Who doesn’t love homemade apple pie but making one from scratch might seem daunting. What if I told you you could make a mini, palm-size apple pie that’s easy, just as delicious and lighter and healthier than the original. These cute little crispy packages are full of apple pie flavor are a cinch to make. The directions might seem long but you are basically repeating the same steps 12 times. If you’ve have not baked with fillo/phyllo dough before, it’s easy to use but because it’s so thin, you just have to be sure you keep it covered with plastic wrap while using it so it doesn’t dry out. These palm pies are best eaten warm from the oven because that’s when they are at their crispiest. You can freeze them after they’ve cooled and then reheat in oven. NOTE: see suggested changes to recipe below.
Apple Palm Pies
Ingredients
16-ounce jar applesauce (regular not unsweetened)
2 medium apples, chopped (with or without the skin)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup raisins
Cooking oil spray
2-4 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 of a 1 pound box fillo/phyllo pastry or 6 sheets
Sugar for sprinkling
Light whipped topping (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, mix applesauce, chopped apples, spice, nuts and raisins. Mix well and set aside.
- Spray the inside of each muffin cup with cooking spray.
- Unroll the fillo pastry onto a work surface. Using kitchen scissors, cut the 6 pastry sheets into eight equal pieces so you have a total of 48 sheets. Keep the fillo dough you are not working with under plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
- Take one fillo sheet and place it in one of the sprayed muffin cups. Spray the fillo with cooking spray. Lay another sheet on top and spray this one as well. Lay one more on top and spray for a total of 3 layers of fillo. The sheets can be laid in alternating directions.
- Repeat this process with the remaining eleven muffin cups.
- Fill each fillo lined cup with equal amounts of apple mixture.
- With remaining cut sheets, take one and spray it with cooking spray. Fold it in half then in half again to form a small square. Place this on top of the apple mixture in one of the cups. Press lightly. Any fillo dough that is sticking up over the muffin cup should be folded over the top piece of dough. Spray any areas that seem dry. Repeat this step for all 12. Sprinkle each one with sugar.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Allow to cool in the muffin tin for about 10 minutes. Serve as is or topping with a dollop of whipped cream.
NOTE: If you prefer not to use cook spray on the fillo dough, you can use melted butter but I still recommend spraying each muffin cup with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Lay the 3 layers of fillo into each muffin cup and brush with butter (you don’t need to brush each layer of dough). Fill with apple mixture and top with final sheet of fillo. Brush with a little more butter and sprinkle with sugar. To keep saturated fat lower, you should not need more than 4 tablespoons of melted butter for 12 pies.
For the phyllo or fillo dough, buy a quality brand not store-brand.
Recipe adapted from Nadiya Hussain, Nadiya’s Time to Eat
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