Mini Dutch Apple Pie

In the fall, I crave apples, cinnamon, pumpkin and whatever smells and tastes like October or Thanksgiving. But I don’t crave making and rolling out piecrust that might not turn out good in the end. Soooo, this mini apple pie fills the bill in so many ways. You can use apples from your trip to the orchard where you went insane and bought a bushel, or just apples from the grocery store. Anything tastes amazing drenched in butter, sugar, and cinnamon. AND you can use refrigerated pie dough that rolls or punches out in two minutes flat.

Use Low Fodmap and Fiber Safe Dough

Are you GF or need low fodmap dough? Then use a GF pie dough, but read the ingredients. Just because a dough says it is gluten free and is fructan free as well as low fodmap, doesn’t mean it is made with fiber safe ingredients. Some GF flour is made with brown rice flour, chickpea/other bean flour, barley flour – all harsh flours that can send IBS folks straight to the loo. Yikes! Sorry IBS folks, but harsh fiber is as dangerous to us as high fodmaps, so I read the ingredients on every GF product.

Examples of Safe Ingredients

White rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, corn flour are all safe fiber ingredients. If you can’t find a safe GF pie dough, make your own using a flour like GF Jules. Remember to also check for lactose free, dairy free if you have lactose issues.

Isn’t Apple High in Fodmaps and Fiber?

After you have chosen a great pie dough, pay attention to how much chopped apple you include in your filling. Just under 1/4 cup of pink apple or granny smith apple is tolerable for fodmaps. Apple without its outer peel is fiber safe according to helpforibs.com. You might want to add dried cranberries or chopped walnuts to your filling to make it fit your mini pie muffin hole.

Also the recipe calls for finely diced apple and that should also help stretch the apple filling without adding more fodmaps. That is why I chose a mini apple pie rather than a large regular apple pie that would have more fodmaps that could cause IBS triggers.

So enough about what we can and can’t have. Here in all it’s tiny glory is my mini Dutch apple pie marvel.

Ingredients

1 Refrigerated pie crust, GF or regular (for those who can tolerate wheat)

2 apples, finely diced up (I used Honey Crisp and Granny Smith)

3 Tbsp. white sugar or 1 Tbsp. sugar and 4 packets of alternative sweetener

1 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp. finely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

2 Tbsp. chopped dried cranberries (1 Tbsp. is low fodmap and less will be in the pie) (optional)

1 Tbsp. lite salted butter or vegan butter, diced up

1 Tbsp. GF flour (or all purpose if you can tolerate it)

1 tsp lemon juice

Ingredients for Streusel

1/4 cup white sugar (or half brown and half white)

2 Tbsp. AP flour or GF flour

1 Tbsp. butter or vegan butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425° F (400°F for dark muffin tins).

Take out a standard 12 cup muffin tin. (I did not grease it but some recipes say to spray with baking spray). Set aside.

Take out the pie dough and roll it out or just open it out. Using a circular plastic lid or cookie cutter, cut out 4 ” circles of dough and press one circle into each of the muffin holes. Press down into the bottom and up the sides to the rim of each muffin hole. Don’t go over the rim of the muffin hole.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, alternative sugar if using, and cinnamon. Stir in the lemon juice until mixture is moistened. Toss in the diced apple and stir together until the apples are coated with the mixture. If using, stir in the chopped nuts and cranberries.

Place dots of butter nearby for adding into the mixture as you spoon it into each muffin hole. Spoon mixture evenly into each hole, dotting with butter throughout.

Mix up streusel ingredients until crumbly but not a paste. Sprinkle each mini pie with streusel. Make sure the entire top is covered in a nice pile of streusel.

Place pies in oven for 18 – 20 minutes until crust is golden and top slightly browned.

Remove from oven after testing apples with toothpick to make sure they are tender.

Place muffin tin on cooling rack. Wait 15 minutes before removing pies from muffin tin. Continue to cool on rack. Serve or store for 3 days in covered plastic cake holder or freeze for two months.

These are so nice to have in your freezer to pull out and serve with tea for unexpected company.