Recipe: Mini Apple Pie Puffs

Miniature Apple Pie Puffs
Makes 25-30

• 2 boxes of Betty Crocker’s just-add-water pie crust dough (or four homemade pie crust dough)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3-4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into ¼-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• Smidgen of ground cloves
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 ½ tablespoons flour
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF.
2. Melt butter in large pan over medium heat. Add apples, sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, cloves, and lemon juice. Cook, stirring, until apples are softened to your preference, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in flour. Cool.
4. Roll out pie crust and use cookie cutter or cup to cut 2-inch circles.
5. Brush egg on inside edge of ¾ of the circumference of the circle. Lay another circle on top and press the edges together where egg is to seal, leaving an 1-inch opening at the top to fill.
6. Place a tablespoon (more or less) of apple filling into the pocket, and press pocket closed. Crimp edges with your fingers. Lay on a parchment lined baking sheet.
7. Brush tops of pie puffs with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
9. Serve with warm caramel sauce (recipe below).

Caramel sauce
Makes about 2 cups

• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup water
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Dash of salt

1. Measure out cream, butter, and salt and keep them handy.
2. In a 2-quart saucepan, add water and sugar, making sure that sugar is not stuck to the side. Turn heat to medium high, and insert candy thermometer.
3. As sugar starts to melt, stir to make sure sugar distributes evenly. Stop stirring and continue cooking.
4. Watch CAREFULLY. As soon as the mixture begins to turn color, it will change very fast. Just as the candy thermometer reaches 350ºF and the caramel is an amber color, remove from heat and pour in cream all at once (Stand back as it will react and sizzle quite a bit). This stage is key, if the caramel gets too dark before you remove it from the heat, it’ll taste burned and bitter.
5. Add butter and salt. When the sizzling calms down, return to medium low heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes.
6. Pour into a cup or bowl and let cool a bit before serving.