Apple Pie for Two

Who likes cute little pies? That’s sort of a rhetorical question because I assume that everyone says “me.”

I have had an ongoing effort all year to create mini portions of some of our favorite desserts (and meals). I make my mother-in-law’s apple pie every year (and sometimes more than once) because it’s pretty much the best out there. Even though we are not visiting with family and friends this holiday season, I was not going to let this year be the year without apple pie. Pretty sure my husband wouldn’t have let it go that far anyway.

I give all of my tips for making the best apple pie in the original normal size apple pie recipe. After all, I’ve made quite a few of them so I’ve learned some things along the way. They are all still true here, only smaller.

Yes, it’s a very little pie, and technically half the pie is your serving. I just thought half of this pie on a dish looked lame for photos. Thus, I can comfortably recommend the “quarter of a pie” serving size. It looks silly on your plate, but with some ice cream it’s just perfect.

Apple Pie for Two Recipe
(Makes a 6 inch pie, serving 2)

Ingredients:

2 servings of small pie crust, uncooked (in other words, a bottom and top layer)
about 2 to 3 apples
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
heaping 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Minute Tapioca
1 tablespoon butter
(optional) 1 egg
(optional) 1 teaspoon water

Directions:

Make 2 servings of the small pie crust.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lay tin foil on top of a baking sheet and set it aside.
Lightly grease a 6 inch round pie pan and set it aside. I’m pretty sure greasing it is not necessary because of the shortening in the crust, but I like to do it anyway. It helps to guarantee that the slices come out easily later.
Core, peel, and slice the apples into 1/2 inch pieces and put them into a large bowl and set it aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, flour, and tapioca.
Pour the sugar mixture over the apples and mix it together. Make sure all of the apple pieces are coated.
On a floured work surface, roll out one chilled pie crust dough to fit a 6 inch round baking pan. I roll my dough into a 8 inch circle.
Carefully lift the dough off of the surface. Gently lay the dough into the pan and gently press the dough into the edges of the pan taking care to avoid poking holes in it or tearing it.
Cut off a little bit of the excess dough that hangs over the edge of the pie plate.
Pour the apple mixture into the crust. It will go well over the top, so just try to balance them carefully.
Break up the butter into pea size pieces and place it on top of the apple mixture.
Remove the second ball of dough from the refrigerator and on a floured work surface, roll it out into a 8 inch circle. It needs to be larger than your pan so you can fit it over a pile of apples.
Carefully lay the dough over the filling.
Crimp the edges of pie crust to seal the bottom and top layers together. You can use your fingers or a fork depending on what you want your edges to look like.
Cut 4 slits, about 1/2 inch long, into the top of the pie crust.
(Optional) In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Lightly brush the top of the pie crust with the beaten egg mixture. There will be left overs so just make sure the top crust is well coated and don’t try to use all of it. (My husband always points out that after this step there should not be puddles of egg anywhere because you don’t want your pie to have a side of omelette.)
Place the pie on the prepared baking sheet.
Cover the outside edges of the pie crust with tin foil. You can also use a crust guard but I find they don’t fit very well and they smoosh my pretty handmade edges. Also 6 inch crust guards are hard to find.
Place the pie on the lower shelf of the preheated oven and bake it for about 80 minutes or until apple juices has basically stopped leaking out and the crust is a golden brown. During cooking, I rotated the pie at about 60 minutes in, and removed the tin foil from the edge while I was doing it.
Let the pie cool for a few hours or overnight before serving.