Strawberry Chic: A Little Something Sweet : Apple Pie Crisp

A few Christmas' ago my awesome sister in-law gave me the 1st season of a series called "Pushing Daisey's." It ended up becoming one of my favorite shows of all time. The story is completely fun, the characters are delightful and quirky, and the artistic style of the movie is both unique and charismatic.

Sadly, the show was cancelled shortly after the 2nd season began. I was crushed when I found this out. I keep praying that the writers will give it another go, I think most people were just not ready for the shows unique style, and it is a bit hard to follow unless you start it from the beginning.

Your wondering why I am babbling on about this show right?
Well, The main character owns a charming little pie shop called "The Pie Hole," and the other day I watched an episode where Chuck (his childhood sweetheart) decides they need to start selling mini pies or "Cup Pies."

So, in honor of my love for this show, I decided to make my own "Cup Pies" (In hopes that somehow the producers will see this post, feel some remorse, and bring the series back once again)!

The recipe is something that I have adapted and collaborated from about 5 different recipes (so I think I can pretty much say its my own now right?) These Apple Pie Crisps came about because my husband and I have a bit of a hard time deciding between apple pie or apple crisp, so I decided to combine the two delectable desserts together to create the ultimate apple treat!

Click below to view my full tutorial on for these delightful treats!

What you will need...
1 Pie Crust Recipe...click here to get the tutorial!
Cup cake baking pans
Wax or baking paper

Ingredients for Filling
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
6-7 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
(recipe adapted from Grandma Oples Apple Pie Recipe at allrecipes.com)

Ingredients for Crumble Topping
1/2 cup regular rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, cinnamon, or ginger
1/4 cup butter
(recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook)

Step 1. Peel and core apples. Then cut them into thin slices. (cut the slices again fat-wise so the apple pieces will be small enough to fit into your mini pies - see photos on step 10).

Step 2. Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Then stir in flour to form a paste.

Step 3. Add white sugar, brown sugar and water. Stir and bring to a boil. Then reduce temperature and let simmer for 5 minuets.

Step 4. Pour the mixture over the apple slices, stir to coat.

Step 5. Take 2 pieces of baking or wax paper and place your pie crust dough in between the two (It's a little easier and cleaner to roll out the dough this way).

Step 6. Roll the dough out evenly, about 1/8" thick.

Step 7. Using a cookie or pastry cutter, cut out dough circles for mini pie crust. (you want the circles to be about 3-3/4" in diameter. My pastry cutter was a little small so I quickly rolled out each piece to the proper size after I cut them out).

Step 8. (Optional) Cut a piece of wax paper into strips about 1-1/2" wide and 5" long. You can lay these stripes into your cupcake pans to help lift the pies out after they are done. (I took this idea from Giada on the Food Network, she did some similar strawberry honey pies and used this technique. Although I must say, the pies were still a little tricky to get out. Which is why I made this step optional.)

Step 9. Lay your pie crusts in the pan

Step 10. Fill your "Cup Pies" will apple filling, each pie will get 1-2 Tablespoons. Be sure to give the filling a fresh mix before spooning in the mixture.

Your just about there!

Now its time to make the crumble topping.

Step 11. In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Cut in the butter until mixture resembles course crumbs.

Step 12. Top your "Cup Pies" with the crumble topping.

Step 13. Bake pies at 350 degrees for 30-40 minuets.

The crumble topping will be golden brown when pies are done.

After baking, let cool for slightly, about 20 min.

Step 14. take the "Cup Pies" out and set on a plate or serving platter. As I mentioned before this step may be slightly difficult depending on how much caramelized spill over you have. I found it helpful to run a knife around the edges of the pies (just like you would if you are taking a cake out of the pan).