Baking Mini Apple Pies with the kids {recipe inside}

We usually dye eggs and bake cookies the weekend before Easter but this year we did something different. I saw this mini apple pie recipe on Pinterest the other day and I have been wanting to make it since. I love any recipes with apples! After making a batch on Friday, I decided that it would be fun to make more with the kids.

I didn't want to make as many as the original recipe so we halved the ingredients. Hubby doesn't like cinnamon so I reduced that too and left out the nutmeg. This is what I thought would work for a dozen mini apple pies:

4 granny smith apples (Too many! 2 would work just fine), flour, sugar, cinnamon, butter, pillsbury pie crust)

Following the original recipe, I peeled and cut the apples into small pieces that were approx. 1/2". The picture above shows 4 apples and that was what I prepared but it turned out to be way too many. 2 apples would have been fine. I ended up making a second batch with the leftover apples.

Anywayz....

All three kids were excited to participate but 3 pairs of extra hands in the kitchen are 3 pairs too many. I had to plan hard and organize well in order to execute this recipe with the keen kiddies. :-)

(Note: If you are trying out this recipe for the first time, make a batch by yourself when the kids are in school because you will want to scream and run away when they all start to fight over who gets to stir what or use the same cookie cutter....)

Once I finished cutting the apples and setting them aside, Kid 1 (Panda Girl) got to dump the cinnamon into the flour and mix it in.

While Kid 1 was busy, Kid 2 (Twin B) got to pour the sugar over the apples.

Kid 1 was happy to pour her flour/cinnamon mixture into the bowl next.

And Kid 3 (Twin A) gets to stir!

This is how the apples look like when covered with the cinnamon/flour/sugar mixture.

Using the lid of a large mason jar (I used the lid from a jar of Costco peaches), I cut out 12 circles to "line" the muffin pan with.

Next comes the part that the kids were waiting for- they get to use small cookie cutters on the leftover dough!

See how many hands there are? A lot! LOL! In order to avoid drama, I used a butter knife to score and divide the dough so that each kid is only allowed to cut her own section. Here are some of the cut outs:

While the kids were busy playing cutting with their cookie cutters, I filled the muffin pan with the apples. I had to keep any apple bits from touching the pan because it'll stick. When I made my very first batch last Friday, I had a few that touched the sides of the muffin pan and it was hard to get the pies out without breaking them apart.

Before letting the kids put their cut outs over the pies, I was supposed to place a piece of butter over each pie. I didn't take a picture of that step because I forgot. I only remembered about the butter when the kids were halfway through putting on the pie tops. :P

 Here are the pies with their tops already brushed with melted butter. They are ready for the oven!

Here they are again, all done!

As I had a lot of leftover prepared apples, I made a second batch with Twin B. Luckily I had an extra box of pie crust in the fridge.

Here is our second batch:

Don't they look pretty all together? They were delicious too!

We love these mini apple pies so much that the girls insisted on bringing some to go with their school lunch today. I love that they are bite-size. While baking these with the kids took three times as long as I did when I made them all by myself, I had a lot more fun playing pastry chefs with them. Who knows, making mini apples pies the week before Easter may just be our new tradition. ;-)

toppers from LD's For Peep's Sake Party Printable.

Jin's modified Mini-Apple Pies Recipe:
(Original recipe from Quick &Easy recipes)

This will make a dozen muffin-pan size mini apple pies.

Equipment:
1 muffin pan
1 circle cutter (or large mason jar lid)
2-3 small cookie cutters with cute shapes

Ingredients:

• 2 large granny smith apples
• 6 tablespoons of all purpose flour
• 3/4 cups of sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon (add more if you like the pies to be more "cinnamon-y")
• 2 tablespoons of chilled butter cut into 12 equal pieces
• 1 box of chilled Pillsbury pie crust
• (plus some melted butter for a butter wash) 

Directions:

• Set oven to 400 deg F
• Mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a small bowl.
• Peel and cut apples to approx. 1/2" pieces.
• Coat the apples with the sugar mixture.
• Unroll the pie crust and cut 12 circles with the mason jar lid.
• Use the cookie cutters to cut from the remaining crust.
• Line the muffin pan with the cut out circles.
• Fill with the prepared apples, making sure that the apples do not touch the sides of the pan.
• Lay a piece of butter on each pie and cover with the cut out shapes.
• Brush with melted butter and bake for 18-22 minutes.