Mini Apple Pies

Apple pie is such a classic dessert. After creating my Traeger Smoked Apple Crisp and traditional apple crumble recipes, it became my husband’s favorite thing for me to bake. So, I am always looking for new ways to whip up this classic. My newest iteration is this mini apple pies recipe.

When I saw Pillsbury’s new premade mini pie crusts at the grocery store, I thought it would be fun to make mini pies in a muffin tin. And so these mini apple pies were born!

Mini Apple Pies Recipe Walkthrough

Here I will show you how to make these mini pies. The first thing you need to do is set out your pre-made pie crusts, so they can get to room temperature while you make the filling. This will save you time and the trouble of tearing through cold dough.

While the dough is warming up, start on making the crumble. Making the crumble before the filling prevents the apples from sitting in the spices and sugar for too long, creating a runny filling, and getting the crusts soggy.

Next, you’ll peel and dice your apples before tossing in lemon juice, vanilla, cornstarch, sugar, and spices. Pop the filling into the crust, top with the crumble, and bake.

It’s not as confusing as it sounds! Keep reading below for a step by step guide with visual aids and helpful notes throughout.

Making the Crumble

First up, you will be making my Cinnamon Graham Cracker Crumble. It is a simple topping to make and a great companion recipe for any dessert. You can find it on a few of my other recipes, like my blueberry and lemon poke cake or my key lime poke cake.

All you need is some cinnamon graham crackers, light brown sugar, kosher salt, melted butter, and vanilla. The hardest part of this recipe will be resisting the urge to snack on the crumble as you go!

Step 1: Make the crumble.

The crumble consists of crushed graham crackers, light brown sugar, and salt mixed together, before adding melted unsalted butter and vanilla. Once all of the ingredients are incorporated, they are ready to be added to the apple pie cups.

Set aside and move on to the mini apple pie filling.

Making the Apple Cups Filling

The filling portion of this recipe is fairly easy. The most time consuming portion will be peeling and dicing the apples. But, since you are here to make mini apple pie bites you definitely expected to peel and dice some apples… right?

Once the apples are prepped, the rest of the filling is a few simple ingredients tossed in. I’ve prepared a visual walkthrough below.

Step 1: Peel and dice apples.

You’re looking for small pieces here, but not too small. You want as many apple pieces as possible to easily fit into the mini pie crust. After all, the apples are the star of the show here!

Step 2: Toss the diced apples in spices and sugar.

Making the filling will consist of tossing the apples in lemon juice and vanilla. In another small bowl, you’ll mix the brown sugar, cornstarch, and apple pie spice.

Once the apples have been mixed with the liquid ingredients, you will add the dry ingredients and toss to fully coat. There you go! The filling is made, easy as that.

Assembling the Mini Apple Pies

Now that the two components of the recipe are made, it is time to assemble the mini apple pies. All you have to do is put the crusts in the muffin tin, fill each crust with apple pie filling, top with the crumble, and bake.

While each of those steps are pretty simple, I have a few helpful notes on how to get the dices apples and a messy crumble to sit nicely in the crusts without making a mess.

Step 1: Line a muffin tin with strips of parchment paper and room temperature pre-made mini pie crusts.

Before adding the pie crusts into the muffin tin, be sure to add trips of parchment paper to the bottom of the mold. This will allow you to easily remove each pie from the tin. Cut 28 thin strips of parchment paper and put two in each muffin tin, across from each other in the shape of an “X.”

Allowing the crusts to get to room temperature makes them much easier to work with. It also prevents the dough from tearing as you handle it.

Be sure to press the dough into the bottom and sides of each muffin mold, avoiding lumps and bumps where you can. We want crusts that are crisp and clean, not messily folded all over each other.

Step 2: Spoon the apple pie mixture into the muffin tin.

Try to pack as many apple pieces as you can into the crusts, without too much overflow. While the filling will cook down into the crusts, we want to be able to pack a nice layer of crumble on top of the filling before we bake.

Step 3: Add the crumble topping to the muffin tin pies.

Spoon about 25 grams of the crumble into each mini apple crisp pie, making sure to firmly press the crumble into the apple mixture to ensure it all stays in place.

Step 4: Bake at 350ºF for 30-40 minutes.

Baking times for these mini apple pies will vary based on your oven, what kind of muffin tin you have, and how full you packed each mini pie.

To start, cover the pies with foil and bake the pie at 350ºF. If you have a dark pan, remove the foil after 25 minutes, and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the topping is golden brown and crispy.

If you have a lighter pan, the pies will take longer to bake. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 40 minutes, before removing the foil and baking for another 5-10 minutes.

Once the mini apple pies are out of the oven, sprinkle with some lemon zest for an extra kick, and allow to cool. Serve with some vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

What did you think if this mini apple pie recipe? Let us know down in the comments below!