Cooking on Skates: Baby Apple Pies

So, I don't really love pie. Often, I'll turn it down if it's offered to me. In the last couple years, I have found that I'm becoming increasingly fond of pie and less so of cake, but mostly I want cookies and ice cream. But while I'm not a pie lover, what I am is am highly suggestible. If I see a Pizza Hut commercial, I want stuffed crust veggie pizza in my face ABSOLUTELYASSOONASPOSSIBLE.

I'm also a tween at heart. The hubby and I have been watching Supernatural. Now I'm all:

Feel free to just stare that on loop for a while. I won't judge you.

The last time I made pie, I wasn't even married yet. I also didn't know that my now-husband doesn't like cooked fruit. So I made an apple pie on a snow day, ate a single piece, and then watched neither him nor his roommates eat the rest of that giant pie it took me a long time to make.

EFF THAT. No more pie.

Enter Pie Craving of 2013. I wanted Chinese food. But it's bout week, so I'm doing my damnedest to eat as healthy as possible until Saturday evening. When I started to get hungry for dinner, I made vegetarian breakfast burritos on whole-wheat tortillas. Take that, brain!

My reward for making and eating a healthy dinner: making baby pies. There is half an apple per tiny pie, and I only put crust on the top instead of top and bottom. I wish I could pretend this is health food, but at least it's not as high-calorie as the things I've been wanting.

This was also a good excuse to try out the ramekins I bought at Crate and Barrel the day before. I've been wanting ramekins for years, but never got around to buying any. Also, that weird texture on the outside of most ramekins? I do not like. I'm so picky.

Crust recipe adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-ever-pie-crust/

Filling recipe adapted from http://mapetitemaisonverte.com/2011/07/30/apple-ramekin-mini-pies/

Baby Apple Pies
(makes four tiny pies)

Filling
Two apples, diced
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp flour
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Ground cloves
Lime juice

Crust
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter-flavored shortening
Pinch salt
Water

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter or spray ramekins.
2. Mix all filling ingredients in a bowl. Distribute evenly among ramekins.
3. Combine crust ingredients. Knead a couple times by hand. Divide into four balls. Flatten balls to the size of the ramekins. Top filling with crust.
4. Bake 30-45 minutes, or until crust is done.

I kind of wanted to eat the filling raw.

Instead, I put it in my adorable ramekins.

I mixed up the crust ingredients in a bowl. I think you're supposed to refrigerate it for a few hours after this. I did not. No patience.

There is little enough crust that I just floured the cutting board I used to dice the apples.

This looks like sugar cookie dough. It is not sugar cookie dough. But now I want to make this again with sugar cookies topping the pies instead of crust. How awesome would that be?

These smashed with my palms into the perfect size and shape.

They fit so cute!

Do this four times.

Unevenly dump some sugar on the top if you like. How are you supposed to cut these? I ended up with a peanut butter cookie fork pattern more than anything.