Last night we were in search of comfort food, so we picked up some organic Imagine butternut squash soup from Whole Foods. If you've never had it, I can't recommend it enough. We add a little red pepper, cinnamon and brown sugar, and I swear it tastes like Fall and Winter combined. It's just that amazing.
Pleased, but not completely soothed by our soup selection, we passed a large display of beautiful, crisp fall apples. They were so fresh I could actually smell them, so we grabbed a couple and headed home. Once there, we decided to make these:
And they were amazing. Just the right portion size, not overly sweet, and perfect with a dollop of Haagen Dazs vanilla bean ice cream. Comfort achieved.
Although this is a photo blog, this recipe is so simple and satisfying that it would be cruel not to share it.
You'll need:
-Two apples (and I can't for the life of me remember what kind we got. My husband says, "Pretty ones. That taste good.")
-A muffin tin with six cups
-A medium sized bowl
-Flour
-Shortening
-Salt
-Water
-Brown sugar
-Cinnamon
-Nutmeg
-Lemon juice
-Honey
For the crust:
Put 2 1/4 cups of flour and 3/4 tsp of salt in the bowl, then scoop in 2/3 c of shortening. You'll need to "cut" the shortening into the flour, creating an even mix with pea-sized balls in it. You can use a pastry cutter to do this, or just a flat edged utensil (I used a large wooden mixing spoon).
Once the shortening is evenly distributed, start spooning in a tbsp of cold water at a time. Mix a small section of the flour/shortening with the water, then add another tbsp and mix more. You'll probably need 8-10 tbsp of water before the dough starts to form. It should be fairly dry (not sticky!), but not falling apart.
Form the dough into a large ball, then split in half. Divide each half into three evenly sized balls, and set aside.
For the filling:
Chop the apples into slices, then cut the slices into thin slivers. Wash out the bowl you used for the dough, then put the apple pieces in it. Add enough lemon juice to coat the apples (not drench), and about 1/4 c brown sugar (we used less, so start slow and add more to suit your taste). Add a tsp or so of honey and cinnamon, and a dash of nutmeg (or more if you'd prefer). Sprinkle a little flour over the top of the mixture to "set" the coating, and toss the apples a few times to make sure they're evenly covered.
Putting it together:
Lightly grease the muffin tin. Roll each section of dough into a flat circle, about 1/4 inch deep (it will likely stretch as you place it, so better safe than sorry). Gently stretch and form the dough into a slight "cup" shape, then place it in the muffin tin cups. You'll need to press the bowl of each dough-cup into the bottom of the tin, then pat it to the edges.
The rest of the dough will likely start flopping and folding into itself, but just keep patting and pressing it until it fills the muffin tin. Once you're done, cut or tear off the extra dough and set aside (although you'll want to leave a little lip of dough so you can seal the top of the crust, later on). Repeat until each cup is lined with dough.
Now grab the bowl of apples and start stacking the slivers in each cup. I wouldn't recommend dumping them in--try to stack as evenly as you can, considering the size. Once you reach the top, stack a bit higher since you'll be covering at least four of these with a pie crust.
We didn't have enough dough to make all six into mini-pies, but you might. All you'll need to do to finish the effect is create a few more small, flat circles (maybe three inches in diameter), then gently press each one into a bowl shape. Lay them over the filled muffin cups, then carefully press and seal the dough. You may want to use a blunt knife to slide the dough a little further into each cup, although the seal is unlikely to be perfect. Oh, and make sure to cut a few slits into the top! Exploding pies are not a good way to end the day.
Finale:
If you don't have enough dough left, you can make a crumble crust with 1/2 c flour, 1/2 c brown sugar, and 3 tsbp butter. Cut the mixture together until it forms a crumble, then sprinkle and press on top of the remaining mini pies.
Bake at 375 F for about 35-45 minutes. Cool for 5-10, then serve. I found the end result very satisfying, especially when the pie crust bursts inward to reveal the apples. Simple pleasures. These are great with ice cream, but I'm sure they'd be excellent with milk or tea too.
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