Homemade Mini Apple Pies

This recipe makes a batch of delicious homemade mini apple pies. The pastry is buttery and crumbly and the pies contain a delicious apple filling which includes cinnamon and nutmeg.

Once you make apple pies at home, you probably won’t ever want to buy them from the shops again. If you’ve been following my blog, you will know I love baking with fruit and this recipe for mini apple pies is no exception.

For this mini apple pies recipe, I use my basic shortcrust pastry dough recipe which I use in all my pie recipes and it never disappoints. The pies are filled with a delicious apple filling flavoured with cinnamon and nutmeg which complements the lovely buttery pastry.

I suggest you read through the instructions before beginning this recipe and it will make it much easier to follow along. If you’re going to make these pies, I suggest making them on a day when you have nothing else to do. Not having to rush really does make the process much more enjoyable.

Once baked, these apple pies go perfectly with some ice-cream or custard.

Ingredients for Mini Apple Pies

Please find the full list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of the post.

For the Pie Crust 

• Flour – use plain flour also known as all-purpose flour.
• Sugar – I use caster sugar to sweeten the pastry.
• Salt – I use fine sea salt.
• Butter – I use unsalted butter which must be cold and firm.
• Shortening – I use Trex. You can use Crisco if in the US.
• Water - I use cold water (see recipe tips below).

For the Apple Pie Filling

• Apples - for this mini apple pies recipe, I use galas or pink lady apples but you can use your favourite apples.
• Butter – unsalted and soft at room temperature.
• Sugar – I use caster sugar to sweeten filling.
• Spices - I use ground cinnamon and nutmeg to flavour the filling.
• Salt – fine sea salt.
• Lemon juice – squeeze from a fresh lemon.
• Cornflour – to thicken the apple filling. Also known as cornstarch.

For the Egg Wash

• Egg - whisk the egg with the milk to make the egg wash.
• Milk - use any milk of choice.

How to Make Mini Apple Pies

Make the dough

1. Start by adding the flour sugar and salt to a mixing bowl then combine them together. To the flour, add the cold cubed butter and chopped shortening. Using your fingers, coat the butter and shortening with the flour then use your fingers to press and flatten the pieces of fat. Once all the pieces of fat are flat, break up the fat even further until you have small but slightly larger than peas size pieces of fat throughout the mixture. It is ok to have a few larger pieces. You can also use a pastry cutter for this step.

2. To a jug, add the cold water, ice cubes and lemon juice. Make a well in the centre of the mixture then pour around half of the water into the centre. Using both hands, begin to toss the flour and water to help the pastry come together. Continue to add more water in tablespoon increments while still bringing the dough together to form a ball. If bits of dough are falling off. Dip your fingers into the water and slightly wet the area you want to attach it to rather than pouring more water in and ending up with too much water. At this point the dough should not be sticky but not dry either. If it is dry, add more water. If sticky and moist then add more flour.

3. Once you form a rough ball, flour a clean surface and begin to gently knead the dough. Don’t overdo the kneading just enough to keep the dough together. Split the dough into 2 equal pieces then flatten and shape both pieces of dough into disk shapes. Wrap them separately in cling film/plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Make the apple pie filling

4. While the dough is in the fridge, you can begin to make the apple pie filling. Add all the pie filling ingredients to a saucepan and heat on medium while occasionally stirring. Once the butter has melted, stir again and allow the filling to simmer for around 5 - 6 minutes. The sauce around the apple should have thickened and the apples should be soft but not mushy. Remove from the heat and allow the filling to completely cool.

Roll out and cut the dough

5. Once the dough has rested in the fridge for at least an hour, remove one of the plastic wrapped doughs from the fridge. Roll it out to around ½ cm thick and turn the dough between each roll to avoid it sticking. If it begins to stick lightly dust the surface again with more flour. Cut as many circles as you can using a cookie cutter. 

6. Re-roll the scraps and cut more circles.  One piece of the dough should make around 10 circles. Stack the cut pastry with a piece of parchment paper between each circle then wrap all the cut pastry circles in cling film/plastic wrap and place it in the fridge. Repeat the previous process with the second piece of dough, refrigerate the second set of cut pastry.

Arrange the pies

7. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/375^oF/190^oC/170^oC fan and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Make the egg wash by combining the egg and milk. Remove the first set of cut pastry from the fridge and spread them out on a floured surface. Add around 2 tablespoons of the cooled filling to the centre of each pastry circle then use a pastry brush and brush around the edges of the pastry with the egg wash.

8. Remove the second set of cut pastry which with be the top of the pies. Remove one circle from the pile then make two small slits in the middle of the circle. Place it on top of the pie filling and press the edges with your fingers to seal it with the bottom crust. Use a fork to crimp the edges then brush the top with the egg wash and sprinkle some sugar on top.

9. Repeat the previous step to complete all the pies. Use a turner spatula to lift the pies and carefully transfer them to the baking tray. I usually bake 6 then place the rest of the pies in the fridge and bake them after. Bake the pies for 25 – 30 minutes until golden brown. Allow the pies to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes then transfer each pie to a cooling rack. You can serve them warm or cooled.

Recipe Tips

• The water that you add to the flour may vary. Different brands of flour have different absorption rate so I usually measure around 75ml of water with 2 ice cubes. This is just a rough guide and you may need more or less but you should judge by how the dough feels. Gradually add the water so you don’t add too much.
• The water for the pastry should be very cold which is why I usually add a couple of ice cubes to it. Ensure you add some lemon juice to the water as it helps to tenderise the dough. I personally find dough easier to work with when I add some lemon juice to the water.
• I use approximately half butter and half shortening but you can definitely use all butter if you prefer not to use shortening.
• The shortening I use is called ‘Trex’ and it is available in most UK supermarkets.
• Ensure the butter and shortening are both cold from the fridge before adding them to the flour.
• If you notice any cracks in the dough simply dip your fingers in cold water and smooth out any cracks. This can happen when rolling out the dough too. If its cracking, it means there isn’t enough moisture in the dough so a little water will fix that.
• If the dough seems sticky, lightly flour it as this means there is too much moisture in it.
• When rolling out the dough to cut the circles for the pie, roll it to around ½ cm thick.
• The cutter I use for the mini apple pies is around 98mm/9.8cm/3.9 inches.

Nutrition

Nutrition based on 1 serving - Calories: 383kcal | Fat: 21.4g | Saturates: 10.5g | Carbohydrates: 43.0g | Sugar: 14.5g | Fibre: 1.8g | Protein: 4.3g | Salt 0.13g.

Storage

The baked mini apple pies can be stored at room temperature for up to 24 hours any pies left after this can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Unbaked pies can be stored in the fridge for 3 days and the freezer for 3 months.

You can store baked pies in the freezer but I wouldn’t recommend it as the quality of the pies will slightly decrease.

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