Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice! Apple mini pies

Apple Hand Pies

What is sugar & spice and everything nice?  If you guessed mini apple pies you are right!  This is the first time I made apple hand pies. They couldn’t be easier or more delicious.  In my opinion anything with a fantastic homemade crust with cinnamon and apples is delicious.  Hands down … this is a winner.  ENJOY!

French Pastry Pie Crust (I love this pie crust – it comes together beautifully)

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 3 tablespoons white sugar 1 cup shortening

1 egg 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar 5 tablespoons water

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Mix well, then cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal.
2.	In a small bowl, combine egg, vinegar, and 4 tablespoons of water. Whisk together, then add gradually to flour mixture, stirring with a fork. Mix until dough forms a ball. Add one more tablespoon of water if necessary.
3.	Allow dough to rest in refrigerator 10 minutes before rolling out.

Source:  Allrecipes.com

Apple Filling:

2 cups small diced (peeled) Granny Smith apples or your favorite apple
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
Egg wash (1 egg lightly whisked with 1 Tablespoon water)
Crystal sanding sugar (optional)

Directions:

Make the filling:

In a small bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar and flour, stirring until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.

Assemble the pies:

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out.

Using a 4-inch (or whatever size you want your pies to be) circular cookie cutter or cup, cut out as many circles as possible. Re-roll the scraps and continue cutting out circles until you run out of dough, ensuring you end up with an even number of circles.

Place six of the dough circles on a Silpat or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Spoon a small portion of the apple filling into the center of each circle, leaving enough of a border around the filling. Place a second dough circle atop each filled circle then use a fork to crimp the edges together, sealing each pie.

Brush each pie with the egg wash, and using a sharp knife, cut two or three vents on the top of each pie. Sprinkle the pies with crystal sanding sugar (optional).

Bake the pies for about 17 minutes, or until they’re golden brown.

Remove the pies from the oven and allow them to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Repeat the filling and baking process with the remaining dough circles.

 

Pizza for Dessert? YES! Apple Pie Dessert Pizza

Do you love pizza?  Do you love apple pie?  You will love this dessert pizza!  I was short on time so I did use the canned apple pie filling + 1 apple chopped.  I think this would be even better with all fresh apples.  I loved it … it has the perfect combination of apple and cinnamon.  ENJOY!

Apple Pie Dessert Pizza Recipe:

Ingredients:
Your favorite home made pizza dough
1 (21 ounce) can apple pie filling + 1 apple chopped
1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Glaze Ingredients:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place pre-made pizza crust on an ungreased baking

sheet.  Spread apple pie filling over crust.  In a separate mixing bowl, mix oatmeal, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon until combined.  Add softened butter and mix until crumbly.  Sprinkle on top of the pizza.  Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

In a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar, milk and vanilla.  Stir until smooth.  Drizzle over pizza with a spoon.  Slice pizza and serve.

Source:  Sixsistersstuff.com

Apple Pie and Fall Memories

The sense of smell plays such an integral part in our lives.  Scent has the ability to conjure memories and transport us back in time.  Soon after the pie was in the oven, the kitchen was filled with the scent of cinnamon and apples, and my mind was filled with wonderful childhood memories of fall and apples.  I grew up in the beautiful state of Vermont and as a child I remember every fall going with my parents to the local apple orchards to pick bushels of apples!  It was always so much fun.  The air was crisp, the apples were delicious, and trees were fun to climb.  I even lost my first tooth in the apple orchards, while eating a big juicy apple.  After a fun day at the orchards, our bellies full of apples, we headed home and then the work began for my mother as she baked apple pies and made apple sauce.  On a Sunday afternoon, stocked with apples for the car ride, we would take our annual road trip in the back roads of Vermont to view the exquisite, brilliant colors of the fall foliage spread so vibrantly across the mountains in hues of reds, oranges, yellows and greens.  Each year it was breathtaking and something we all looked forward to.

I hope this recipe will bring wonderful memories to you as you bake it in the oven and you breathe in the wonderful scent of apples and cinnamon.  Enjoy!

 What memories do you have of fall and apples?

Little Pie Company’s Sour-Cream Apple-Walnut Pie

•  ¾ Cup Sour Cream
• 1 large egg
• 2/3 Cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 lbs. tart apples, peeled, quartered, cored and cut into ¼ inch thick slices (about 10 cups)
• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

 Topping:

• ½ cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ cup cold butter or margarine, cut into small pieces
• ¼ cup walnut pieces, chopped coarse

 Heat oven to 400 degrees

Wisk sour cream and egg in a large bowl until blended.  Wisk in sugar, flour, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Stir in apples.  Spread in unbaked pie shell, mounding in center.

To make topping:  mix flour, sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl.  Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in walnuts.

Sprinkle evenly over filling, then press down lightly.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes until topping is dark brown and apples are tender when pierced.  (If topping browns too quickly, drape a piece of foil over the pie.)

Cool on wire rack.