By Pearse O’Malley

Thanksgiving is days away, and if you’re thinking about contributing to the meal in some way, these mini apple pies can be done in less an hour. Making large 9-inch pies can seem daunting and strenuous, often because the ingredients needed for them are unusual and won’t be used for anything else in the house. These apple pies don’t need shortening or a large pie pan, and are just about the size of a slice from an actual pie. All you need is a muffin tin and 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

Pastry:

-2 cups flour
-2/3 cup butter, chilled
-1 tsp. salt
-4 tbsp. water

Filling:

-2 apples, peeled and chopped
-6 tbsp. sugar
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-3 tbsp. flour
-1 tbsp. butter, chilled

Steps:

1) Preheat oven to 425ºF and grease muffin pan.

2) Mix together flour, salt and butter until it looks like little peas. It’s important the butter is cold.

3) Add in water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix just until it looks like it’s sticking.

4) Take out and combine it by hand until well incorporated. Let the dough sit in fridge.

5) Mix by hand all the filling ingredients except for the butter.

6) Fill each muffin tin with about 1 tablespoon of dough and flatten out to form little bowls in the circles of the muffin tin.

7) Leave enough crust for the top of the pies.

8) Evenly divide the filling into each bowl.

9) Cut up the butter into 9 little pieces and place one piece on each pie.

10) Top each pie with remaining dough.

11) Bake for 16-18 minutes (until crust is light brown) and let cool completely.

12) Enjoy!

Source: www.food.com