Mini Apple Pie Tarts

I have been seeing adorable mini Apple Pies all over Pinterest and decided to give it a whirl.  I found a fantastic recipe over at Little Bit Funky and trust me when I say that you're going to want to try these!  I adjusted the recipe a touch to account for the amount of apple I had on hand, and the spices to suit my family's individual tastes, so here's how I made them.

Mini Apple Pie Tarts

Ingredients:

7 cups apples, diced

1/2 cup flour, heaping (don't level off)
1-1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

6 teaspoons butter, cut in half

1 refridgerator pie crust

Directions:

Peel, core and cut the apples into a small dice - you want these to be dainty little things, plus they need to fit into the muffin cup sized crusts!  Mix the apples with the flour, sugars, and spices.  Toss to coat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400-degrees, and spray a muffin tin with a baking spray.  Set aside and prepare the dough.

On a floured surface, roll out your dough just slightly, take care not to make it too thin.  I took at tip from Little Bit Funky and used the ring of a mason jar lid to cut circles for my muffin tin.  Gently push the circles into the pan, then fill with the apple mixture. Next, dot each tart with a 1/2 teaspoon of butter.

You can top these little tarts however you like - I used the leftover pie crust and just put small pieces here and there over the tops.  You could also use a crumb topping which would be very tasty, or even leave them topless - oh my, can't believe I just wrote that!

Bake the pie tarts in the oven for 18-22 minute, depending on your oven (I found that 21 minutes was perfect).  Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes, before carefully removing them from the tins.  Mine popped right out, which I was so excited about.

As I arranged them on a print tray, Olivia (now 19-months, can you believe that??) came over and started begging for one... what's a mama to do, right?  She and Daddy both gobbled one up right away.  These keep beautifully in the fridge for about a week and were the perfect little additions for everyone's lunches this week.

I hope you'll get the chance to make these - trust me when I say that they're delicious and tasty, and not much more work than a regular apple pie.