52 Recipes in 52 Weeks: Week 5 - Teeny Tiny Pies

Can I just say that I am loving this challenge? I know I'm the only person who will be disappointed in myself if I don't finish, but I've really been enjoying forcing myself to make the time to try something new each week! Even if I'm tired, busy or uninspired, I will push myself to do something that week! 

With that said, I'm OBSESSED with this one…

I originally got the idea for this week's recipe from my version of food blog porn, The Smitten Kitchen. Side note: I love everything about this blog. The food-tography, the recipes, the overall feel and personality of the blog…it's like when I get to buy bridal magazines, find a new craft blog, or get to watch a Martha Stewart holiday special: perfection. When my new kitchen guru started this project, she almost didn't share it with her readers because she thought it was too much work and "overly precious." There are no better words to describe this recipe than "overly precious." 

I won't lie and say that I did things the same way that they were done on the Smitten Kitchen blog because, as she said, they were too much work. In fact, once I realized how much I had to get done before our trip to Florida to see our buddies, Randi and Kristina, I knew I had to find a different version of this recipe that was a little less involved. I found a great one, but then I decided to make it up on my own. So, here you've got a recipe that, unfortunately, has very few specifics:

Teeny Tiny Apple Pies:

1 bag of apples (minus 3 because I got tired of cutting them and figured I had enough and it worked perfectly) 

3-6 tbsp white sugar

2-5 tbsp brown sugar

some allspice

some nutmeg

some cinnamon

2 tbsp cornstarch

water

lemon juice

2 boxes of store-bought pie crusts (gasp! I know…but sometimes you just don't have time)

Extra sugar and spice mix

1 egg

First things first, fill up a bowl with water and lemon juice. When you finish peeling each apple, put it into this bowl so that the apples don't turn brown. It doesn't matter what color apple you use. I like granny smith apples the best, so that's what I used. After peeling all the apples you think you'll need (it's best to leave a couple unpeeled. If you decide you need more, you can always peel and cut them later, but if you peel the entire bag, like I did, you'll end up throwing away 3 perfectly good apples because you're going out of town and can't leave a bowl of peeled apples and lemon water on the counter. If you do, you'll get bugs), begin cutting them into little bits. I tried to get mine as small as possible. If someone knows of an easy way to cut all those apples into small bits, please let me know. Better yet, if there is some sort of machine that will peel them, core them and slice them, please direct me to it and I will thank you greatly. I plan on making this recipe again fairly soon because they were delicious and I want it to be a bit easier. 

I placed my apple bits in a little water/lemon mixture as well. I hate brown apples. Once you've cut up enough (I know I should have a measurement here, but I just don't. Sorry) apple bits, move them into a sauce pan with a little water and sugar, dissolved and almost boiling. I said 3-6 tbsp for 2 reasons: 1. I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing and 2. I was just looking to get a thicker consistency for my apple mixture. Once almost boiling, add the white and brown sugar and the rest of the spices. I should have done this, but didn't: dissolve your cornstarch in a little water before you add it to the mixture. If you don't you'll end up with little clumps of cornstarch in the pies and it will make you mad.

Boil everything for about a minute and then let simmer for 10 minutes. Feel free to taste test your handiwork. You want to make sure it's a perfect balance between sweet and tart and that your apples aren't too mushy. 

While you're simmering down now, you can roll out your pie crusts until they're just a bit thinner. You don't want them too thin, or else everything will fall apart. I found one of Evan's beer sample glasses (from Sweetwater Brewery) that holds about 4-6 oz to use as my pie crust cutter. I cut as many circles as I could from all 4 of the pie crusts (I got the Pillsbury kind because they were on sale for 5 for $5 at Publix and they each held 2 pie crusts) and set them on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet. 

I lined them up 2 by 2, like Noah's animals…you've got to have a bottom and a top for each pie. For the top, make sure you cut 4 little slits in the crust. For the bottom, wet the outer edge slightly with water; this will help the two pie pieces to stick together. Put about 1/2 spoonful of the apple filling on each bottom crust. Place the slotted crust on top and press down the edges with a fork. Aren't they adorable already?

When you've filled up one cookie sheet, crack an egg and mix a little water in with it and "wash" each pie with the mixture. Since pie crusts take a little while to brown in the oven and we're only making tiny pies that bake for a considerably shorter period of time, the egg mix will help brown things nicely. Also, it helps the sugar and spice mixture stick to the crust. Oh yeah, sprinkle with the sugar and spice mixture. 

Place your full cookie sheet (you can load these up since they don't expand) in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 18-20 minutes, or until nicely browned and get cracking on the next batch. 

Please, let them cool before you attempt to eat them. I'm speaking from experience here. I was really anxious to try them and really hungry when they came out of the oven! Seriously, let them cool or you won't be able to enjoy any food for about 3 days. :( 

There you go…aren't they adorable? 

Here are some situations in which these would be the most adorable food-gifts ever:

• Housewarming present for your in-laws who are watching your dog for the weekend in their new house(thanks, Martha and David! Cali enjoyed herself!)
• Get well present for your sick friends who are letting you borrow their dog crate for the weekend so that your in-laws can actually sleep at night instead of worrying about your dog and their dog conspiring against them! (thanks Stoll Family! Hope everyone is all better finally!) 
• Hostess gift for the friends you're driving down to Florida to see and haven't seen in months! (Thanks Randi and Kris for being such awesome hostesses!)
• Breakfast for same hostess friend who got stuck in the airport in Indianapolis because US Airways couldn't get their pilot there on time and then refused to give any of the 50 people on that flight vouchers for accommodations or food even though they "delayed" their flight from 8:00 pm until 7:30 the next morning. Ever spent the night in a snow globe? Randi has.
• Thank you gift for the sweetest little old lady in the world who lives in a REAL CASTLE on the Jacksonville river area and was kind enough to tell us the entire history of her house when we so rudely interrupted her gardening. Also could be used to butter her up in the future so that maybe she will invite us in to see the gorgeous architectural features she described in great detail. (I want to adopt this woman, but, since her family all lives in the houses surrounding hers, I don't think she needs anyone to take care of her…)
• First day of school lunch box treat
• Last day of school treats for the teacher
• and many, many more…

I encourage everyone to give these a try. Evan and I are actually on the way home from Jacksonville right now and I'm trying to figure out if I have time to make more before I need to go to bed tonight. I'm guessing no, but I really want to…

Eat a tiny apple pie a day, keep the frumpy grumps away! :)