If you like apple pie, you will love these Mini apple pies baked in 6" pie pans. It makes the cutest apple pie for two.
Mini Apple Pies
On a recent trip to Crate & Barrel, hoping to trade all of my money for all the pretty dishes, I stumbled upon two mini pie dishes. They were 6" across, which is the size I use for all of my small pies, and the edges were fluted. Plus, they're perfectly white.
So what any person would do I snatched up two mini pie dishes, skipped to the register, and headed home to peel apples. These pie plates were always meant to be mini apple pies.
What Apples to Use
It's amazing how much you can learn about apples when preparing an apple pie recipe. At a visit to my farmer's market, I grabbed a random bag of apples labeled 'local' from the farmer's market. When those apples emerged crispy from the oven, I started googling "best apples to use in apple pie."
Here's what I found:
- If we were baking regular sized pies, there would be more wiggle room when choosing apple varieties, I think. But, since we're baking mini pies with a lesser amount of crust that browns faster in the oven, we really have to make sure the apples are going to soften in our 30 minute bake time.
- For that reason, I'm only recommending a mix of Golden Delicious and Braeburn apples for making these mini apple pies. This article by Serious Eats that ranks apples for pie are my new favorite food geek article.
I feel like we're going to end the year with lots of pie recipes, is this okay with you? You might also like my apple crisp for two recipe!
Notes
- Each 6" mini pie plate makes 4 mini slices of pie. Personally, I can eat two mini slices at a time, which is like 1 normal size piece, except with double the amount of crust (which feels like a total bonus!).
- If you're really a household of two, I suggest freezing the other pie for your next apple pie craving (unbaked, of course).
I have a whole collection of apple desserts for two on this site, but my absolute favorite (after this recipe for mini apple pies, of course) is my crockpot apple butter.
What do you think about these Mini Apple Pies? Let us know in the comments below. And make sure to share your creations by tagging me on Instagram!
Mini Apple Pies
Two mini 6" apple pies for two.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2 ounces of shortening (cold)
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold)
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for rolling)
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup ice water
For the apple filling:
- 6 small apples (preferably Golden Delicious and Braeburn apples)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ lemon, zested & juiced
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 large egg yolk, beaten (for egg wash)
- coarse sugar, for sprinkling on top (optional)
Instructions
- First, make the crust: dice the shortening and butter into ½" cubes and place on a plate in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt, and whisk lightly to combine.
- Add the chilled shortening and butter to the flour mixture, and use two forks or a pastry blender to combine. Incorporate the fats into the flour until the pieces are slightly smaller than peas. Don't over mix.
- Evenly drizzle the ice water over the mixture in two batches, stirring gently to combine. The dough should start to clump together (but not seem overly wet), but there should be no dry patches of flour.
- Scrape the dough into a large ball, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- When the dough only has about 30 minutes left of chill time, peel, core and slice the apples into ¼" slices.
- Place the sliced apples in a bowl, and stir in the sugar, flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and all of the spices. Set aside to rest while you roll out the dough.
- After the dough has chilled for 2 hours, lightly dust your counter with flour. Divide the dough into 4 pieces, leaving 2 slightly larger than the other two (these will be the bottom crusts).
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Roll out the two larger pieces of dough to about 9" in diameter to fit inside the 6" pie pans, leaving plenty draping over the edges for crimping and sealing. Drape the bottom crust in the pie plate, and set aside.
- Next, roll out the two smaller pieces of dough to about 8" in diameter, and using a pizza wheel, cut 10-11 strips of dough that are 1" wide.
- If you want to make a plain lattice, leave the dough strips as-is. If you'd like to braid the dough, cut 3 thin pieces of dough from 1" strips. If you want to alternate thin and thick pieces of dough, make the thin ones by cutting the 1" strips in half.
- When you're ready to lattice the top of the pies, pour the apples into the pie pans. Pack the apples in very tightly. Be sure to include the accumulated juice in the bottom of the bowl.
- Dice the remaining tablespoon of butter and spread it evenly on top of the apples.
- Drape the strips of dough on top of the apples in one direction. To make a lattice, alternate flipping pieces back to weave in a strip of dough in the other direction (it's pretty hard to describe how to do this using words--search for a how-to video on YouTube, k?).
- Once the top of pies are latticed, trim the excess dough from the edges, and pinch the bottom and top pie crust together. Use your fingers to crimp around the edges to seal in the apples completely.
- Finally, beat the egg yolk with a splash of water, and brush it over the surface of the pie crust.
- Sprinkle coarse sugar on top the pies.
- Place the pies on a baking sheet, and slide them into the oven.
- Bake them for ~30 minutes, and be sure to check to see if the crust is browning too much at around 20-25 minutes. If so, cover it loosely with foil to shield it from the heat of the oven.
- After 30 minutes of baking, use a knife to poke some apples and see if they're done. The pie is done when the apples are fork-tender, and the filling is bubbling, about 30-40 minutes (use a foil shield as much as you need to).
- Let the pies cool completely before attempting to slice and serve.
Notes
- Each 6" mini pie plate makes 4 mini slices of pie. Personally, I can eat two mini slices at a time, which is like 1 normal size piece, except with double the amount of crust (which feels like a total bonus!).
- If you're really a household of two, I suggest freezing the other pie for your next apple pie craving (unbaked, of course). If I had a mini pie waiting for me in my freezer at all times, I think I would probably be one notch happier. But, I guess we'll never know because my family finished these two mini pies in a day and a half.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 959Total Fat: 55gSaturated Fat: 30gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 22gCholesterol: 200mgSodium: 692mgCarbohydrates: 108gFiber: 8gSugar: 37gProtein: 12g
Anna says
I have C&B's large 10-inch white pie dish with the fluted edges and absolutely LOVE it! It's the only pie dish I use. But the 6" ones seem perfect and great for freezing in smaller portions! Love this.
Christina Lane says
Ok, I need the 10" pan now!!!
Susan says
Yes, it is definitely OK with me to end the year with lots of pie recipes.
I only have one 6" pie plate, so I'll probably make the whole recipe of pie crust dough but put half in the freezer for another time, and make half of the pie filling part to make just one pie.
Christina Lane says
That will totally work! :)
Julie says
I am all for the pies at the moment so bring it on. I made A 6 inch cranberry pie this morning. I used a cake pan for it. All my mini pie pans are 5 inches. Can't wait to try this. Julie
Christina Lane says
Cranberry pie sounds SOOOO good! <3
Susanna says
I usually cook apple chunks or slices a little bit on a pan with spices and half of the butter before baking the pie. Not much though, just for some minutes and making sure applease are still crisp. Then let it cool down completely before baking, I have come to like the extra flavour I seem to get out of this process. This is when I have some extra time, of course. Otherwise, your method works perfectly too ;-)
I love apple season! funny think is that I don't like eating raw apples, as fruit. I mean I would eat them, don't get me wrong but a plain appel would never be a fruit of choice for me.... and then... give a cinnamont baked pie, apple cruble, apple pie, apple whatever you can thinkg of... and I'm all for it!
Thanks for sharing these beautiful pictures and recipe :-)
Susanna says
Ooops, I apologize for such bad grammar! fast typping and auto corrector in my computer are not good friends at all!
Gabrielle says
These apple pies are too cute. Just what I need in a household of 4 where only half of us will actually eat them haha. And I love pie in general, so yes!! Keep em comin!
Natalie says
WOW! I love apple pie and these one look particularly delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Your pictures are so beautiful as well ♥
Elsie says
I never use shortening. Can I use all butter For the crust?
Christina Lane says
Sure!
Holly says
Hi Christina!
First of all, these sound and look freaking awesome. I comment a lot with questions for your recipes (sorry! Probably a little annoying that I ask so many!) I don’t own mini pie pans. I found these when I was looking to buy some specifically to make this recipe. That’s how good it looks. Actually, all of my mini bakeware was bought to make your recipes. Do you think they would work okay even though they are silicone? It also says for graham cracker crust. Do you think I could use a ramekin for a pan as well? Thanks in advance! Sorry about the frequent questions!
Side note: where did you buy your super cute mini whisk with the heart on it? I’m trying to find a mini whisk but I don’t know what size to get. Does 2x5 sound right? I’m looking on amazon.
Wilton Silicone Mini Pie Molds https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I3EQASU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_L3zxAbQ2602NK
Christina Lane says
Hi Holly!
No need to apologize--that's what I'm here for :) You are so sweet! I'm so happy you want to bake small desserts with me :)
First, I haven't tried silicone bakeware, but I hear really good things about it! If you use it, I would place it on a small baking sheet to hold it, just in case its' a little wobbly.
And yes, you can absolutely use a big ramekin. I use them all the time for pies, and love them!
So, the heart whisk was a gift, but I have a Store on my site (see the Menu bar? Click 'STORE') and it links to another mini whisk that I use and love.
Happy baking, Holly! Write me anytime :)
Samara Léger says
Can i leave out the lemon zest? I only have lemon juice... I've been craving apple pie for a while!
Christina Lane says
Yes, Samara! Enjoy :)
Louise says
Happy Boxing Day. Your new Dessert for Two just arrived. Loving it! Thank you. Our favorite dessert is pie and we can’t have a lot of leftovers because DH who’s diabetic can’t resist them. I’m having a hard time finding the right pie plates. The only true seven inch ones I can find are on Amazon but aren’t supposed to be put in a pre-heated oven. Do you have any recommended sources, brands, etc.?
Christina Lane says
Hi Louise! Thanks so much for writing! I have a store on my page with pie plates: pie plates for oven.