Chocolate Chip and Pecan Pie
- Brown Sugar Peach Crumble Pie
- Homemade Cherry Pie
Chocolate Cherry Bourbon Slab Pie
Author:Ingredients
homemade all butter pie crust
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, cold and cut into small cubes
- 4-6 tbsp Ice Cold Water
chocolate cherry bourbon pie filling
- 29 oz Red Tart Cherries in Water + ½ can of water, (2, 14.5 oz cans)
- ½ cup Bourbon , such as Jim Beam's Vanilla Bourbon
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 3 tbsp Cornstarch
- ⅛ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Almond Extract
- ¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 4 oz 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate, chopped and melted
- 1 egg, beaten (used for egg wash)
Instructions
homemade all butter pie crust - part 1
- In a large mixing bowl and using a pastry blender (or two forks), mix together the flour, salt, and cold cubed butter until you have small pea-size pieces. A few larger pea-size pieces are fine too!
- Add in 1 tablespoon of the ice cold water, then (using a spatula or with your hands) work it into the pie dough mixture. Continue to add the ice cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the pie dough forms and it is no longer crumbly. If there are any crumbly bits, just add the teeny tiniest bit of cold water so they blend in with the rest of the dough.
- After forming the ball of pie dough, place it on a lightly-floured, clean surface and divide it in half using a pastry cutter. Pat each half into a 1 inch- 1 ½ inch thick rectangular shape, then double wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place them in the coldest part of your refrigerator (usually the back) for a minimum of 1 hour.
chocolate cherry bourbon pie filling
- In a large pot, stir together the cans of red tart cherries (do not drain), additional ½ cup water, bourbon, granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt, almond extract, and vanilla extract and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and continously stir the pie filling until it's thickened.
- Remove the pie filling from the heat and carefully spoon it into a large bowl or jelly roll pan to cool almost completely.
homemade all butter pie crust - part 2
- While the chocolate cherry bourbon pie filling cools, roll out the first pie dough onto a clean and lightly floured surface, making sure to leave about a 1 inch to fold over with the top crust.
- Place into the quarter sheet pan, then into either the freezer (preferred) or the refrigerator to allow the pie crust to firm, then roll out the second pie dough which will be for the top pie crust. I like to chill my top crust slightly in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes as well. It helps to handle and place over the pie filling, but this is optional.
assembling the chocolate cherry bourbon slab pie
- Adjust the oven rack to the middle of your oven, set the jelly roll pan or cookie sheet on the rack, and preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- In a small microwaveable glass bowl, add the broken pieces of chocolate and microwave it for 30-45 seconds at about 50% power until smooth and melted. Set to the side.
- Remove the quarter sheet pan from the freezer or refrigerator, gently spoon the pie filling into the crust, then spoon the melted chocolate over the filling and swirl it around. Then top with the 2nd layer of pie crust. Press the two pie crust edges together then fold under. If need be, you can trim off any excess before folding. Crimp the edges using your fingers or a fork dipped in a little flour (so it doesn't stick to the pie dough).
- With a pastry brush, gently brush the egg wash over top of the pie. You won’t need to use all of this on the pie—just a little coverage will be good. Place the pie on top of the preheated jelly roll pan, and bake for 15 minutes at 425ºF.
- After 15 minutes, decrease the oven temperature to 375ºF and bake for an additional 40-45 minutes or until the top of the pie is a nice golden brown. At the 15 minute mark, it would be a good idea to add a pie crust shield to avoid burning your pie crust edges. You can use pieces of aluminum foil to place around the edges or you can take a sheet of aluminum foil and cut a rectangle shape out of the center and place it over top. I would suggest wearing some oven mitts for this part so you don't accidentally burn your fingers!
- Once the chocolate cherry bourbon slab pie is done, remove from oven and allow it to cool completely.
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