Apple pie pop tarts are the best individual apple pies you can make. They are absolutely adorable and easy to eat. No cutting slices of pie and having the filling ooze out onto the pie plate. Just pick up each apple pie pop tart and bite into a delicious dessert or a scrumptious breakfast!

Individual Apple Pies

There is almost nothing better than the smell of a homemade apple pie, when it’s baking in the oven. The apple aroma instantly makes your mouth water! You can just imagine yourself cutting a heaping slice of warm apple pie and adding some real vanilla ice cream on top before gobbling it up.

Warm apple pie is really a spectacular, American classic. And as spectacular as it is, mini apple pies are just that much better. I think it’s because they are the perfect size for each person. You don’t have to slice into the whole pie. Rather, you just pick up your mini apple pie and bite into it. With these apple pie pop tarts, there is little mess when compared to a slice of apple pie. The ooey-gooey apples that we love so much are still in these pop tarts, but they are enveloped in the pie crust, making them very easy to eat. Oh, and another great thing about mini apple pies? You can eat more than one and not feel so guilty. Two are still fairly small so it’s totally fine to have a second helping : )

Apple Pie American Dessert

Apple Pie is a long standing American dessert. You know the phrase, as American as apple pie? It seems somewhat silly because apple pies didn’t originate in America. And apples aren’t native to America either! So how did apple pie become an American staple??

Apple pies originated in England and consisted of much more than apples. In fact, the apple pies consisted of figs, pears, raisins, and even saffron as well as apples. Over many years of tweaking the apple pie recipe, Americans developed a sweeter version that consists of a juicy apple filling with cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Additionally, throughout the years, the presentation of the pies have gone to a new level with fancy lattice and cut outs on top of the pie crust. As the tasty pies evolved, Americans were proud of their dessert. Their pride for their dessert is a symbolism of American pride. Who knew it was such a deep thing?!

Dessert, Snack, or Breakfast?

These apple pie pop tarts can be served as a tasty treat for dessert. However, if you are feeling daring, you could heat up the individual pies and eat them for a special breakfast option! That’s right, pop tarts can be breakfast breads – if you don’t believe me, just think of the aisle where you find them in the supermarket. Yep, the breakfast aisle!

If you make the apple pie pop tarts the night before for dessert, store them in an airtight container and put them in the refrigerator. Just pop the pop tart into the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds and voila! Or you could toast up the apple pop tarts in a preheated (350 degrees) toaster oven for 5 minutes to warm up these yummy snacks.

Another option for these pies is to give them to your kids for their morning (or afternoon) snack. You can feel good about giving these snacks since they aren’t loaded with preservatives. Homemade cooking and baking is the way to go for delicious and healthier food after all.

Ingredients

• 2 Pie Crust Dough make your own or Pillsbury ready made
• butter melted
• 4 Apples peeled and chopped
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1 tbsp Cinnamon
• 1 tbsp Apple Pie Spice

Apple Selection

For the apples, choose whatever apples taste the best to you. Many recipes call for granny smith apples because they are crisp and have a sour flavor which makes them a great option, when pairing it with sweet ingredients like white and brown sugars and cinnamon.

However, I prefer to use gala or honey crisp apples for my recipes. There are two reasons for this. The first reason is because we always seem to have honey crisp or gala apples readily available in my house! Easy is always great, in my opinion. The second reason I choose honey crisp or gala apples is because of their sweetness. If I’m going to bake with apples, I prefer all sweet over sour – that’s just me. You can choose whichever you like. You could even mix up a little of sweet with sour – whatever you prefer works!

Instructions

Apple Pie Filling

• Melt butter in a med saucepan over medium heat.
• Add chopped apples and cook for 5 minutes so that the apples soften – mix periodically.
• Add cinnamon and apple pie spice and mix well.
• Cook for another 5 minutes.

Apple Pie Pop Tarts

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease (2) baking sheets with non stick cooking spray.
• Roll out each pie crust dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Cut out (16) 3″ shapes (any shape somewhat round shape will do). Cutting as many as you can with the dough.
• Reroll the remnant dough to get the remainder of the cut outs.
• Spoon the apple pie filling onto the middle of 8 cut outs. Make sure to leave approx 1/2″ border around.
• Top each apple cut out with a plain cut out and press the edges together.
• Using a small fork, crimp the edges all the way around each mini-apple pie.
• Bake for approximately 22 – 25 minutes or until they are lightly brown.
• Let cool for a few minutes and then remove and place on a wire rack until cooled.
• Eat plain or top with a little vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream.

Special Breakfast Ideas

Bananas Foster French Toast

Cannoli Pancakes

Nutella Pop Tarts

Brown Sugar Banana Bread

Desserts You Will Love

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Cannoli Dip

Rolo Cookies

Cheesecake Cookie Cup