I was overcome this past weekend. Was it by fall? Hunger? Regardless, I wanted to cook. I hovered in the kitchen for hours, making pumpkin cheesecake, salsa, peanut butter, and apple pie, all from scratch. I was hypnotized by the careful measuring, sampling, mixing, and ended up on the couch after all was said and done, blissed out while delicious smells traced their way in from the kitchen.
I wanted to do something a little different with our apple pie this time around. I used a cupcake tin to make miniature pies. In my opinion, they're easier to store (just toss them into a big Ziploc bag, then the fridge) and bring to work for a snack. Instructions and more photos after the jump!
Prepare your pie crust and filling the way you normally would. (This is my favorite recipe, albeit very glutinous.)
Roll the crust out thin.
Cut out circles with a diameter of 4". I had a small bowl that did the job well.
Line the wells of your cupcake tin with the dough circles, and add your filling.
Place dough strips in a criss-cros pattern on top of the filling (I tried a couple with heart-shaped dough covers -- you can see it in the bottom right-hand corner -- but those kind of lost their shape in baking). Follow your apple pie recipe in terms of finishing; mine calls for a little extra sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on top.
Bake according to your recipe. After removing from the oven, allow the pies to cool before taking them out of the cupcake tin.
