Pies are intimidating.
They’re delicate and tricky to master.
And then aside from nailing the taste and texture, there’s the presentation.
Have you ever seen the literal roses that are masterfully made out of dough and aesthetically arranged on top of the pie?
Just take a minute to Google “detailed pie crust designs” – seriously, go look!
Can you imagine making such exquisite, intricate designs? It took me 3 days to make, ice, decorate these butterfly sugar cookies (4 if you count the day to photograph them, and I wish I was exaggerating). At that rate, Thanksgiving pies need to be started when pumpkin spice season rolls out September 1st!
They say baking is a science, but you honestly can’t tell me that it’s not an art as well.
But this is not that. This recipe takes the science, art, AND intimidation out of pie making.
With no delicate dough rolling required, these pies are flexible and feasible for all, no matter the skill level. And the best part? They don’t have to look perfect; in fact, the less perfect the better. Those little nicks, notches, and marks add character – and they don’t affect how the pies taste, which is what really matters!
Mini Apple Pies
Ingredients
Crust
- ½ C almond flour
- ½ C oat flour
- ½ tsp. cane sugar or sweetener
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- 1 TBSP oil: walnut, almond, coconut
- 8 tsp. water
Filling
- ~145 g apples, peeled and diced
- 1 tsp. honey or date syrup
- ½ tsp. vanilla
- ¼ tsp. oat flour
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Combine the dry crust ingredients in a bowl (everything except the oil and water)
- Add the oil and gradually add the water, mixing until a dough forms – it should be tacky, but not sticky*
- Oil a muffin pan and press the dough into the tins and up the sides to make ~4 pie crusts (or for a thicker crust, 3 pies), leaving some dough aside for the lattice; you can either eyeball it or evenly divide the dough into 5 pieces (4 pieces for the tins, 1 for the lattice)
- Bake the crusts for 5 minutes
- Peel and dice the apples to your liking, if you haven't already
- In a bowl, mix the diced apples and rest of the filling ingredients together
- Generously scoop the spiced apples into the crusts; it’ll look like a dome of apples but they’ll lose volume as they bake so no need to press or pack them down
- Use the extra dough to make the lattice – take a small piece, roll it between your hands, then flatten and shape it to form a long, skinny rectangle, making 5 pieces per pie. If there isn’t enough dough, no big deal! You can leave it plain, drizzle some caramel, add a crumble topping (such as a Brown Sugar Oat Crumble, linked in the notes), or jazz it up by serving with whipped cream or ice cream
- Assemble the lattice by evenly spacing out 3 pieces parallel to one another, lay 2 more perpendicularly on top of those, then gently weave them together
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, removing when the edges of the crust start to gain some golden brown color
- Cover each pie with a little tin foil blanket to prevent the tops from burning, then bake for an additional 7-15 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly or apples are soft (piercing with a fork or toothpick to check) but not applesauce soft*
- Let cool before removing the pies from the pan, then store in an airtight container at room temperature (or the fridge to last longer) and pop them in the microwave for ~10-15 seconds to warm before serving
Notes
- *3. Gradually adding the water allows you to control the consistency of the dough, and it’s obviously easier to add extra liquid to a recipe if needed than it is to remove it if too much is added
- *9. The Brown Sugar Oat Crumble recipe can be found here
- *12. Time wise, always start on the lower end of the spectrum and if the diced apples are chunkier, the pies will likely need to cook closer to the 15+ minute range
- Other fruit fillings may be used (peach and blueberry are shown in some of the photos); just swap the apples out with your favorite pie filling. And if the filling is juicier or runnier, be sure to form a thicker crust.
- This recipe can be halved to make 2 pies or doubled to make ~7-8
Having perfectionist tendencies, at times it can feel better to avoid situations that may bring out the petulant ways of perfectionism; like making a picture-perfect pie for instance.
It doesn’t help that it seems as if all the pie recipes out there are either award-winning or passed down from generation to generation. Granted, that’s bound to happen when pies are such an American classic; there’s even a movie called American Pie! (Even though it has nothing to do with pie.) So with how quintessential pies are paired with possible perfectionism, it can feel overwhelming, to the point of debating “why bother when countless others can do it better?”
But that doesn’t mean we can’t successfully make a pie of our own! After all, there’s the saying “easy as pie” for a reason.
And that’s where this recipe comes in.
What makes this non *top rated, super secret ~fancy~ family recipe* different is just that- it is none of the above.
It’s simply an easy, yummy recipe for a fruit-filled pie that the average person can make and be happy with the outcome. And not only is it beginner-friendly, but it’s allergen-friendly too, making it a recipe that’s truly fit for everyone.
If you’re a visual person, a video of this recipe being made is on Instagram. And for more no-experience-required recipes:
- Protein French Toast that can be made in a shaker cup or Tupperware container
- One Bowl PB Cookies
- Cabinet Cookies (also a one-bowler)
- Healthy Hot Chocolate
If interested, the macronutrients are below. They are kept separate at the very end of each recipe blog so that this can remain a safe, positive space for all as not everyone wishes to see the nutritional information.
Macros per pie (based on 4 pies, with lattice): 21.1 C | 10.2 F | 6.2 P
If you make more or less than 4 pies and would like to know the macros per pie, take the macros of the entire recipe below and divide each macro by the number of pies made to determine the macros per pie.
Macros for the entire recipe: 84.5 C | 40.9 F | 24.6 P
And if a different fruit filling is used, here are the macros for the crust only: 58 C | 40.6 F | 24 P
The macros for recipes are also available on MyFitnessPal. Simply search the name of the recipe followed by “ – SUNutrition” (so for this recipe, search “Mini Apple Pies – SUNutrition”).
leave a comment