Fall is almost here!!! The air is getting cooler and I am so excited that my favorite season of the year has nearly arrived! :-) And with it comes so many wonderful things like beautiful colors of falling leaves, pumpkin spice everything, hayrides, warm apple cider, comfy sweaters, corn mazes, bonfires, cozy blankets, Thanksgiving, crisp air, and hot chocolate!
So with all of that and delicious caramel apples in mind, I made
these amazingly yummy, Mini Salted Caramel Apple Pies!
It's not a very healthy recipe, but are very tasty, special treat, and I'm hoping
to make some at Thanksgiving.
Ingredients:
The Dough:
2 cups self-rising flour
2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup sour cream
The Filling:
2 cups diced, peeled apples (I used sweet red ones, but would be neat to try maybe with Granny Smith apples) NOTE: dice apple very small to make make sure they cook thoroughly.
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
About 10 store-bought soft caramel candies
Sea salt
Egg wash (1 egg whisked with 1 Tablespoon of water)
How to Make 'Em:
The Dough:
In a large bowl, add cubes of cold butter to the flour. Working with your fingers until the mixture is wet and kind of grainy.
Stir in the sour cream. At this point the dough will be very wet. Knead dough into a ball, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator (the longer it's in there, the easier it will be to work).
The Filling:
In another bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar, and flour. Stir until mixed thoroughly.
The Assembly:
Preheat oven to 425ยบ F.
Get the dough out of the refrigerator and roll it out on a floured surface. If you have trouble because the dough is so wet, just keep powdering wet places with flour and be sure to keep your rolling pin well floured.
Using a cookie cutter, or cup like I did, cut out 16 circles (will make 8 pies or roll it thinner and get 20 circles/10 pies). Keep re-rolling scraps until you get enough circles.
Put half the circles on wax paper or a very well floured and greased pan. Spoon some filling into the center of each pie. Chop caramels, place on top of apple mixture in each pie and add just a pinch of sea salt to each making it slated caramel. Now place a circle on top of each and crimp around the edges with a fork.
Brush all the pies with the egg wash and cut three vents in the tops of the pies.
Bake for 15 minutes or until they're are golden brown.
Let them cool a little before eating. Also, they are soooooo good
still warm with some homemade, vanilla ice cream on top!
Enjoy! :-)
What kind of yummy fall treats do y'all like making?
