Mini Apple Pies
On a recent trip to Crate & Barrel, hoping to trade all of my money for all the pretty dishes, I stumbled upon two mini pie dishes. They were 6" across, which is the size I use for all of my small pies, and the edges were fluted. Plus, they’re perfectly white. So what any person would do I snatched up two mini pie dishes, skipped to the register, and headed home to peel apples. These pie plates were always meant to be mini apple pies.
What Apples to Use
It’s amazing how much you can learn about apples when preparing an apple pie recipe. At a visit to my farmer’s market, I grabbed a random bag of apples labeled ’local’ from the farmer’s market. When those apples emerged crispy from the oven, I started googling “best apples to use in apple pie.”
Here’s what I found:
If we were baking regular sized pies, there would be more wiggle room when choosing apple varieties, I think. But, since we’re baking mini pies with a lesser amount of crust that browns faster in the oven, we really have to make sure the apples are going to soften in our 30 minute bake time. For that reason, I’m only recommending a mix of Golden Delicious and Braeburn apples for making these mini apple pies. This article by Serious Eats that ranks apples for pie are my new favorite food geek article.
I feel like we’re going to end the year with lots of pie recipes, is this okay with you? You might also like my apple crisp for two recipe!
Notes
Each 6" mini pie plate makes 4 mini slices of pie. Personally, I can eat two mini slices at a time, which is like 1 normal size piece, except with double the amount of crust (which feels like a total bonus!). If you’re really a household of two, I suggest freezing the other pie for your next apple pie craving (unbaked, of course).
I have a whole collection of apple desserts for two on this site, but my absolute favorite (after this recipe for mini apple pies, of course) is my crockpot apple butter.
What do you think about these Mini Apple Pies? Let us know in the comments below. And make sure to share your creations by tagging me on Instagram!
Each 6" mini pie plate makes 4 mini slices of pie. Personally, I can eat two mini slices at a time, which is like 1 normal size piece, except with double the amount of crust (which feels like a total bonus!).If you’re really a household of two, I suggest freezing the other pie for your next apple pie craving (unbaked, of course). If I had a mini pie waiting for me in my freezer at all times, I think I would probably be one notch happier. But, I guess we’ll never know because my family finished these two mini pies in a day and a half.
