So Easy, Why didn't I Think of This?

I am so excited to share my first post with you. I have so many ideas to share, it has been hard to narrow it down to one.  This is something that I did a few months ago and I have been craving it ever since.

Mini Apple Pies-the lazy piemaker's answer to 

not enough time, ingredients and half-eaten pies.

My five year-old found a handful of apples in the fridge one day. He wanted me to make apple pie. I didn't want to make apple pie and there sure weren't enough apples to make one, so I put him off. After a few weeks, he hadn't forgotten. He grabbed all the apples in the fridge and put them on the counter and told me that there were enough apples and I could now make apple pie. There were only five apples, two Granny Smith (one already with two bites in it) and three Red Delicious (one also with bites in it). Red Delicious are not the best baking apples, but I had some refrigerated pie crust and a muffin pan. Do you see where this is going? So, I decided to make mini apple pies. I went to the computer and googled "mini apple pie" and found a recipe that worked for me. After altering it a bit, it came out perfect and it was super easy. I HIGHLY recommend using some apples for this very purpose. I used one Granny Smith and one Red Delicious. Mmm, it was sooo good!

For the filling:

• 2 large baking apples, peeled and sliced into small pieces
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1/8 cup white all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• dash of salt

I used a single refrigerated pie crust because that's all I had, but I recommend using a double pie crust recipe or refrigerated pie crust. I only had enough pie crust for 3 mini covered mini apple pies and 1 uncovered mini apple pie.

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside. Use a cereal bowl or small Pyrex bowl to trace out a circle for the bottom crust. I used a 3.5 inch round cookie cutter for the top crust. Place it inside the muffin pan and fill with the apple filling. Make sure the bottom crust overlaps the rim of the muffin cup by about 1/2 inch. You'll need it to pinch down over the top crust and make cute fluted edges. Mine didn't turn out so cute because I didn't have enough crust to pinch. After all the mini pies are filled, throw it in a 350 degree preheated oven and bake for about 35 minutes or until the crust is the color you like. Then scoop it onto a plate or bowl and eat with French vanilla ice cream. Trust me, it was delish! The best part about these mini pies--no leftover pie sitting on the counter calling my name saying , "Eat me, eat me!" until it either goes bad or gets eaten.