Monday, November 7, 2011

Sharing may be caring, but this is all mine!

What do you get when you mix an overly energetic and outgoing woman (me) with the urge to make a pie her husband doesn't like?
I'll give you a hint:  Bite Sized, Amazing Looking, Fun to Bake, Easy to Make, All American... and yes they are too simple NOT to share the recipe and idea...

Personal Sized Apple Pies!


All my life I have enjoyed cooking and baking.  But I must be honest... I often struggle with two things:
  1. Scoring my Desserts Accurately
  2. Figuring out what would be 1 Serving when it all just looks so good!
As far as scoring desserts, I start out perfectly.  There is a good, straight line forming, everything looks even, I start to feel good inside.  Then out of nowhere, something either flies past my eyes or I imagine it, because when I look down my dessert has 3 slices:  1 normal - a true perfect piece, the second is a cute tiny baby slice fit for half a person, and then the last is the remaining 6/8 of the dessert.  What went wrong?

How do I do it yo ask?  It is a rare talent passes down for many generations in my family.  I hope I'm not the only one out there.  I am so good with fondant, and pasta, and even cookies, but from time to time I surprise myself with jsut how crooked my slicing can be.

Then theres knowing what a serving should be.  I can't figure it out, and often serve friends so much food they slip into food induced comas.  Plus when you have slices of all sizes, it's awkward to give a tiny piece to someone, then half a pie to the other... this only opens the door the what could be, more concerns.

I mean let me not sell myself short.  I HAVE cut a completely straight line, and personally I am also really good at art and drawing and could draw a near perfect circle... but when it comes to chopping up the art form I worked on all day in the kitchen... Well let's just say I go from masterpiece to confusing abstract with the slice of a knife. 
And so I thought, "What if I made pies you don't have to cut!?"

I've done it with cheesecakes and cakes, we all have.  But why not pies.  Geez I might as well try quiches and deep dish pizzas!!! What an adventure!

And then I said out a loud for all to hear (my husband has learned to accept my outbursts) "Done!! and Done!!!"

And so it was the day of existence for my baby apple pies.  I could hear the national anthem playing in the background.  I put my right hand over my heart as they baked, and pledged allegiance to the apple pie kingdom.

And not but 22 minutes later, golden like sun kissed sand, my pies emerged from the oven; my house smelling like patriotic love.  

After a brief cooling, I sat with one of my small pies, admiring the art form they shared, the angles and divots and bubbles.  And I dove in full speed ahead...


After this east, I will note:  You can have more than one, it will be OK!

Here is the recipe that will bring the fireworks and patriotic drums to your kitchen and home:

Personal Sized Apple Pies
What You Need:
Flaky Butter Crust (or buy Pre Made Roll Out Pie Crust)
2 Sticks Butter -- room temperature
4 cups Flour
2 cups Ice Water (yeah water with ice!) -- you do not necessarily need all the water

Filling
4 Apples (1/2 an apple per pie)
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon

Misc.
Cooking Spray
Muffing Tin

To start the crust, (crust recipe only herePlace room temp butter in a large mixing bowl.  Add the flour. I love to mix with my hands -- the goal is to cut all the butter into the flour, and to saturate the flour with it, without creaming -- basically the flour will have some parts with chunks of butter. Add the ice water until the dough is moist, not sticky, able to be handled without sticking to hands.

Now it is ready to roll. Flour the counter, and rolling pin, and start rolling out the dough. You need to roll it about 1/4 inch thick.  I used a Martini Glass to cut the perfect rounds for my mini pies.

Next, skin the apples and slice them thinly.  Toss with the sugar, cinnamon, and the 1 tbsp Flour.  Place a round of pie crust into the muffin tins.  Spoon in the filling, and top with criss crossed pie dough.  Brush with Egg wash and place into the oven.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove and let sit 5minutes before pulling from pan.  Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar!

It snowed this morning, and these seemed perfect for a lazy weekend!

Enjoy!

10 comments:

  1. My mother and I also have the dessert-cutting issue, especially when it comes to pies. Sometimes it just seems easiest to cut a pie into quarters and call it a day. =)

    I love mini-pies. So perfect! Now you have me craving individual apple pies.

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  2. Thanks!

    lol Stephie -- I am so terrible at pies -- fourths are a perfect cut haha. THese turned out so much better than I expected. I hope you find your cravings filled soon!

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  3. Individual pies! Brilliant! I love it! I always cut the pie in sections in my head, hover the knife and take the plunge. I figure if there is one slice larger than the other...it belongs to the baker!

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  4. I love the idea of individual pies! A slice of this with a dollop of icecream would be just perfect!

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  5. yes! a perfect mini a la mode ;)

    I love the idea "the big slice belongs to the baker"

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  6. This is adorable! I definitely could not eat just one.

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  7. Personal-sized anything is always a winner in my book! These pies look amazing =)

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  8. Love anything that's personal-sized! That means it's all mine and nobody can get a bite :) These are a fabulous idea, they look super delicious!

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  9. Totally addictive and simple!!!! I will share this only because I trust you.. I had 2 1/2 then 30 minutes later, I had to finish the third!

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