When Life Gives You Apples

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I recently made my annual trip to our favorite apple farm in the mountains and came home with a whole bushel of apples.  Every year I find myself in the same predicament, trying to figure out what to do with them.  I don't own a pressure canner (though I plan on buying one soon!), so I can't can apple sauce and apple butter.  I make a great deal of applesauce for my son and freeze it in cubes so it's ready to go when I feed him or want to cook with it...but a bushel is a lot of apples :-)

This is the time of year when I start combing through saved recipes looking for anything even remotely apple-related.  Apple muffins, cakes, bars, pies...anything to use up the bounty on my counter.  

Click to see my recipe on Allrecipes.com!

I had to drop by my husband's office yesterday afternoon and I thought I'd make something sweet for his co-workers.  I remembered this recipe I pinned on Pinterest from Amy at "Oh, Bite It!" quite a while ago and thought I'd give it a try.  I have to give her complete credit for her fantastic idea!

The full crust variety

I kind of ran with it, though, and didn't follow her ingredient list whatsoever.  The concept of the cookie is pretty much where our recipes parted ways.  :-)  
I made my own pie crust (my all-time favorite pie crust recipe, Pie Crust IV from Allrecipes.com, but added 1/4 cup of powdered sugar per crust to add a little sweetness) and completely came up with the filling on my own.  Homemade is always better when you have the time, I think.  If you don't, store-bought pie crust and canned apple pie filling will work fine too.

The "scraps" after baking :-)

I made a couple of different variations of this cookie- some larger with lattice crust, others smaller with a full crust on top with one slit cut for venting.  Though they were both great, the lattice version definitely wins.  I baked up the scraps left between the circles too, :-) they taste just as wonderful as their prettier counterparts!

After cooling, I chose to top mine with a drizzle of cinnamon icing, which I think really sets off the flavors.  They were such a hit with his co-workers that I just made another batch to send with my husband this afternoon when he watches football with his friends.  With almost a bushel of apples still left, I'm sure I'll be making these again soon.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

Awesome Apple Pie Cookies
Click to see the recipe on Allrecipes.com

Cookies: 

4 sheets of pie crust 

4 medium-size apples, peeled and diced to 1/4" 

1/4 C butter 

1/2 C brown sugar 

1/4 C white sugar 

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice 

1/2 tsp vanilla 

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp nutmeg 

1/4 tsp allspice 

1/8 tsp ground cloves 

2 Tbsp water 

1 Tbsp corn starch 

Icing: 

3/4 C confectioner's sugar 

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 1/2 Tbsp milk 

1 tsp vanilla 

1. Melt butter in saucepan. Add apples and toss to coat. Stir in brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, salt, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, and cloves. Allow to simmer 5 minutes or until apples have softened and sugars have melted, stirring often.

2. Bring apple mixture to a boil. In a small bowl, combine water and corn starch. Add corn starch slurry to boiling apple mixture and stir until thickened. Remove apple mixture from heat and allow to cool completely.

3. Preheat oven to 350. Roll out 1 sheet of pie crust. Spread with a layer of the cooled apple mixture, spreading all the way to the edges of the crust. Roll out another sheet of crust and slice into 1/2" wide strips. Use the dough strips to cover the bottom layer with a dough lattice.

4. With a floured round cookie cutter or drinking glass push down through both layers of dough to create round pies. It is fine if the edges do not seal. Transfer pies to an un-greased baking sheet.
Repeat with remaining crust and pie mixture. on a second baking sheet.

5. Bake pies for 20 minutes or until crust is cooked through and beginning to turn golden brown. Transfer to wire baking sheet to cool.


For Icing:
Combine confectioner's sugar and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Add vanilla. Stir in half and half slowly, until desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over pies and allow to cool.