Mini Apple Mincemeat Pies

I usually only post design related things (and a little family too) but these Mini Pie Bites were too wonderful not to share!!

My husband’s family is British, and his grandmother has been making mincemeat pies all of his life. When we were visiting her last year, she made some just for him and I have to admit…I was a little nervous….I mean “meat” in a pie? Coming from Louisiana I am familiar with all foods being cooked together in one big pot and throwing everything into your cooking, so I tried one. Guess what, it’s not meat!! Yes, I am sure most of you know this already, but mincemeat DID have meat in it long ago, however today’s version is a tasty blend of pippin apples, raisins, and spices. Great Granny BWI {British West Indies} makes hers more like turnovers and I knew my hubby liked being able to pick them up and eat them. When he requested them for Thanksgiving (and Christmas) I decided to find a way to make them my own.

I wanted to add apples, so ran a search and came across this recipe on Gourmet Girl.It looks tasty, right? I loved the idea of essentially having an “apple pie” layered with a “mincemeat pie”. I decided to go a little Sandra Lee and use a pie crust mix, so my pies were “Semi Homemade”, but I didn’t have any complaints!  I made a few changes to the recipe Gourmet Girl posted based on what I had and fitting it to the mini pies….so here is what I came up with.

Pie Crust: 2 Boxes Jiffy Pie crust mix, if you prefer going all the way, see the Gourmet Girl Post for a recipe and instructions.

Apple Filling:

5 cups apples (Jonathan), peeled and sliced into smaller pieces
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon organic whole milk (or heavy cream)
1 (26-ounce) jar mincemeat (We use Crosse & Blackwell)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

For the pie crusts:

In a large bowl, prepare mix per directions.Use 2 disks when making this pie. Roll out dough on floured surface and use round cookie cutters to cut out small pie shells. You will need a larger circle for the bottom of the mini pies and a smaller one for the top. (NOTE: I used 2 cups instead, turning them upside down to cut out two different sized circles) Place the larger circles in the bottom of a muffin/cupcake tin with the edges running up the side to form the mini pie shells. Mine only came about half way up the muffin tin sides.
For the apple filling:

Combine the apples, butter and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat and cook for about 6 minutes. Cool slightly.

In a medium bowl combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and a pinch of salt. Add slightly cooled apples and mix well. Stir in vanilla and milk. Place a spoon of apple mixture into the bottom of each mini shell, spreading evenly.

Add a spoonful of the mincemeat on top of apple filling in each mini pie. Then use the smaller dough disk and adjust over each mini pie. Vent the tops and brush with melted butter and a sprinkle of sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes.

I hope you can find the time to make these this holiday season! My husband has already requested we have them for Christmas, to take in to his co-workers, and to wrap up with a Happy Holiday gift tag for friends….

SIDE NOTE: although we made these for Thanksgiving Dinner…we ended up eating them for Thanksgiving breakfast…and they are perfect with coffee! You can also easily adapt this recipe to allergy free with Gluten Free Pie Crust, subbing Rice milk for the milk, and omitting the butter on top.