Individual Apple Pies

 

I can't believe that November is just about over and that Thanksgiving is next week.  Were does the time go?  I love that we have a holiday where we can be gluttons.  I am already dreaming about all of the yummy food.  We usually have so much food that we are eating Thanksgiving for about a week.  I can't wait for the mashed potatoes and roasted veggies and stuffing and pie and...the list could go on and on.

I will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner again this year which means 30+ people will be invading my house.  We will cook 2 huge turkeys and a ham, 20 pounds of mashed  potatoes, stuffing, yams corn, rolls, squash and probably about 8-10 pies.  I love pie.  My mom would make me pie every year for my birthday so I have an affinity for good pie.  In fact, as I am typing this, I am eating the pie from the pictures and boy is it good.

This pie recipe is great if you are having a small Thanksgiving and would like to treat everyone to their own mini pies.  Obviously it won't work for my large gathering unless I was a masochist and wanted to stay up all  night baking a million little pies.   It would work well for any leftover pie dough that you have and is a great late night snack.  All you need are some little pot pie tins or ramekins, I think some mini tart pans would also work great.  I used a 6 oz. glass ramekin which worked perfectly.  There is nothing fancy about this pie, just the traditional apple pie.  If you wanted to change it up a bit you could throw in some chopped up caramels and toss in a few pecans or use some orange blossom honey in place of the sugar with a little added citrus zest.  You really can individualize this pie.  So, if you have a hankering for some apple pie, give this one a go.

Individual Apple Pies

 

Pie dough

3 cups flour, spooned and leveled

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbs. sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled butter cut into small pieces

Ice water

1.  In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt.  Add the shortening and the butter and cut it into the flour using two knives or a pastry cutter.  You want the pieces of butter and shortening to be about the size of peas.

2.  Once the mixture is combined, move most of it to one side of the bowl.  Pour a Tablespoon of water over the small bit of flour mixture and pull the dough together with a fork.  Try to work the dough very little as overworking it will cause the gluten to form and will toughen the crust.  Move the moistened dough aside and pull aside some more of the dry flour mixture and repeat until the dough is moist enough to be formed into a ball.

3.  Separate the dough into 1/2 cup size balls of dough, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

for each individual pie

2 granny smith apples

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

juice of 1/2 a small lemon

1 tsp butter cut into small pieces

for the glaze

1 egg yolk

2 tsp. heavy cream

sugar for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat the oven to 375°.  Peal, core and thinly slice the apples.  Sprinkle with the lemon juice and toss to combine.  Add the sugar, cinnamon and flour and toss to combine.  Set aside.

2.  Grease your ramekins.  Roll out one piece of dough at a time, you want the dough to be fairly thin as there is a large ratio of dough to apples.  Roll up onto rolling pan and then fit into the ramekin.  Trim the edges, leaving a little overhang.  Fill with the apples, you ant to mound up the apples as they will shrink down as they cook.  Top with the pieces of butter.

3.  Roll out a second piece of dough and either fit to the top of the pie or cut into strips for a lattice pattern.  If not using the lattice pattern, don't forget to poke holes in the top crust to allow the steam to escape.  Tuck the ends under with the bottom crust.

4.  Mix together the glaze ingredients and brush lightly onto the top crust.  Sprinkle with a little sugar.  Place on baking sheet to catch drips and bake for 30 minutes.  Cover the tops of the pies with foil and then bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until bubbling and cooked through.  Let cool before eating.