When Fall comes to Southern Connecticut, my church’s international mission team and 108 international students from the University of Bridgeport, where I teach composition and rhetoric, head for Lyman’s Orchard, in Middlefield, CT to pick apples and spend a day in the New England countryside. We go to Lyman’s because they treat their trees organically as much as they can and follow earth friendly planting methods. After we pick apples, we head back to my church where they have set up an apple pie making system that students use to make their own pies from the apples they picked. The whole day is so much fun., but after today’s outing and pie making, I did not have a pie to take to my Bible study the next morning even tho I had promised to bring one. Luckily, I was watching the Chew, when Clinton began making apple pie bites. I had a basket of gorgeous apples and here was Clinton’s oh so easy recipe – what could be better? Here is Clinton’s recipe which I tweaked by using two kinds of pie crust.
1 pkg Pillsbury pie crust or Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry or both (I used both)
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and diced up into small dice
4 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsps cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°Fahrenheit. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon until sugar is permeated with cinnamon throughout.
Peel, core and dice up the two apples into small dice and place in a bowl. I sugared mine, but CLinton did not. Set aside.
On a slightly floured surface (I use a wooden cutting board covered with wax paper sprinkled with flour), unwrap the pie crust and lay flat. Use just one pie crust at a time. Cut the edges off the round crust until the crust is a square.
Using a sharp serrated knife or a pizza cutter, divide the pie crust into 3″ squares.Using a pastry brush, brush each square with melted butter.
Sprinkle each square with cinnamon and sugar, reserving one tbsp of the sugar mixture for later.
Working with one square at a time, place a few teaspoons of diced apple in the center of the buttered and sugared square. Bring the ends up as if making a turnover. Then bring the other ends up to meet in the middle. Pinch together the side lines formed when both ends meet in the middle. Make sure all the apple is enclosed and all sides are pinched together.
Brush the apple pie bite with melted butter and then sprinkle with a bit of the leftover cinnamon sugar.Place each bite on the parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake in the preheated 425° oven until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack. You can serve them warm or cold. I sprinkle mine with powdered sugar and I warm them for 20 seconds in the microwave when I want to eat a leftover apple pie bite.
Apple Pie Bites
Note: The pie crust is delicious, but the puff paste crust is divine. Try them both and decide for yourself.
