I’m feeling the consequences of too much pie. I think I am honestly hung over. It is not news that pie crust is nowhere near healthy – I’m not even going to try to claim the calcium from butter. Ian and I have been eating an average of one mini-pie a day…for the past month. We’re like a pair of bears getting ready for the winter hibernation. I thought the 17 Day Diet was the solution – I would start today, detox, and find the strength to make pie and not eat it. Then Ian suggested that we should just make ourselves sick on pie, then we would no longer want it. So, with a sigh, I brewed some coffee and had a pumpkin mini-pie for breakfast.
I couldn’t let fall pass me by without working on an apple mini-pie. There’s just something about a local apple – I could eat one for every meal. So, this week I embarked on experimenting, eating, and more experimenting.
I used the apple pie filling recipe that I posted earlier, but made some tweaks and figured out how to pre-cook it without turning it mushy. Then, instead of glazing like the pumpkin, I sprinkled them with sanding sugar.
Unlike a regular apple pie, the apples need to be cut pretty small to pile into the middle of the little circle. They are even a little big in the picture below.
Apple Minis
1 recipe Best of Both Worlds pie dough, or your choice
Filling (revised from the last one)
6 apples (I used a mix of Jonagold, early Fuji and Pinata)
1/2 cup sugar
Zest of 1/2 a lemon
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnimon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cadamom
1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Tablespoons butter
Directions
Ahead of time: Make dough and place in fridge
Cut apples into slices. Cut the slices about 1/3 of an inch thick, then cut each slice into about three or four pieces.
Melt butter in a skillet on medium-high heat
Add apples to the skillet and stir for about 4 minutes until they start to shrink. Add almost all of the sugar, reserving about 1 or 2 Tablespoons. Cook for about 2 minutes. Apples should be crisp, but beginning to soften. Mix the reserved sugar with the cornstarch and stir into the apple mixture. Cook for about 1 minute until mixture begins to thicken. Once thick, transfer to a shallow dish and stir in lemon and spices. Let cool to room temperature.
While the mixture is cooling, roll out dough and cut 24-26 circles with a 2 1/2 inch round glass or cutter. Place circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and return to the fridge for at least 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees or 375 convection.
Remove circles from fridge and lightly moisten the edge of each circle with cold water. Place about 2T of filling into the first row of circles. Experiment with as big of heap as you can put in- the more filling the better. You might have to strategically place some apple pieces. Place another dough circle on top, sealing the edges then crimping with a fork. If sauce oozes out, just wipe it off and keep going. The apples should make a little mound in the middle.
Once all of the pies are sealed and crimped with a fork, given them a good shock in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes.
Remove from freezer. Cut vents into the top in whatever pattern you would like. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake on the middle rack for 19 minutes until golden brown. Remove from baking sheet and place on a cooling rack. To store, cover lightly with saran wrap. Should keep for about 2 days.
Cathy-
We ate the mini pies today! They are great! The crust is excellent.
Thanks! That’s especially meaningful coming from you since you had to eat the early failures.
Twelfth time’s a charm!
No way! Someone commented that they’d seen mini apple pies on your site and I cannot get over how closely our minds think. I love that you chopped up the filling. I was lazy and didn’t feel like fighting something wet into the pocket (bad memories of the time I made 100 strawberry hand pies for a party) but am certain that would amp up the apple flavor immensely.
Can we bake pie together someday?
Deb! I had to read this twice to believe that it was really you! Thank you so much for wandering over to Pie Eyed! Let me get my gushing over with… I love your site!!!!!! In fact, my family might not eat without it. Enthusiastic follower and constantly inspired by your recipes and posts.
Yes, yes and yes let’s bake pie! I’m always up for a challenge and as you might gather, am on a total pie bend. But here’s my confession – I have tried your all butter crust numerous time and have failed miserably each time. I studied tutorial 101 and 102 and did not do it justice. In your honor, I’m going to try again this weekend (maybe my skills have sharpened over the months) and put it head to head with my organic shortening experiment.
Have a fantastic weekend – thanks for making my day!
-Emily