Individual mini apple pies

Apple pie–nothing could be finer!  Except maybe having your own pie all to yourself, individually sized and baked just for you.  Using a muffin tin, here’s how to create these most delicious of desserts–perfect for parties, transportable, fantastically gooey and cinnamon-ie.  I prefer apple pie with a cooked apple filling–this ensures that they all get cooked evenly and your pie won’t get soggy as they cook in the oven.

I only had one pie crust left from a double pie shell package, so this recipe will only make 6 individual pies.  Double the amounts, use two pie crusts, and 12 baby apple pies will appear like magic!

Cooked apple pie filling:

• 2 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1 defrosted pie crust

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.  Add the apples for two minutes.  Add everything else and stir to combine, heating for another few minutes until a thick carmel sauce has developed.  Turn the heat off.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Take the pie crust out of the tin and roll it just slightly thinner than it originally was.  Here comes the worst part of the recipe.  Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray.  Cut circles of pie crust about five inches in diameter and push them into the muffin tin.  If there’s more than half an inch of dough sticking up out of the tin, cut it off. 

Spoon the apple filling into each of the pie crusts, ensuring that each one gets some saucy goodness.  You can put them in the oven as is, or you can continue on with the streusel topping, which gets carmelized and crunchy and delicious.

Streusel topping:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 cup flour
• 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon oats

Mix together all ingredients until the mixture resembes coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the mini pies.  (Note: I had leftover streusel topping and it makes a fantastic addition to regular plain oatmeal.)

Bake pies for 7-15 minutes, until crusts have begun to brown.  Let cool completely  before attempting to extract from the muffin tin (takes some skill).  Enjoy!  Super delicious on their own, but would also be fantastic with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Inspired by recipes available at this site and this one too.

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