Mini Apple Pies

  in Desserts, Recipes

2 pie crusts, store-bought or homemade*
5 cups apples such as braeburn, honeycrisp, or pink lady, chopped small
1/3 cup cane sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon dry ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch sea salt
2 tablespoons cold butter

  1. Heat oven to 425°F. Roll the pie crusts out to 1/8 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Using a 4 to 4 1/2-inch cookie cutter (or plate or bowl) cut out 12 circles from the pie crusts. Re-roll any scrap pieces of pie dough as needed to cut out the circles.
  2. Place each circle of dough in each cup of a standard 12-count muffin pan. Gently press the dough down and around the sides, to make the dough fit snug in each muffin cavity. Refrigerate the muffin pan. Roll out any scraps and cut out small decorative shapes to place on top of the apples.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the chopped apples, sugar, flour, spices, and salt until combined. Remove the muffin pan from the refrigerator and evenly distribute the apple pie filling among all the muffin cups. Cut up the butter into 12 little cubes and place one piece on top of each pie. Place either a generous sprinkling of streusel (see note below) or the cut shapes on top of the apples.
  4. Bake at 425°F for about 25 minutes or until the pie crust is lightly golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Remove the mini pies from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To Make Streusal Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cane sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Pour in the melted butter and stir to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.

*Pie Dough from Scratch

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cane sugar
6 to 8 tablespoons ice-cold water

  1. Cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes and place in freezer for a few minutes.
  2. Have a small bowl of ice cold water handy.
  3. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix.
  4. Add butter to flour mix and pulse a few times, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the dough and it holds together, it’s ready. If the dough doesn’t hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.
  5. Remove dough and place in a pile on a clean surface.  Divide and shape the dough into two disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and keep refrigerated until ready to use.
  6. Remove one disk at a time from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes just to barely soften it enough to make rolling it out easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to an 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, keep checking to see if the dough is sticking to the surface underneath. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking.