Come September 1st, I’m ready for fall. I love everything about fall…the changing leaves, the cool evenings, feeling like it’s okay to throw on a comfy cardigan and most of all…the food. However, it may still be high 80’s here in Minnesota, but it’s September, and therefore I’m going to start my fall traditions…now. I had the ladies in my family over for a fall craft party. We made wreaths and other cute home decor items, and best of all, we had delicious hors de oevures. My birthday is in the fall, and every year instead of a cake, we have the first homemade apple pie of the season. I LOVE apple pie. I thought for our little get together, that I would make little individual pies in a cupcake pan. Not only were these incredibly cute, but they were so easy. My mom’s apple pie recipe is my favorite. It uses half the sugar of most recipes. You really don’t need a lot of sugar. Apples have their own natural sugars and too much additional sugar turns it into a sweet gooey mess. There are two ways to go about this. You can use the ready to roll pie crust from the refrigerated section of your grocery store, or you can use your own homemade. And while I’m always an advocate for my mom’s homemade pie crust (she uses shortening, not butter…SO good) I was in a hurry and grabbed the pre made this time, and they were delightful anyway.
Ingredients
- 6 apples of your choice. I used Braeburn, this way you can omit a lot of extra sugar. But, Haralson are what my mom always uses because they are the perfect amount of tart.
- 3 Tablespoons of sugar
- 4 Tablespoons of flour
- 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon
- 1 Teaspoon of nutmeg
- Butter
- Milk
- Granulated sugar
- Pie crust: Either two boxes of two premade dough (4 crusts) or 2 recipes of your favorite pie dough
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400
- Peel the apples and cut into little cubes. Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg into the apples until well coated. You can add more sugar or cinnamon as you see fit. I don’t like a super cinnamony pie…so I tend to use less than the average recipe.
- Spray your cupcake pan with cooking spray, including around the tops of the wells. If you don’t do this, your mini pies will not fall out of the pan as they should.
- Using a large biscuit cutter or large rimmed glass, cut your rolled out dough into circles. Depending on the size of your cupcake tin, you may need to alter the size of your cut out.
- Press the dough into the cupcake pan wells, making sure you leave a little crust to fall over the top of the well. You need this in order to seal the top crust to the bottom.
- Spoon the apple filling into each of the wells. Make sure you fill them over the top creating a small mountain of apples. They will reduce down.
- Put a small pat of butter on top of the apple filling.
- For your top crust, use another circle of dough, rolling out slightly (if necessary) to cover the apples. Press it down over the bottom crust edge to seal.
- Using a sharp knife, cut your vents into your pies. My mom has used the same wheat looking design on her pies for as long as I can remember, so that’s what I use, but you can use whatever design you want.
- Brush each pie with milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
- Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Check at 18 minutes. Depending on the size of your apple pieces, it can take more or less time.
- Let the pies cool before attempting to remove them from the pan. If your pies are sealed well, simply twist the pie in the well until loose, and it should lift right out. You may need to run a knife under the crust if the apple filling leaked out at all.
Enjoy and happy fall!
The Simple Elements 