Mini Bundt Apple Pies....a cute twist to a classic dessert!

Spring is in the air and we can finally walk outside without a big load of sweaters and jackets on our shoulders! My son is seeing what the real world looks like (outside of his home, malls and grocery stores) for the very first time and you should see how he looks around, curiosity filling in his eyes, at the trees, birds, squirrels and at other kids playing in the park. How I love that look! :-)

Now to my recipe , Mini Bundt Apple Pies. I'm not sure if anyone else has ever heard of or made an Apple Pie in a Bundt pan! So do I get a patent for creating these cuties??!! :-D
Well I made these a couple of weeks back when winter was still in the air and the thought of some nice and warm homemade pie just could not be neglected. And I had a whole bag of crispy n juicy Red Fuji apples!

This was my second try at baking pies. Well for an amateur at making pies from scratch, I never thought my crust would come out so good and I have to be honest that it took me sometime to get this done, as the pie dough kept breaking while rolling and the cookie cutter I used did not create a circle that was big enough to fill in the mini bundt pan....So lots of trials and errors later I was able to utilize the whole pie crust dough I made, to prepare 5 mini bundt pies :-)

I took the recipe for the Apple Pie filling from the blog Baking Bites , it was just a random search and I found the recipe easy and it turned out great!.
The recipe for the Pie crust is from my own recipe for the Lattice crust on my Cherry and Blueberry Pie., but I added more butter and less sugar ;-)

Mini Bundt Apple Pies Recipe
You'll need
Pie Crust
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 tblsp
Cold Butter (cut into small cubes)  - 4 tblsp
Ice water - 5-8 tblsp (just enough to get the dough into shape)
Pie Filling
Apples - 4 small or 3 large ( I used Red Fuji apples)
Ground Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Ground Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Brown sugar - 2/3 cup
Cornstarch - 1 tblsp
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp ( I just added a pinch)

Directions
For Pie Crust 
1. Knead together the all purpose flour, cold butter and sugar with ice cold water.
2. Make a smooth pie dough , cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge or freezer until chilled well. (about 30 minutes to an hour).
For Pie Filling
1. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add in apples and sautee for 4-5 minutes, until they just start to soften.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together cinnamon, nutmeg (optional), brown sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add to apples and stir to coat.
3. Cook until sugar is bubbling, apples are very tender and the mixture starts to thicken, 5-8 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
To prepare Mini Bundt Apple Pies
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Cut the pie crust dough in half and roll out one half of the pie crust dough on a lightly floured surface until they are about 1/8-inch thick.
3. Cut dough into rounds about 1- 1.5 inches larger than the size of the mini bundt pan that you will be using ( you can also use muffin tin or mini pie pan).
4. Press dough into pan and up the sides. (I spread some melted butter around the side of each pan round)
5. Roll out remaining half of the pie crust dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut smaller rounds into remaining dough to form the tops of the pies.
6. Use a tablespoon to spoon out the cooled apple mixture into each prepared pie crust. ( I used about 3 tblsp in each ) Some liquid will have been released from the apples, so evenly distribute this as well.
7. Top pies with a second round of dough and press down the edges with a fork to seal. Also press the fork down the centre of the pies to release any steam which may come out.
8. Bake for 16-20 minutes, until pastry is golden brown. Allow pies to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then gently loosen and transfer to a wire rack to cool before serving.

Suggestions and Tips:

1. Prepare the Pie dough first before preparing the filling, that'll give you enough time to help the dough to get chilled (I used the freezer to chill - around 20-25 mins)

2. Make sure your first pie crust round (which will form the base for you filling is larger than the diameter of each individual rounds of  your pie pan) . This is very IMPORTANT!!!  (Mine wasn't upto the mark, so a bit of my pie filling poured out while baking)
3. You can use any fruit filling.

The actual recipe was for preparing 6 mini pies, so I had some leftover apple pie filling...which we both gladly licked up to the last drop! :-) The pie crust was so buttery and soft yet crispy , almost the texture of sugar cookies and the pis pie filling was exceptional.
You could add some whipped cream into the bundt holes or any left over pie filling and enjoy this really cute dessert! We really enjoyed these and I'm sure you will too.

-Manju