It’s Thanksgiving already! Where did summer go? With the holidays approaching means a lot of baking in my house, especially once December 1st hits. But for now, I need to focus on Thanksgiving, which means a nice big stuffed turkey with all the trimmings and of course, dessert! I wanted to make a home-made pie since I’ve never attempted one. My boyfriend requested an ‘apple pie’, which from scratch is a tedious process, especially since I’ve never made one before. With all the other cooking that needed to be done, I just wasn’t up for the task. (promising myself ‘next year’ I would definitely go for it!). But I needed something for dessert and will all my baking lately, I refused to buy pie or worse, get a ‘frozen’ one. I did a search for ‘simple pie’ and to my surprise found quite a few ideas. Some required a few parts to be made from scratch, which looking back I should have done, but I wanted something quick yet yummy.
It was a pretty simple process all-in-all. I decided to make individual pies instead of one big one. So here I went with my ‘pre-made’ crust and canned apple filling. I did jazz up the filling with some added spices; cinnamon, ginger & nutmeg, and added some flour to thicken. If I had some apples on hand, I would have sliced a couple to add to the filling which would give it some nice texure, but I had none to be found. I decided to make these the morning of so they would be their freshest. I have to say, they didn’t dissapoint and were a fun way to have dessert; everyone had their own pie!
Aren’t these just too cute!
To prepare, roll out the pie crusts to about a 1/4″ thick. Next cut 12 large circles using a large round cookie cutter. (You could also use a mug or glass to cut circles.) Taking a large muffin pan, regular cupcake pans would work also, butter muffin slots and place circles in pan, pressing down on bottom and sides. Then spoon some filling in the center and cover with remaining circles. Make sure to press tops together with the sides. Cut slits in the top and decorate with remaining dough. I used some various small shapes to adorn the tops. Once decorated, or not, brush with an egg-wash which will give you a nice golden and crispy crust. Bake at 350˚F for about 20-30 minutes.
Happy baking!
