Mini Apple Crumble Pies

Hey everybody! Apple pies are one of my top favorite desserts. Last week I really wanted an apple pie but I didn't have any ready made pie crust at home. I looked online for pie crust recipes but didn't really like any of them, then I had an idea. I have a recipe for mini pecan tarts (I might do a blog post about the recipe) which I absolutely love because they taste amazing and are very easy to make. For the recipe it lists the ingredients for the dough and I thought why not use it for my mini apple crumble pies. Turns out it works perfectly for this recipe! 

Here's what you will need:

For the Dough:

3 oz. softened cream cheese

3/4 cup softened butter

1 1/8 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

For the Filling:

2 apples peeled and diced (I used honeycrisp and fuji)

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

For the Topping:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp light brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup softened butter

1/4 cup oats (optional)

Directions:

In a medium size bowl, beat cream cheese and butter, then stir in flour and salt until the dough is formed. Spray a 12 tin muffin tin with non-stick spray then evenly separate the dough into the twelve cups, pressing the dough to form a cup, set aside. For the filling, add the diced apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl and stir until evenly coated. Spoon the filling into each cup. For the topping, in a separate bowl add the butter, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and oats, and mix until a crumble texture is formed (this may take awhile). Add a generous amount of the topping to each cup. Bake at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Let rest on a wire rack for about 5 minutes. Serve hot with ice cream and Enjoy!

Happy Baking!

Haley

My Grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary

Exactly 50 years ago, on December18, 1965 my Grandparents got married in a small church in Robert, Louisiana. Sometimes I wish I was born in their generation just to see them when they were younger. Looking at pictures just doesn't do it justice. Ahh to be young and in love...At one point during the party my Paw Paw (Doug) told the story of the first time he saw my Maw Maw (Emily).  He showed up to my maw maw's house and she was outside with her then boyfriend. Little did he know that my paw paw would soon steal her heart away (and boy am I glad he did).  My family held a party to celebrate the occasion and it could not have turned out any better. Everyone raved about the party and said everything was beautiful which made me and everyone who helped prepare and decorate feel good.

I was most excited that I got to make the cake.  At first I had no clue how I was going to decorate it and felt lost but two days before the party my sister and I came up with a design plan. I knew from the start that I didn't want to use fondant. Yes, it makes cakes look pretty, but most people agree that it doesn't taste that great. I used icing instead, which everyone thought tasted amazing. For the icing, all I used was crisco, powdered sugar, almond flavoring, and a dash of almond milk. It came out very light and fluffy. I absolutely loved the way it turned out. I have made a few cakes in the past and this one tops out as the best one I've done so far. Most of all, my grandparents and everyone loved it, which is all that matters.

Here's to another 50 years.

Haley