Mini Apple Pies Sandra Lee Recipes

CHERRY-LEMON MERINGUE MINI PIES

Steps:

• Make the cups: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin cups with cooking spray; set aside. Combine the meringue cookies and flour in a food processor; process until the mixture is in fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse until combined. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the mixture into each of the prepared muffin cups. Using the back of a measuring tablespoon, press the mixture firmly into the bottoms and sides of the cups. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until just starting to brown. Remove from the oven and immediately press each cup with the back of the tablespoon. Cool the cups in the pan on a rack. Make the filling: Combine the pudding mix and sugar in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the lemonade and egg yolks. Continue to whisk over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes. Spoon 2 tablespoons lemon filling into each cooled meringue cup. Top each with 1 tablespoon cherry pie filling. Chill for about 2 hours, or until the filling is set. If desired, top with whipped cream. Serve the mini pies chilled or at room temperature.
• Photograph by Antonis Achilleos

MINI APPLE PIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Cut 4 6-inch rounds out of the pie crusts, and fit them into 4 5-inch mini pie dishes. Cut remaining pie crust into 1/8-inch strips, and set dough aside.
• In a bowl, mix the diced apple, tapioca, sugar, lemon juice, nutmeg, and cinnamon until thoroughly combined; allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes to soften the tapioca. Stir the mixture again, and spoon into the pie shells. Use the strips of dough to weave a small lattice crust on top of each pie, and pinch the strips onto the bottom crust.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the pies are browned and the filling is thickened and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Cool before serving.

UPSIDE-DOWN APPLE SKILLET PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Combine the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, apple pie filling and sliced apples in a large bowl.
• Heat a 10-inch cast iron skillet or oven-proof pan over medium-high heat, and add the pie filling. Once mixture begins to bubble, unroll pie crust over skillet. With a wooden spoon, push down edges of crust into pie. Cut steam slit in crust and brush with apple juice concentrate and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool 1 hour before slicing.

MINI APPLE PIES (SANDRA LEE)

Steps:

• 1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F
• 2. Warm the tortillas in a microwave to make them pliable. Divide the apple filling between the 4 tortillas. Fold in ends and then roll up each tortilla.
• 3. Place on an un-greased baking sheet and make slashes to allow stem to vent. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
• 4. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

WARM APPLE PIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Warm the tortillas in a microwave to make them pliable. Spread each tortilla with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter. Divide the apple filling between the 4 tortillas. Fold in sides and then roll up each tortilla. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet and make a couple of slashes in the top to allow the steam to vent. Sprinkle the tops of tortillas with 1 tablespoon sugar and bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and put the tortillas on a serving platter.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, milk, powdered sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Brush on the apple pies and serve.

MINI CHICKEN POT PIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the chicken broth. Add frozen vegetables and chicken breasts and simmer for 15 minutes on medium heat. Add soup and herb seasoning blend and cook for another 5 minutes. Set aside.
• Arrange 12 espresso cups on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Leave about 2 inches of space between cups. Fill each cup with 1 heaping tablespoon chicken vegetable mixture.
• Gently brush melted butter over each sheet of phyllo dough and cut each into 3-inch squares. Top each cup with 5 phyllo squares and fold ends towards sides of cup. Repeat process. Bake chicken pot pies for 25 minutes or until phyllo turns golden brown and sheets puff up. Serve warm.
• To re-heat:
• Return cups to a sheet pan and loosely cover with parchment paper or foil. Re-heat at 300 degrees F for 10 minutes.

MINI APPLE SPICED GLAZED DONUTS

Steps:

• Remove the biscuits from the can and place onto a cutting board. Using a 1/2-inch biscuit cutter or the cap from a water bottle remove the center from each biscuit. Place both the donuts and donut holes onto a sheet pan and allow them to rest and come to temperature, about 15 minutes.
• In a large bowl combine powdered sugar, pumpkin pie spice and apple juice. Whisk together until smooth and well combined. Set aside.
• Heat the oil, in a medium pot over medium heat, to 350 degrees F.
• Fry the donuts, 3 at a time, until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Remove from oil and place on a sheet tray lined with a paper towel. Repeat with remaining donuts and donut holes.
• Dip the top of each donut into the prepared glaze and place on a serving tray. Let glaze set about 5 minutes and serve.

MINI APPLE PIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a medium bowl combine first 5 ingredients (sugar - salt) and then add the apples and toss.
• Unroll the pie crusts on a floured board and cut 3-inch rounds (note in description), re-roll scraps and cut out more rounds (need an even number of rounds).
• brush each round with beaten egg and then place a large spoonful of apple mixture in center of half of the rounds, top each with a plain round which you have cut a vent in, sealing edges with a fork or your fingers (we used fingers), sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake pies on baking sheets for 20 minutes or until golden.

MINI APPLE PIES

Steps:

• MAKE FILLING AHEAD.
• Peel apple.
• Cut apples into thin, small pieces (I used my apple peeler, corer, slicer (http://tinyurl.com/ylhpgx) and an apple slicer corer (http://tinyurl.com/yfjo4h) - I ended up with slices about a quarter inch thick and half an inch wide).
• In a bowl with a lid, mix apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Seal and refrigerate for 12+ hours for mixture to get juicy.
• ASSEMBLE.
• Cut circles to fit and place in mini tart pans (about 2 inch pans) I used 10.
• Fill crusts with apple mixture.
• Put extra crust pieces on top, sprinkle with sugar (I used a mini muffin pan to hold the tart pans).
• I had extra apple mix and pie crust so I made two (2) "apple burritos" by rolling up apple mixture in extra crust and sprinkling sugar on top.
• Both the pies and burritos bake for about an hour at 350 degrees (F).
• I would bake for 45 minutes and check.
• Wait for golden brown crust.

EASY APPLE MINI-PIES (APPLE PIE)

Steps:

• Peel, core, and slice the apples, dropping the slices into a bowl that is holding the 2 quarts of cold water and the juice of the 1/2 lemon. When the apples are sliced, stir them with your hand so that all the slices get coated with the lemon water. Then, drain the apples completely and place them in a bowl that has a cover and pour in 3/4 cup of the sugar, 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) of the cinnamon, and, 1/2 teaspoon of the allspice. Stir gently and allow this mix to marinate (covered) in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours.
• Once the apples have marinated and you are ready to bake your mini-pies, preheat your oven to 350-degrees F. (If you are having a dinner party, simply prepare the mini-pies in advance, ready to bake, by having them on the baking tray in the refrigerator, covered with cling wrap -- remove the cling wrap and stick them in the oven about 40 minutes before you intend to serve them).
• Lay out some parchment paper, or otherwise prepare a flat surface for rolling out the individual biscuits. Dust the surface with some of the flour and flip a biscuit on it to lightly coat both sides and roll it out with a rolling pin. (The kids LOVE to do this!). Add just a little additional flour to each side as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. (I like to rub flour on to my rolling pin before I start, and as needed thereafter). Continue to roll each biscuit until they are each about eight inches across. THEY DO NOT HAVE TO END UP BEING ROUND, OR PERFECT IN ANY WAY! As each crust is finished, stack them on a plate until they're all finished.
• On a work surface (I use a cookie sheet, but not the one I'll be baking on), lay out a crust and brush the edges with a hand-beaten mixture of the 2 tablespoons of warm water and the egg white. (Save the remaining egg white blend -- you'll need it again!) Then, after stirring the apples but NOT using the juice in the bottom of the bowl, place about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the sliced apples on the center of the crust. Spoon on 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar over these apples and dot the apples with a little butter, about a teaspoonfull for each mini-pie.
• As each mini-pie crust is filled with the apple blend, fold it over, pressing together the egg-brushed edges so that they stick together. Do this any way you can to get it to stick -- it doesn't have to be pretty!
• Spray a large baking tray (I use a commercial half-sheet) with the cooking spray and lay out the closed pies on it so that they are not touching one another too much (or, at all if you can manage this). Then, poke each pie top 2 or 3 times with a fork as to allow steam to escape.
• Blend the topping by mixing 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice in a small bowl. Mix these dry ingredients with a fork. Brush the tops of the mini-pies with the remaining egg white and then sprinkle on a good bit of the topping blend.
• Bake the mini-pies at 350-degrees F. for 30 minutes. Some of the butter will leak out onto the baking tray but this is normal. As soon as the mini-pies have baked for 30 minutes, remove them from the oven and use a sharp-edged spatula right away to transfer them either to a platter, or, to individual serving plates. Serve hot or very warm.
• OPTIONAL: A couple of scoops of good vanilla ice cream really gilds the lily on this sweet dessert!

MINI APPLE PIES (SO EASY, NOT MUCH HASSLE!)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Get muffin pan out. No need to grease it.
• In food processor blend flour, salt and butter until it looks like little peas.
• Add in water and blend just until it looks like it's sticking.
• Take out and combine it by hand until well blended.
• Roll out on lightly floured surface until about 1/4 inch thick.
• Cut 12, 4 inch circles with cup or bowl.(You will need to roll out twice).
• Note: you can use the rest of the crust for anything you may want to do on top of the pies.
• Press each circle in muffin tins until all the way up each side, to form little bowls.
• Mix by hand all filling ingredients and spoon into muffin bowls.
• Cut up butter into 12 little pieces and place one piece on each pie.
• You can decorate them anyway you like with extra crust, or just leave plain.
• Bake at 425 degrees for 16-18 minutes. (Until crust is light brown and apples are bubbling).
• When cool, just loosen with a spoon and they'll come right out!