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Apple Pie Crisp Muffins

Apple Pie Crisp Muffins

Print Recipe
The perfect merger of Apple Pie and Apple Crisp in an easy to serve size/shape for your next pot luck gathering.
Course Desert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 24 muffins

Ingredients

Apple Filling

  • 8 apples medium-large. Peeled, cored, cut into chunks
  • 1 lemon juiced
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 stick butter unsalted
  • 3/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pie Crust

  • 2 boxes pie crust 2 crusts per box, non-frozen, room temperature

Topping

  • 1 cup oats quick cooking
  • 1 cup flour all-purpose
  • 1 cup brown sugar packed
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup butter melted, unsalted

Instructions

Prepare Apple Filling

  • Peel, halve and core the apples. Then cut into small bite-size chunks.
    This recipe goes much quicker with an apple peeler/corer.
  • Juice the lemon and pour the juice into a large bowl.
  • Add the apples to the bowl with the lemon juice and toss together.
    In a large bowl, coat the cut apples with lemon juice.
  • Add the sugar to the apple mixture, a 1/3 cup or so at at time, and mix the apple mixture to evenly coat until the full cup of sugar has been mixed into the apples.
  • In a large skillet, melt the butter over a medium-high heat.
  • Add the apple mixture to the butter - stirring occasionally. Bring to a simmer, checking that the juices all run clear. This is means the sugar has dissolved and incorporated into the liquid. This will take about 2 minutes.
  • Cover and turn the heat down to medium-low. Cook for about 7-10 minutes longer to soften the apples. Stir once or twice to ensure the apples all cook evenly. You want to leave a little bit of a crunch in them, but they should be soft.
  • Place a strainer over a medium sized bowl and pour the apple mixture into the strainer to separate the liquid from the apples. Toss the strainer a bit to ensure all of the liquid is separated and place the apples in a large bowl.
  • Pour the liquid back into the skillet and simmer over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes. The liquid should thicken and reduce down a bit, and will lightly caramelize.
    Simmer the liquid to reduce and thicken up into a caramel.
  • Sprinkle the cinnamon and nutmeg over the top of the apple mixture.
  • Pour the caramelized liquid over the apple mixture. Toss the apple mixture to evenly mix the spices and liquid. Set aside (or refrigerate) to cool.
    Stir the caramelized liquid into the seasoned apple mixture. Allow to completely cool.

Prepare Pie Crust

  • Spray muffin tins with a cooking spray.
  • Roll out the pie crust. Cutout a circle larger than the diameter of the muffin tin. Place the pie crust circle into the muffin tin, pressing it into the bottom and sides, being careful not to tear the crust. Fill all of the muffin tins this way.

Prepare Topping

  • In a medium sized bowl, stir together the dry topping ingredients.
  • Melt the butter and drizzle into the dry ingredients while mixing/stirring the topping. Stir till fully incorporated - you should have a crumbly semi-clumpy mixture.

Assemble Apple PIe Crisp Muffins

  • Place a large scoop of apple filling into each of the pie crusts. Fill them up level to the top of the muffin tin.
    Fill the muffin pan pie crusts to the top with the apple mixture.
  • Cover the apple covering with the topping mixture.
  • Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes in the muffin tins.
  • Once cooled and the crust has hardened a bit, use forks to pry out of the muffin tins and cool completely on cooling racks.
    Allow the Apple Pie Crisp Muffins cool on a cooling rack.

Notes

  • I use an apple peeler/corer for the apples.  Run the apples through this to get a long shoe-string apple that is peeled.  Then simply halve the apple (top down), lay each half down on the cut side and quarter the apple (again top down).  This should give you nice bite sized chunks.
  • To cut the pie crust, I used a food storage container.  For my muffin tin, I found a circle 4 inches across to be perfect.  Find a storage container, cookie cutter, drinking glass, mason jar lid, whatever it is you have that will produce the right sized circle for your tin.  Experiment a bit, but be careful to not waste too much dough in the process!
  • Getting these out of the muffin tins takes a bit of effort and patience.  But a few tips:
    • Use a cooking spray to grease the cups before putting the pie crust into them.
    • Leave a bit of an 'overhang' of crust when you put them into the cups.  This will create a bit of a 'handle' to pry them out of the tins.
    • Once you pull them out of the oven, run a knife around the edges to ensure they come free.
    • Let the muffins cool for 10-15 minutes before trying to remove them.  This allows for the crust to harden and the apples and carmel to thicken.
    • Using two forks, pry the muffins up a bit with one fork, and try to get the other underneath the muffin without jabbing the side.  This should allow you to lift it out onto a cooling rack.
  • Apple Pie Crisp Muffins do not need to be refrigerated.