Mini Honey Apple Pies

Serves 12

30 mins prep

45 mins cook

50 mins chill

125 mins total

These mini honey apple pies are what you never knew you wanted! The all butter crust is super flaky and packs a warm gooey apple filling. This recipe has no refined sugar and only uses honey and the natural sugars from the apples for the perfect amount of sweetness. The subtle warmth from the cinnamon and honey make these mini apple pies the perfect comfort food (or brunch item). Serve them warm with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of honey.

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Pie Crust

Combine the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to incorporate.
½ cup all-purpose flour
⅕ tsp salt
Add the cubed cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles very coarse bread crumbs with pea sized pieces of butter. This takes about 5-8 pulses.
⅕ cup unsalted butter
Mix together the ice water and apple cider vinegar in a separate bowl.
⅕ cup ice water
⅕ tbsp apple cider vinegar
Add the water mixture tablespoon by tablespoon into the crumb mixture, pulsing after every few tablespoons. Once the dough just starts to come together (you will notice it start to clump up in the food processor), stop adding the liquid. You should not need to use all of the liquid; I usually have a quarter of it left over.
Fold the dough: Into a bowl, gather the dough into a ball, working quickly so that the butter doesn't melt. Flatten out the ball into a disk with your hands and fold that disk in half. Repeat this flattening and folding another 2 times.
Shape the dough back into a disk and cut in half. Shape each half back into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Filling

Prepare the apples: Peel and core the apples. Cut the apples into small (1cm) cubes. Place the cubed apples into a large saucepan. Add the lemon juice, honey, butter, and cinnamon to the apples.
⅕ tbsp apple cider vinegar
⅔ large apples
⅕ lemon
⅕ cup honey
½ tbsp unsalted butter
⅕ tsp ground cinnamon
Cook the apple mixture, stirring on medium-low heat until the apples release their liquid. Bring up the temperature to a medium heat and simmer for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally to soften the apples and to reduce the amount of liquid by a quarter.
Make the slurry: While the apples are cooking, whisk together the flour and water in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.
¼ tbsp all-purpose flour
½ tbsp cold water
Pour the slurry into the apples and stir well so that there are no clumps. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the liquid thickens. This should take only a few minutes. Take the filling off the heat and let cool to room temperature or refrigerate overnight.

Assembly

Bottom crust: Take out the first half of the dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll it out to ⅛” (3mm) thickness. Using the bottom of a bowl or glass as a guide, cut out as many 4” diameter circles as you can. Try to cut them out as close to each other as possible, so that there are fewer scraps. Place the scraps in the refrigerator. Roll out the second half of the dough the same way and continue cutting out 4” diameter circles until there are a total of twelve. When working with the crust, work as quickly as possible to prevent the dough from getting too warm.
Top crust: With the remaining rolled out dough, cut out as many 3.5” diameter circles (using the bottom of a glass as a guide). Re-roll the scraps with the refrigerated scraps from the previous step, and keep cutting out circles until there are twelve.
Mold the bottom crusts: Gently place the larger rounds of dough into each individual muffin tin, pressing the dough into the sides of the tins to remove any large folds of dough. You do not want to stretch the dough, just let it fall into the bottom of each tin and gently press your fingers to even out the crust.
Spoon the filling into each bottom crust, filling each up two thirds of the way.
Seal the pies: Place the top crust onto each pie and press the edges of the crusts together, forming a seal. Once the edges are sealed, crimp the crust of each pie with your fingers to make a wavy pattern (see photos above the recipe). This will help prevent the pies from leaking while they are baking.
Chill: Let the pies chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, or in the freezer for 10 minutes. While they are chilling, whisk together the egg and milk for the egg wash. Set aside.
⅕ large egg
⅕ tbsp whole milk

Bake

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
Brush the top of each pie with egg wash with a pastry brush, making sure to coat the whole surface. With a small knife, make an X-shaped cut into the top of each pie to let steam escape while baking.
Bake the pies for 40-45 minutes, checking them every 5 minutes after 35 minutes. The tops will be golden brown and crispy when ready. Use a metal spatula to help lift out a pie to peek at the bottom. The bottom crust should be crispy and browned as well.
Remove the pies from the oven and let them cool in the muffin tins for 5 minutes. Using a spatula to help, gently remove the pies from the tin and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely. Do not let the pies cool in the muffin tins because they will be very difficult to remove once they cool completely.
Enjoy! Best served warm with ice cream, honey, or your favourite apple pie toppings!