This week’s SMS was chosen by Susan of Baking with Susan: double crusted caramel apple pie. I adore apple pie but I almost never make it so this was a real treat! That said, I had to figure out a way to scale this one back – it’s hard to give away treats on the weekend with no one going to work and I certainly did not need a full size pie tempting me. I’m almost positive I bought a mini pie plate at Crate & Barrel last fall (it was adorable – a ceramic green mini!) but I can’t find the darn thing anywhere. Ok, I guess I haven’t looked that hard, but hopefully once I do, it’ll turn up.
There were a lot of ideas thrown around on the P&Q’s this week for scaling the recipe back, but in the end I decided to try to make mini pies in a muffin tin. I wanted to make all 3 components of the recipe – the crust, caramel sauce and apple filling – so it seemed like a good solution. I took a lot of pictures as I made this recipe not only to share on the blog, but also so I’d remember what I did in case I try the minis again.
I made 1/2 of the recipe for Melissa’s all butter pie dough for the crust. I haven’t had a lot of luck with pie crusts in the past, but this one came together nicely in my food processor. The recipe called for baking powder, which I don’t think I’ve ever added to a pie crust before – some quick Google research indicates it might help the dough stay flaky even if its overworked, so it may have contributed to my success. After letting the crust rest in the fridge, I rolled it out and got to work on figuring out how big to cut the rounds for my mini pies. I tried my largest biscuit cutter first (I forgot to measure it but it’s probably between 3 and 3 1/2 inches in diameter), but it was too small. Instead, I wound up using the edge of a huge plastic cup – it was one of the biggest circular items I could find! It measured 4 1/2 inches in diameter and was almost perfect! Next time I’d like to make the circles just a tad bigger though. At 4 1/2 inches, I could press the dough into the muffin tin and up the sides, but there wasn’t any overhang, which made it tricky to attach a top crust. I chilled the crusts in the fridge while I made the other components of the recipe.
I’d just made a wonderful caramel sauce the other day for these brownies and I was tempted to make that one again since it had worked out so well but in the spirit of the group, I tried Melissa’s recipe instead. I did use the Cook’s Illustrated tip of putting a lid on the pan at the beginning of the process though, a neat trick which uses condensation to dissolve any sugar crystals that end up on the sides of the pan. Unfortunately, some of my sugar hardened after I added the cream and despite attempting to reheat and melt the sugar on low heat, I couldn’t resolve the problem. The caramel was tasty, but the texture wasn’t pleasant at all. As for the filling, I cut up only one Granny Smith apple (I made the pieces small since I figured the baking time wouldn’t be very long and I wanted them to cook completely) and scaled the remainder of the recipe back accordingly. I resisted the strong urge to add cinnamon. I had more than enough filling for my 3 mini pies.
I went with a lattice top on my pies since I figured it would make it easy for me to check the tenderness of the apples when they were in the oven. Also, as I mentioned, I didn’t have any overhang from the bottom crust, which made it nearly impossible to attach a top crust as I typically would. I kept a close eye on the pies when they were in the oven and my baking time was about 25-27 minutes. The filling was bubbling and the apples were perfect! After they’d cooled, I was able to remove my pies easily by sticking a paring knife between the crust and the side of the muffin tin and lifting.
I absolutely loved the way these little guys looked, but how about the flavor? The crust was awesome – flaky, tender and delicious! I liked the filling too – the tart Granny Smith apples worked well with the super sweet caramel. Still, I missed the cinnamon and felt the filling could have used just a little spice to up the flavor. This is definitely a recipe I’ll fiddle with because I think it could be amazing. I’ll probably make the Cook’s Illustrated caramel sauce next time and adjust the filling to include cinnamon and/or nutmeg. Many thanks to Susan for hosting this week – I had a blast with this one! You can find the recipe on her blog or in the book.
It must have been so much work – but it looks amazing :-).
Adorable! I made mini apple pies once too, and they were an adventure to make, but these are just so cute!
Ice cream goes amazingly well apple pie!
I know you know how cute these little apple pie-lets are. Oh my goodness!! You did a great job. I will remember this idea the next time I’m craving pie. I bet these freeze nicely, too.
those look so adorable! well done. Guess now i’m tempted to try making tarts in the muffin cases!
Nice looking minis! I adore your pan! The pie was good, but I agree it needed something! I think more caramel in mine would have done the trick.
So cute! I’ve made mini pies in a muffin pan before, but I never would have thought to put a lattice top on them. I love apple pie, and I bet it was really good with the added caramel.
Oh my goodness – these are one of the cutest apple pie interpretations I’ve ever seen! Will definitely file this away for the future!!
🙂
ButterYum
Your baby pies are so beautiful and inspiring. I had a huge fail with this one, but your success makes me want to try the crust again…once he memory fades!
Your mini tarts are beautiful. I love the lattice topping and wished I had been more creative! My pie is in the oven now and the smell is out of this world!
I made mini pies once (I think 2 Thanksgiving’s ago) and they were the hit of the buffet. Yours look awesome with the cute little lattice tops! I’ve got to try caramel in my apple pie!
Those look so cute! And tasty!
These are beautiful mini’s. I couldn’t resist, I added cinnamon to mine!
Looks delicious! must try very very soon
These are so adorable!!!
More caramel – love it! But what I love the best is the exquisite little dessert you’ve made! It’s truly a “high end” apple pie – fit for a restaurant. Pies literally scare me… so I’m very impressed with all the lattice work. They’re beautiful!
The mini’s are adorable! I can’t imagine how much work it must have been to put the lattice on all those little pies, but the result is definitely cute!
Those are so adorable! I will definitely have to give this recipe a try — apples and caramel are a terrific combination.
Tracey, those are wonderful. What a great way to make little apple pies. Love the little lattice top.
Hope you find your mini pie pan, but if you don’t these are perfect.
Awesome. I made mini pies for the same reason….too much temptation. I love how you used a cupcake pan…i will have to try that next time.
These are so cute! And they look DELISH!
Those are the cutest tarts ever!! I love them! Thanks so much for baking with me this week. 🙂
Be still my heart!! How precious are these??!!
I’ve got to try your version one day…
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Carmen
Those look adorable!! Love the lattice top and your super flaky crust. Great job! Really good to know that this works in muffin pans.
Those look amazing, I love the lattice top! I was curious about the baking powder in the pie crust, but didn’t look it up, so thanks for the info.
I was tempted by that mini pie plate at Crate & Barrel and somehow resisted buying it! I hope you find yours soon.
Tracey these are absolutely GORGEOUS! Are you kidding?! Those minis! Your talent never ceases to amaze me!
Holy moly! Those are the CUTEST pies I have ever seen! Great job!
These are so adorable. I love minis and tend to make many recipes as minis, including vegetables.
These sound delicious. I am with you on the cinnamon. Apple pie needs cinnamon.
Those look amazing!!!
What adorable little pies 🙂 I’ve done a couple in muffin tins before but never with a lattice top, yours are so detailed, just beautiful!
We missed the cinnamon and spices in the filling as well, will have to add those next time.
Oh, so cute, I love the little pies! The lattice work looks perfect! I think I need to try this one…and in mini form!
Wow! That’s some serious creativity there!! I threw mine into ramekins and called it a day! haha.
They are absolutely adorable!
OMG. These are sooooo adorable!!! – mary
I love love your mini pies!! The topping looks awesome and they just are sooo cute!! Great job!
These have got to be the cutest apple pies in the history of EVER. I want to make them.
These are adorable! I’m obsessed with mini baked goods, and my boyfriend loves apple pie, so I am going to have to make these at some point. Thanks so much for sharing them!
Yum… These are so cute! I love the little lattice tops on the mini pies. Absolutely perfect!
These things are amazing! Thank you for sharing with us the recipe. I have made this last night and served it up to my friends, they definitely loved it! It also went well with a hot cup of coffee made from one of my espresso coffee machines uk Great post!
i made these and they turned out pretty good…i also made blueberry, cherry, peach & banana pies…next time i will use my shortbread pie crust recipe, i like my pie crust to have a lil sweetness to them. im thinkin i might try a triple berry mini pie…btw these are even cuter if you make them smaller in a mini cupcake pan. thank you for sharing a great idea
These look totally delicious. I’m going to have to try this out!
Looks like the perfect filling to crust ratio for me … always love the crust 🙂
WHERE is the recipe??? These are adorable!
Came across your blog on chance and tried your mini caramel apple pies. They were absolutely fantastic. Thank you so much for this
Found your blog through Stumble. I make pie-lette’s too! For family holidays when everyone is really too full for dessert, these are great to take home. I like to make two different kinds: apple and chocolate chip.
I wonder, though, how you made your lattice so nice in such a small space? Mine are always pretty raggedy. Any tips?
Thank you for the lovely post.
My boyfriend LOVES apple pie and I think would love to help me make these! Thanks for sharing this 😀
we just made them with our own caramel sauce (actually yours from another post) and with cinnamon and sugar and the filling was great- the caramel helped cook the apples and really added to the sweetness. however, I messed up the crust, and while it didn’t taste bad, it didn’t really taste either… but they were still pretty yummy! and cute. great portion size for a late night snack ^^