Cranberry and Apple Mini Pies

There's nothing like Thanksgiving time to remind me about how much I love cranberries.

And apples.

And pie.

I've been itching to try making some mini-pies for a while now and this gave me the opportunity to try it. 

Although this recipe takes a bit of time, it isn't very difficult. 

The filling of this pie is delectable! Cranberries, apples, sugar, cinnamon, and a little dash of ground cloves. In fact, I had a little extra so I piled it all in a pot, boiled it for a few minutes, and it turned into a lovely apple/cranberry sauce!

And the crust-buttery, flaky, and definitely NOT the healthy choice of the day. But let me tell you, while you are eating your mini-pie, you will not care. 

These little pies were so scrumptious that I had a hard time sticking to just eating one...

Cranberry Apple Mini Pies

Makes about 10 mini pies

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:

Crust (the crust was adapted from this recipe):

1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup of ground oats--blended to a flour-like consistency (can be substituted with all-purpose flour)

1 cup of chilled butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup of ice water

Filling:

1 pkg. of fresh cranberries (12 oz)

2 medium tart apples 

1/2 cup of sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

Pinch of ground cloves

Directions:

Crust:

Blend 1 1/2 cups of whole oats into fine, flour-like consistency. Mix together flour, salt, and ground oats. Dice butter into small pieces and add them to the flour mixture. Cut in the butter until the dough is crumbly. Slowly (by tablespoon) add water, continuing to mix. Form dough into a ball and wrap with plastic. Refrigerate for at least two hours. 

Filling:

Dice cranberries (by halves or fourths). Peel, core, and dice apples into small pieces. In a medium bowl, mix apples, cranberries, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and the pinch of ground cloves.

Mini-pies:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Once dough is chilled, roll it out on a floured surface. Using a cookie cutter or glass, cut circles large enough to come to the top of the muffin pan cups. Press dough into the cups. Place approximately 1/3 cup of the mixture into each pie (make sure they are heaping since they will cook down!). Cut dough circles to cover the top of each mini-pie. Seal the top and bottom well. Cut slits on the top of each pie. Swipe the crusts with a little melted butter. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool, remove carefully from muffin tin, enjoy!