Mini Apple Pies

Yes, it’s safe to say I’m still going fruit crazy and making the most of my trip to Lyman Orchards! And yesterday, I went to the Le Gourmet Chef outlet and FINALLY got the mini tart pans I’ve been dying for. The best thing about outlet shopping is that they only cost me $5.99 so I decided to buy mini pie pans as well. I couldn’t help myself, they were just so adorable! Today I decided to put those pie pans to good use and bake a Paula Deen apple butter pie. Surprisingly, there was no actual butter in the pie filling recipe itself so I was a little skeptical as to whether this was actually one of her recipes (bad joke). But anyway, up until I found the apple butter calling my name on the crowded shelf at Lymans I had never even heard of apple butter. They also had apricot butter and…banana butter? I didn’t know what any of this stuff was but I decided to try a little taste of the apple butter and oh man was I in heaven. It literally tasted like autumn in a jar- the spices were so pronounced and it just smelled delectable. Needless to say, I’m not too concerned about this recipe tasting anything less than fantastic. And just as a side note, I believe these pies are the perfect transitional recipe to introduce to my blog as we say goodbye to summer and autumn peeks around the corner .

Apple Butter Apple Pie Recipe

Pastry

Williams-Sonoma

1 1?4 cups all-purpose flour
1?4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
6 Tbs. (3?4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1?4 cup shortening
2 to 3 Tbs. ice water, or as needed


In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, salt and sugar and pulse once to mix
Add the butter and shortening and process in short pulses to form pea-size crumbs, 20 to 25 seconds
While pulsing, gradually add the water to form larger, moist crumbs, 10 seconds more
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and, with floured hands, shape the mixture into a flat disk
Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or as long as overnight

…Now obviously I don’t have a food processor (still on my wish list) so I just used the old biceps again! I’m going to be JACKED

Filling

8 cups Granny Smith Apples; cored, peeled and sliced into 1/4″ slices (I used 3 large Paula Red apples because that’s just what I happened to pick up at the store…I swear it wasn’t on purpose)
1/2 cup apple butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cups sugar
7 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces


In a large mixing bowl, toss the apple slices with the lemon juice and apple butter
In a separate mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and cloves
Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the apples and stir thoroughly. Set aside while rolling out the dough

Assembly

Divide the apple mixture among 4 mini pie dishes and dot the tops with the butter
Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and form each into a small disk. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each of the disks into a 6-inch round, about 1?8 inch thick. Cover each of the filled dishes with a round of dough. Fold under the excess dough and, using your thumb, decoratively flute the edges. Using a paring knife, cut a few slits in the crust
Refrigerate the pies until the dough is firm, 20 to 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 425°F
Bake the pies for 12 minutes
Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue to bake until the crust is golden and the filling is thick and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes more
Transfer the pies to a wire rack and let cool completely. Serve the pies at room temperature

These were the apples I used. When I got home from Lyman Orchards there were four in the bag. But due to some unfortunate circumstances, I only had three. And by “unfortunate circumstances” I mean I devoured one. It was hard enough to resist the peaches yesterday, give me a break!

If Heaven could be captured and put into a jar, this is what it would look like.

I kid you not…

It wasn’t difficult to make this dough without a food processor but what was challenging was cutting the shortening in because it wasn’t cold like the butter. I’m pretty sure that’s why my dough has so many cracks in it and it looks like it’s not holding together in some places. But it still worked, I promise!

I probably could have gone a little less heavy on the filling but it just looked so tasty I wanted to pack as many apples as I could into one bite

Unfortunately in the end I only had three mini pies. One of them slid off the baking sheet when I went to go pull them out of the oven. I think I died a little inside. Okay, maybe that’s a bit extreme but I was really upset! However in the end I think this turned into one tasty treat

Tagged: apple, cinnamon, fruit