Mini apple pies

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I don't know about you, but I have been obsessing over 4th of July preparations.  Obsessing! I'm going to California for the holiday week and am trying to get organized before I go so that I don't stress once I'm there. I like to stress over things like what dinners I want to make, what style appetizers to include, and whether or not to roll slices of bacon in the cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Would the meat actually cook like in the Pinterest pictures, or is someone playing a cruel joke? Should I add an icing on top? Serve it with something else? OMG I don't know! You know, the important things.

 I have plenty of time to figure things out, yet I feel like most of my free time goes toward finding new recipes that I most likely won't end up using anyway...It's a problem.

Anyway. You're probably here for apple pie.

Apple pie seems to be a traditional 4th of July dessert, and since I have so many recipes for red/white/blue themed goodies, pie seemed like a nice addition to mix things up.  Today I made a batch of pies to freeze in advance, so that I'll have more time to make other treats closer to the 4th.  Making pies in a mini muffin pan means there's a higher proportion of crust to filling, but if you don't mind delicious melt-in-your-mouth pie crust, they are amazing and just super cute! Easy to eat too, which makes them perfect for any special event or bbq (or that night when you feel like being home alone away from people and would like to eat several pies without feeling judged, thank you very much).

You will need some pie dough. Use store-bought if you want, or you can follow my pie dough recipe here

You're also going to need some apples. I used two small green ones and 2 red ones. It's good to have the green ones for some extra tartness, but I like to mix things up.  Peel 'em and cut 'em into chunks

If you happen to have a food processor, throw the chunks in and pulse until they're diced to the texture you like.  If you don't, then it doesn't matter--just chop the apple chunks into small pieces.  No apple pie discrimination here

Mine looked like this. If you're chopping by hand, as long as you have somewhat small pieces, you're good!

Now, in a separate bowl, blend 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar

Then add 1 tbs flour, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1 tbs vanilla. Mix that deliciousness up

Now's the fun part. Pour in 1 cup of heavy cream!

Blend it in real nice. Yummmm

Now pour your delicious cinnamon cream mixture over the apples and mix everything together

Let the apple mixture set off to the side. In the meantime, roll out your pie dough. I used a circle cookie cutter for both the bottom and top crusts and pushed the rolling pin back over each circle to stretch them out a little more

Now press your dough circles into a greased mini muffin pan. I got 12 tins out of the dough (including their top crusts) and then made a couple more in a regular size muffin pan. If you don't alternate tins like in the picture, you risk having the top crusts on each pie blend into each other while cooking, so give the pies their space! Let them have some room so that buttery, flakey crust can puff up beautifully!

Fill the dough cups with apple mixture, then use another circle of dough to cover the tops. Using your fingers, put a little water on the outer rim of the top dough then press it down onto the rim of the bottom.  I also pressed a fork around each pie to make sure the edges were tightly sealed. Bake at 375* for about 20-25 minutes, then you will have a fresh batch of delicious, mini apple pies (and your house will smell like cinnamon. Ah-mazing)!

Have a great 4th of July!

Mini apple pies

Ingredients:

2 unbaked 9 inch pie crusts

4 apples (combination of green and red)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tbs flour

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbs vanilla

1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1) Peel apples, then chop into small chunks (or use a food processor)

2) In a separate bowl, mix brown and white sugars, then add flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla. Incorporate well, then add heavy cream and blend together.

3) Add the cinnamon cream mixture to the apples and mix together. Set aside

4) Pre-heat oven to 375*. Roll out pie dough and cut circles with a round cookie cutter. Fill 12 tins of a 24 count mini muffin pan with the dough circles, leaving an empty tin in between each one, pressing the dough up against each tin so that there is some extra dough hanging over the top (not too much or else the pies will be difficult to get out later). Add the apple mixture on top of each dough cup, then cover with another circle of dough by using a little water on the rim to help seal it shut. Use a fork to press down the edges of each rim.

    *Note: If you have extra dough and filling like I did, make a few extra pies in another pan :)

5) If you want, you can cover the pies with an egg wash before baking, by mixing an egg with some heavy cream, then basting it onto the pies. Then bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden.