The reason I have been delinquent in posting for the last 4 months is that I am 4 months pregnant! :) After two miscarriages last year, we are so thrilled to share this news. We cannot wait to meet our little guy (or girl!?!) and have our lives forever changed. In the meantime, all those pregnancy hormones have messed with my love for food. All I seem to eat these days is cereal. Life cereal. Raisin Bran. Cheerios. Frosted mini-wheats. I have a whole arsenal of cereals to eat because so far cereal has been the one thing guaranteed to taste good any time of day or night. Everything else has been hit or miss, and new recipes are *never* exciting these days. It’s challenging to blog about the new foods that I’m eating when those new foods are simply a new brand of cereal!
My appetite still isn’t what it was, but I did manage to eat some fish today, so that’s promising! While things are on the up-and-up, I’m back with a tweak on one of my favorite recipes: apple pie. I love making apple pie, but I love even more the idea of a personalized apple pie. Here I take my favorite apple pie recipe and cook it in small pots for individual servings. The best part? Layer the tops with cute cookie cutter shapes to match the seasons!
Yum, yum, yum! And personalized, too! :)
Ingredients
Instructions
- If you haven't already done so, prepare the pastry and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.
- Prepare the apples. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, flour, zest, and spices. Stir into the apples and set aside for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally to distribute the juices.
- On a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, roll the pastry with a floured rolling pin to 1/4" thickness. Cut out circles slightly larger than the size of the bottom of your pots or ramekins. Tuck pastry into the bottom of the pots. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the remaining pastry. Re-roll any remaining pastry and cut into more shapes.
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Divide the apple mixture evenly among your pots. Arrange your cookie cutter pastry cut outs on top of the apples. Using a pastry brush, brush the cutouts lightly with milk, then sprinkle with sugar.
- Place the bowls on a baking sheet and place on the center oven rack. Bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pies front to back and bake for 10-20 more minutes, or until the apples are easily pierced with a knife. Note: If the top crust starts to get too dark, cover with loosely tented aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 1 hour before serving.
13 responses so far ↓
1 April Anderson // Jan 23, 2012 at 11:50 am
What happy news!
2 Maile // Jan 23, 2012 at 11:57 am
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 natalie (the sweets life) // Jan 23, 2012 at 1:40 pm
CONGRATS! I wondered if something was up, based on your lack of posts. So excited for you!
4 Melissa // Jan 23, 2012 at 1:48 pm
Congratulations!!!! I know how special this pregnancy and birth will be for you, especially after the heartache of miscarriages.
5 Brant // Jan 23, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Congratulations! So excited for you!
6 LeAnn // Jan 23, 2012 at 2:48 pm
Wahooo!!
And those pies are adorable.
7 Alyson // Jan 23, 2012 at 3:01 pm
Now we all are waiting impatiently for the entire blog dedicated to foods a baby, toddler, teenager etc. will eat!
8 Maureen // Jan 23, 2012 at 9:58 pm
What exciting news! I’m thrilled for you both. Take very good care of yourself and if you don’t feel like cooking.. blog about whatever you’re feeling.
These pies are so cute! I’ve got these nifty cutters for pastry and have only used them once or twice. I’m SO making these individual pies!
9 Lindsay {life and kitchen} // Jan 24, 2012 at 6:38 am
Congrats! I loved cereal during my pregnancy, too!
10 Denise // Jan 24, 2012 at 11:46 am
Congratulations! This is so special, I’m so happy for you! Wishing you lots of luck, health and love during this special time:)
11 jamie // Jan 26, 2012 at 9:49 am
blessings to you and your family. may all be smooth sailing as you await your baby who is sure to change your life forever.
12 Jo // Jan 27, 2012 at 4:36 pm
I love Brant
13 Anita // Feb 11, 2012 at 8:34 pm
These are just lovely. You are right, the little leaves are so cute. I wonder if I can make little hearts for vday:]