These muffin tin apple pies are made with a cinnamon apple filling that gets caramelized and thickened on the stove to prevent any soggy bottoms. Baked in a homemade buttery, flaky pie crust, these make twelve festive individual-sized desserts.
These Mini Apples Pies are Fall Flavors in a Muffin Tin!
Apple pie is my favorite dessert of the fall season (okay, really it's my favorite dessert on the entire Thanksgiving table). So naturally, I wanted a mini version I could actually fit on my plate next to everything else. It's just the right size for a few good bites, and unlike hauling a full pie across town, these actually survive the car ride (ditto my apple hand pies with puff pastry, the lazy cousin of this recipe).
Here's the thing about apple pie filling: raw apples sound simple, but it creates a watery, crunchy, bland mess. I've pulled one too many soggy pies out of the oven waiting for fruit to end up underbaked while the crust burns. Instead I caramelize the apples on the stove first. This concentrates the flavor, and a little cornstarch thickens everything so the filling holds its shape. Each bite is filled with tender (not mushy) spiced apples and everything finishes baking at the same time.
While many recipes leave the skins on, I'm not a fan of that papery, chewy texture in a bite this small, so I recommend peeling your apples. Stick with a firm variety, like Granny Smith, Jonagold, Fuji, which won't turn mushy in the oven. And if you've got a bag of apples that are more mush than crisp, or a jar of applesauce with nowhere to go, my streusel applesauce cake turns that into a cozy fall showstopper.
The real move here to get that bakery-style finish is to chill the dough a second time, after it's shaped in the muffin tin. This is THE step most recipes skip, and it's the difference between crust that shrinks and loses its flake versus crust that holds its shape and stays buttery-crisp. Just 15 minutes in the fridge keeps the butter solid and lets the gluten relax after rolling.
Let's Bake Individual Apple Pies!
For the full step-by-step directions, scroll down to the recipe card.
Top Pie Crust: 3 Ways
The top crust is optional, but I designed this recipe to make enough for the bottom and top crusts on twelve mini pies. Keep it simple by using cookie cutters or just crumbling the crust on top like pie-streusel. Or make it fancy with a lattice design!
My Baking Tips for Bite-Sized Apple Pies
- To prevent the crust from sticking to the pan, grease each one with butter or oil all along the bottom and up the sides. And once they've cooled for a few minutes, I run a knife around the edge, then use that knife to gently pop them out.
- My homemade crust was far more pliable in testing, while store-bought crust kept cracking and tearing when I tried to fit it into the tiny cups. Definitely worth the extra effort here!
- Fill each mini pie right to the top. Overflow makes a mess on your pan, but a gap on top makes it look like you skimped.
Muffin Tin Apple Pies
developed & tested by:
Equipment
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold (2 sticks)
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt (use table salt or fine sea salt)
- ½ cup ice water, divided (kept cold in the fridge)
Apple Pie Filling
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 pounds apples, peeled and chopped into ½-inch pieces (about 2-3 large or 4-5 medium)
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon water
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
Topping
- 1 egg
- 1 Tablespoon water
- Coarse sugar
Instructions
Prepare the Pie Dough
- Cut the butter sticks into ½-inch cubes and store them in the fridge to keep them cold.
- In a food processor, add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Pulse a few times to combine everything.
- Add the cold, cubed butter to the food processor and pulse until the butter is broken into smaller pieces, with none looking bigger than a pea (about 7 to 10 pulses).
- Add ¼ cup of the ice water and pulse again until the dough starts to bind together and form small lumps. If it's still too dry after 10 pulses, add another tablespoon of ice water and pulse a few more times. The dough should hold its shape when squeezed in the palm of your hand.
- Dump out the dough on your counter, divide it in half, and press it into two large discs. Wrap each dough disc individually in plastic cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days.
Prepare the Apple Filling
- In a large saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter. Add the chopped apple, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally until the apples soften, after 10 to 15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water to make a cornstarch slurry.
- Bring the apples to a boil then add the cornstarch slurry. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Then set the apple pie filling aside to cool and thicken.
Assemble and Bake
- Generously grease a muffin tin.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one of the discs of dough until it's ½-inch (1.25cm) thick.
- Use a 3¾-inch (9.5cm) round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut out 12 circles from the pie dough. Gently press each one into the muffin tin.
- Spoon the cooled apple filling into the pie crust to fully fill each one in the muffin tin.
- Roll out the second disc of dough until it's ½-inch (1.25cm) thick, for the top crust.
- Leaf Shapes: Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes from the dough and place one on top of each mini pie.
- Lattice: Cut the dough into ½-inch (1.25cm) wide strips, then arrange them in a lattice design. Use a 2¾-inch (7cm) round cookie cutter or biscuit butter to cut out circles from the lattice, then gently transfer them on top of each mini pie.
- Crumbles: Instead of rolling out the dough, just crumble it in your hands over the mini pies.
- Put the muffin tin back in the fridge to keep the butter in the pie dough cold while the oven preheats to 425°F.
- Mix the egg and one tablespoon of water together to form an egg wash, then brush on top of each mini pie. Optional: sprinkle coarse sugar on top.
- Bake on the center rack for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust is golden. Cool for a few minutes before removing from the muffin tin & allow them to finish cooling on a wire cooling rack.
Notes
- Storing: These keep well at room temp, covered for a couple days, or in the fridge for a few extra days. I like to warm them in the oven for a few minutes at 350F before serving, so the crust crisps back up instead of going soft.
- Apples: I recommend using a variety that stays firm as it cooks, such as granny smith, honeycrisp, braeburn, fuji, and jonagold.
- Equipment: Use a standard muffin tin (not a mini muffin tin).
Nutrition
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