Apple Pie Cookies

Let’s begin with fall, my favorite time of the year. I love everything about it: the weather, the produce, the holidays… apple season is always the herald of all things fall. It begins with a trip up to the north Georgia mountains with my loved ones to one of the U-Pick apple orchards. Afterwards, I spend the next couple of weeks trying to make every single apple dish that has been floating around in my head over the summer.

One dessert that has been on my "To Make" list for the last two years is apple pie cookies. It's the kind of baked good you read about, dream about, and salivate over but worry about how much time and effort it will take. Much to my surprise, these little guys weren't so hard. They are literally miniature pies in cookie form, and the final product is so worth it. I love how portable they are and how a single one isn't as huge of a commitment as a whole piece of pie! Not to mention how stinkin' adorable they look. 

 

The recipe starts as pies usually do: with a crust. I stuck with Martha's good old reliable, basic double pie crust recipe. You can use your favorite crust recipe here or a refrigerated crust if you're short on time or butter.

The dough needs to chill for at least an hour and up to a day. You can take this time to get a head start on chopping the apples or you can prepare the dough the day before to spread out the work over time.

The next step is where the fancy stuff starts. Start by chopping three large chunks off the apples like I've shown above.

Each chunk needs to be sliced into 3-4 disks (about 1/4" thick). Cut out a round from each disk with a 2" cookie cutter. If you don't have a cookie cutter, a shotglass has about the same diameter. The recipe is for 20 cookies, so make sure you have 20 disks! 
 

After cutting out the rounds, you should have a pile of apple pieces that look like what you see above. Please don't let those poor apple rings go to waste: snack on them, fry them in batter, wear them on your ears... something! I threw them in a pot with some more freshly cut apples I was making applesauce with.

 

 

Now it's time for the dough! Work with one chunk of dough at a time, keeping the other refrigerated. Try to get the thickness down to 1/8". Each piece of dough should give you 20 rounds, each 2 1/2" to 3" in diameter, for a total of 40 rounds of dough. You can gather up the scraps and re-roll them if you need to. If the dough starts to get too soft to handle, let it chill in the fridge for a few minutes.

Time to assemble! First, place the cinnamon sugar coated apple disk on a dough round and place the second round on top. Press the edges of the dough with your fingers to help seal the cookies, then crimp the edges with a fork.

 

A quick trip to the oven... and voila! The result is a buttery, flaky handheld pie with a soft, delicious cinnamon apple filling. 
 

Make these on a lazy fall afternoon when there's not much else going on. Eat them warm after they've had some time to cool off. Pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to reheat them the next day. My husband stuck a couple into a scoop of vanilla ice cream - - - genius!

Recipe: Apple Pie Cookies  [Makes about 20 cookies]

For the crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup ice water 

 For the filling/assembly:

• 2-3 medium apples
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Dash of grated nutmeg
• Water
• 1 large egg lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon of water

Directions:

For the crust - In a food processor, combine flour, salt and sugar; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with just a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Drizzle in 1/4 cup of ice water until dough starts to come together and then stop processing. Form dough into ball and then split in half. Form each half into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 24 hours.

For the cookies - When you are ready to make your cookies, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Peel the apples and cut off the sides in three large chunks, removing and discarding the cores. With each large piece of apple, further slice into thin slices (somewhere between 1/8- and 1/4-inch thick.) Use a small round cookie or biscuit cutter (about 2 inches in diameter) to cut round disks out of the apple slices. Place the apple rounds in a bowl and toss with the lemon juice. In another small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and whisk to blend.

To assemble the cookies, transfer one disk of the chilled pie dough to a lightly floured work surface (keep the remaining half chilled). Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out very thin, about 1/8 to ¼-inch thick. Use a larger round biscuit or cookie cutter (about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter) to cut out rounds of the pie dough. Transfer half of the rounds to the prepared baking sheet. Brush the rounds lightly with water (this will help the pies seal). Take a few apple slices at a time and coat them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place each on top of a round of pie dough. Layer a second round of dough on top of each apple slice and gently press the edges to help seal. Repeat this process with the remaining dough and apple slices. Crimp and seal the edges of the mini pies with the tines of a fork, dipping in flour if needed to prevent sticking. Lightly brush the tops of the cookies with the egg wash. Use a small paring knife to cut tiny slits in the top of each cookie. Sprinkle with additional sugar, if desired.
 

Bake for 25-28 minutes or until light golden brown.

Crust recipe from Martha Stewart. Apple Pie Cookie recipe slightly adapted from Annie's Eats.