Okay, let me just say it, I love Fall! I love the weather, the pretty leaves, snuggling up under a blanket with a cup of tea and watching a movie, and most of all . . .the food! Some of the best food memories I have are from this season: pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin bread, pumpkin anything, chili, chicken tortilla soup, apple cider, and especially apple pie. Autumn is the season for apples! And there's so many different kinds of them too: granny smith, gala, golden delicious, honey crisp, fuji, etc. Apples are a great ingredient to use in cooking for many different reasons. 1) They are extremely versatile. You can use them in all different kinds of dishes-savory or sweet, appetizer, dessert or entree. Apples can bring a lot of flavor to any meal, especially because they are naturally sweet. 2) Right now they are fairly inexpensive because they are in season so there is an abundance of them. During autumn you will see a wide variety of apples on sale at your local grocery store. 3) Apples are incredibly good for you.
Apples are high in fiber (5 grams per serving) which is a huge plus (see previous post on fiber) and they can also give you energy. Many people suggest eating an apple first thing in the morning because it will wake you up. Apples also contain a lot of antioxidant power which means they help you not to get sick as frequently! It's pretty cool that God allows apples to be in season in the fall when it seems like everyone gets sick. In addition, they contain compounds that help prevent the risk of heart attacks, cancer, and cardiovasular problems. Apples contain a mineral called boron which helps to build bones and prevent osteoporosis. Self magazine posted an article recently about the best fall foods that will help prevent gaining weight in the winter. Apples topped the list. They said that eating an apple three times a day may contribute to weight loss. Here is the article if you want to read more: 5 Fall Foods that Prevent Winter Weight Gain
So why apple pie? Well, I love apples, and I love pie. Simple! The only problem is that most of the pies you can buy frozen at the store are really, really bad for you. Usually high in calories and saturated fat, these pies use lots of sugar and other added chemical ingredients that just don't need to be ingested. Thus, on Tuesday, I was thinking I would make one from scratch using only the basic ingredients. Unfortunately, I still don't have my own pie pan so I was sorely disappointed. After a few minutes of moping around trying to decide on a dessert I could make for the week, I saw my muffin tin and realized I could probably make mini apple pie desserts. I did some research, adapted a few apple pie recipes, and voila! I give you my recipe for my marvelous mini apple pies!
Here is the simple, very easy recipe if you ever want to try them yourself:
Ingredients:
Makes 12 Mini Pies
Crust:
- 2 cups flour
- 2/3 cup chilled butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 Tbsp water
Filling:
- 3 medium apples (peeled and chopped into small, bite-size pieces)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 3 Tbsp flour
- 2 Tbsp chilled butter
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Get muffin pan out but don't grease it.
- Blend flour, salt and butter until it starts sticking together and clumping.
- Add in water and blend until it looks like it's sticking.
- If needed, take the dough out and combine by hand until well blended.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out until it's about a 1/4 inch thick.
- Cut 12, 4-inch circles with either a cup or bowl (dough will be rolled out 2x).
- Set reserve dough aside for later.
- Press each circle into the muffin tins so that they go up each side making a bowl.
- Mix all the filling ingredients, minus the butter, together by hand.
- Spoon filling into muffin bowls.
- Cut up the 2 Tbsp of butter into 12 little slivers and place on top of each pie.
- You can use the reserve dough to do a lattice on top or leave them open (see tips below).
- If you've covered your pies with dough, sprinkle some turbinado (natural cane sugar) on top.
- Bake at 425 degrees for 16-18 minutes, or until the crust is light brown and apples are bubbling.
- Let cool, then wiggle them around to loosen, and use a spoon or spatula to get them out!
- Enjoy your very delicious, and very cute mini apple pies!
Tips:
- Doing a lattice on top of the pies is actually very easy. This was the first time I have ever done one, and was wary at first, but I was blown away just by how easy it really was. On my pies I used 6 little strips on each pie-2 long pieces, which should be the length of the diameter of the top of your muffin tins, and 4 shorter pieces for the sides. You can play around with how wide you want your strips to be. I did ours pretty thin. To start, place the to long pieces across the top of the pie in the shape of a cross. Then with the shorter pieces, 2 on each side, weave them in and out across the already crossed pieces and each other. For a better description go here: How to Lattice
- Sprinkling the turbinado sugar on top of the pies is not necessary, but if you do a lattice or anything else on the top of the pies, it makes them look really pretty when they come out of the oven and gives it a little something extra.
- To get the sugar to stick better, melt a couple table spoons of butter and lightly brush it onto the top of the dough before you sprinkle the sugar on. this will also help the dough brown up better.
- It's probably best to refrigerate them after they are cooled so they won't go bad, but don't reheat them in the microwave. They will loose most of the nutrients from the apples if you do this. Instead, heat them up in the oven at 400 degrees on a cookie sheet for a few minutes until they feel warm again.
Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size: 1 Pie
- Calories: 213
- Total Fat: 10 grams
- Potassium 65 mg
- Fiber: 1 gram
- Sugar: 11 grams
- Protein: 2.4 grams
- Vitamin A: 6.6%
- Vitamin C: 3.4%
- Folate: 7.7%
- Iron: 5.8%
- Niacin: 6%
- Riboflavin: 5%
- Thiamin: 8%
Clearly, these are not as good for you as my bran muffins were, but for a dessert, they are great comparably. Though I wouldn't suggest having one everyday, as long as you watch your fat and sugar intake throughout your day, one of these little pies will be a great way to top off a delicious fall dinner! Using fresh, delicious apples sure makes dessert a lot better.
If you attempt to make them, comment and let me know how they turn out! Also, if you have any suggestions on how to make this recipe better or have any other great apple recipes please let me know!
Well that's all for today folks! As always, thanks for reading and eating along with me!
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