Mini Apple Pies

 
We are overrun with apples at this time of year.  Normally I make an apple pie or two, some caramel apples (M’s favorite!), and what we don’t just munch on gets sliced up and dehydrated (yum!).  We are fortunate to have our own, fairly small, apple orchard.  But this doesn’t stop us from going to commercial apple orchards too!  I am in love with Honeycrisp apples, and this is one of the types we don’t grow ourselves, although I’m hoping that changes in the next year or two. 

When I saw this fun idea for miniature apple pies over at  My Montessori Journey, I knew we had to try it! 
The apples we used are Firesides – a crisp, juicy, mostly sweet apple.

These aren’t really a cooking apple, but when you have an abundance of them you use them in anything and everything. :)  I think they turned out very tasty in our mini pies.

First roll out your pie dough.  Ours was store bought – once upon a time I wouldn’t have gone that route, but let’s be honest – those days are over for at least a while.  I am all about ease and convenience right now. ;)
M used an empty margarine container to cut circles from the dough.  They were just about the right size for our muffin tins.  Place them in the muffin tins so just a bit overlaps the top.


Peel, slice, and chop the apples.  Place a good amount in each pie.  We used 3 large apples to make 12 pies.

Add a dash of flour, cinnamon, brown sugar, and allspice (or nutmeg) to each pie.  As you can see you don’t have to be exact or even add the same amount to each pie.  In fact, a 4 year old can do this just fine. ;)  
Cut out more circles with a cup and place the circles over the pies, then cut a slit in the top.  
Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Delicious!

We tried this with frozen blueberries and strawberries too – yum, yum, yum!  Just add brown sugar and a little flour to the frozen fruit.

Have a beautiful day! :)