Week One – Cherry Chip Cookies
Week 2 – Mint Brownie Crinkles
Week 3 – Butterscotch and Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies
Week 4 – Peanut Butter M&M Cookies
Week 5 – Chocolate Almond Pralines
Week 6 – Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Week 7 – Raspberry Ribbons
Week 8 – Pretzel Cookies
Week 9 – Mini Pecan Pies
Week 10 – Italian Christmas Cookies
Week 11 – Maple Cream Gingersnaps
Week 12 – Orange Clove Snickerdoodles
Ok, so I’m not a fruit for dessert kind of person. I just don’t enjoy cooked fruit, it get mushy and weird….not my thing. But Joel loves apple pie. For the past few Thanksgivings I have made this pie for him with lots of success and raves. Although I am not a fan, the crumbly streusel topping does make it much more appeal. m a total sucker for streusel. My mom took the leftovers to work and two people told her it was the best apple pie they had ever had. Score!
As I’ve said before, I struggle with crusts and dough of all kind. Pie crust is a huge frustration for me. I can never get the edge perfectly beautiful which angers me. While perusing Pinterest one day I came across some amazing decorative pie crust edges that I knew would fix my frustration. I fell in love with the braided crust and knew it was something I hopefully couldn’t mess up. And I didn’t! It turned out so cute. There was a little hiccup because I didn’t roll out the dough long enough to make one braid to fit across the whole pie. I ended up with 3 braids that didn’t match up perfectly when placed on the edge so my mom cut out several little leaves to put in those spots to cover up the imperfections.
It almost looked to good to eat….but only for a minute. In all the Thanksgiving hustle and bustle I forgot to take a picture of a slice of it but you get the gist of the crunchy, apple goodness.
Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie
recipe from food.com
For Pie:
Premade pie crust (two if you are doing a braided edge)
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 cups thinly sliced peeled apples
Crumb Topping:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
Caramel topping
Pecans
1. Prepare pastry for single-crust pie, being careful not to stretch dough too much.
2. Place single crust in pie plate and trim and crimp the edge or click here for directions for braiding the crust.
3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Add apple slices and gently toss until they are coated well.Transfer mixture to pie.
4. FOR CRUMB TOPPING: Stir together brown sugar, flour, and oats. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until topping resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over apple mixture in pie.
5. To prevent over-browning while baking, cover edge of pie with foil. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes.
6. Remove foil and bake 25 to 30 minutes more, or until top is golden.
7. Drizzle top with caramel topping; sprinkle with pecans. Cool on wire rack and serve.
Recipe linked to Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Sweets for a Saturday, Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays, Mangia Monday, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Crazy Sweet Tuesday and 2 Maids a Baking.
I’ve realized that I should have dubbed this series 12 Weeks of Christmas Goodies rather than Cookies but it’s too late now. I apologize to any of you that were totally excited about pure cookie bliss. Hopefully these will make up for any disappointment. Who doesn’t love a mini treat?
Today, I bring you one of our family favorites…Mini Pecan Pies. These are a must during the holidays in our home. They are usually my brother’s requested dessert. Each person in my family has different favorites so we each get our own dessert. Yes, you heard that right. There are always about 4 desserts at the holidays (if not more) because we just can’t choose and my mom always wants each of us to have our most cherished sweet treat. A few of us usually agree on something pumpkin while the rest go on with their choices. It’s a bit excessive but it has become tradition and you just can’t mess with that.
I am a big fan of crust so these are so much better than a big, traditional pie because the crust to filling ratio is more equal. Plus, there is no rolling involved making me a very happy girl! They are pretty simple to put together and look so cute piled up on a serving tray or in a cookie tin.
Mini Pecan Pies
Crust:
1 stick butter, room temperature
3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup flour
Filling:
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp. butter, melted
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 tsp. vanilla
1. For the crust: cream butter and cream cheese then mix in flour. Make 24 balls from the dough and press in mini muffin tin.*
2. Stir together filling ingredients. Evenly fill dough cups. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes.
*This mini tart shaper makes this step so much simpler. All you have to do is place a ball of dough in the mini muffin cup and then press down with the tool. It pushes the dough down over the bottom and up the sides. So simple.
Recipe linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Friday Potluck, Fusion Friday, Holiday Sweet Swap, Seasonal Inspiration, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Sweets for a Saturday and A Themed Baker’s Sunday.
Joel loves apple pie. But I am no good at making them. The crust is always all wrong, it’s sticky and ends up tough. I can never crimp the edges and it always looks like a big, hot mess. When I asked Joel what dessert sounded good, he suggested apple pie since he never has it. I cringed and then a magical thought popped into my head. Why not hand pies? I’ve been seeing them all over the blog world recently and figured this was the perfect opportunity for me to give them a whirl.
I searched online and found a recipe that sounded relatively easy. And luckily it turned out to be. The dough came together so easily in the food processor and I literally only had to knead it twice. It rolled out thinly without much effort. The only little problem I had with the dough is all the chilling time it required.
It is super important for the butter to be cold and diced into small chunks. 
The pie crust should look like sand when it is ready to be kneaded. 
Then simply knead the dough until it comes together then refrigerate for an hour (or overnight as I did).
I didn’t have the right size biscuit cutter (4 1/2 inches) so I used one of Noah’s baby bowls to cut the mini pie crusts which worked out perfectly. I got exactly 15 crusts out of the dough just as the recipe stated. 
Fill the pies with 1 tablespoon of filling then crimp closed with a fork.
Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with coarse sugar, bake and enjoy! 
Apple Hand Pies
recipe from DisneyFamily.com
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks frozen butter, cut into little cubes
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup ice-cold water
4 teaspoons lemon juice
2 large granny smith apples, peeled and cut in large dice
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
1. Place flour, salt and butter in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade attachment. Pulse just until it looks like coarse sand. In another bowl, whisk together sour cream, water and lemon juice. Slowly drizzle in the liquid mixture to the flour and butter, pulsing just until a rough ball forms. Pour out onto a lightly floured board and knead until just combined. Pat dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for one hour.
2. Meanwhile make apple filling. Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add apples and sauté for 3 minutes or until beginning to soften slightly. Add cinnamon and brown sugar. Cook for 2 minutes more, or until brown sugar melts. Remove from heat and cool completely.
3. Remove dough from refrigerator and cut in half. Roll each portion of dough to a thickness of about 1/8 of an inch. Using a round biscuit cutter, cut into circles, about 4 1/2 inches in diameter (the rim of a small bowl works well if you don’t have a biscuit cutter that size). Place on a baking sheet, lined with parchment. Scraps can be re-rolled and cut again. Place baking sheet in the refrigerator and repeat with the other ball of dough. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Remove dough from refrigerator. Place about 1 tablespoon of apple filling on each round. Lightly brush edges with water, and fold over, using a fork to crimp edges together. Place back in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. Remove from fridge. Brush the tops of each pie with an egg wash (whisk 1 egg yolk with 2 teaspoons of water), and sprinkle with sugar. Pierce each pie with the tip of a knife. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
This recipe is linked to:
Sweet as Sugar Cookies
A Well-Seasoned Life
This Week’s Craving
Holiday Sweet Swap
