Pie ~

 There is something so comforting about

homemade pie and something so

 ALL American about

homemade APPLE Pie.

While cooking up holiday recipes, I came up with

these…

petite apple pie bites.

They are little

pillows of

pie

really.

The crust is flavored

with orange zest & vanilla bean

and the apple filling is spiced with

more zest, vanilla sugar,

a good pinch of

cinnamon and a dash of

nutmeg.

 So, think pie this holiday season…

‘Le petite pie’

Your home will be filled with the

heavenly aroma of

baked apples, orange & cinnamon.

Dusted with pink sugar crystals

and tucked into glassine

envelopes, the litte pies make for a

pretty little holiday dessert. Especially festive,

if you add a few sparkly

tags.

A gift…

in themselves!

The dough  ~

2.5 cups flour

1-teaspoon salt

1/4th cup sugar

1 vanilla bean scraped

Zest of half an orange

1 cup unsalted butter chilled and cut into

small pieces

1/4 to ½ cup ice water

 Place all ingredients, except the water in a

food processor and pulse until just combined. With the

machine running, add the 

water, a little at a time, until the dough forms a ball.

Divide in half, pat into two

disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for

a few hours or overnight.

The filling ~

You’ll need three large apples, peeled,

cored and finely diced

1-teaspoon cinnamon

Dash of nutmeg

2 tablespoons vanilla sugar

Zest of half an orange

 Combine all ingredients.

 Roll out the dough and cut into small squares.

Each half round of dough, should make about

25 mini pies.

Put a generous amount of filling on each

square, fold over the dough, crimp the

edges and prick the dough with

the tines of a fork. Brush tops with

a mixture of egg yolk and cream and dust

with sugar

crystals.

Bake in a 400-degree oven for 5 minutes then

turn down the heat to

350 for 10 to 15 additional minutes, until the

crust is golden &

the filling

bubbles & oozes slightly.

  Cool on a wire rack, slip into the

envelopes and

store in the refrigerator until

your guests arrive.

Enjoy!

Monica