Caramel apple pie pops make your favorite fall dessert portable

Apple pie is practically perfect in my book. One of the few — very few — drawbacks is it’s hard to eat in a party setting. These pie pops are a delicious, easy-to-eat crowd-pleaser. Caramel, spices and their quick cooking time make these small pies a holiday home run.

You can cut the prep time down by using store-bought dough. I like to make my own dough and freeze some so I always have pie dough on hand — yes, I’m that obsessed with pie.

Pie dough recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of butter (cold and cubed)
• 2 teaspoons of white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup of water

Directions:

1. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and salt.
2. Add 1/2 the cold, cubed butter to the food processor. Pulse a few times until the butter is mixed in but still visible. Add the remaining butter, and pulse a few more times. The butter should be pea-sized and running throughout the flour.
3. Slowly drizzle in the water. You may not need all of it, so start with 1/3 cup, and add more as needed. Pulse the mixture just until it starts to come together.
4. Wrap the dough in cling wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before rolling it out.

Perfect apple pie filling recipe

Ingredients:

• Lollipop or cookie sticks
• 3 tablespoons of butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup of white sugar
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 apple, diced
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons of white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 egg, for egg wash

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the 1/3 cup of white sugar, brown sugar, butter and salt. Set aside.
3. In a different bowl, mix the diced apple (it should be cut into fairly small chunks so each mini pie has plenty of apple in it), lemon zest, lemon juice and 2 teaspoons of sugar and cinnamon. Stir to combine.
4. Roll out the pie dough, and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Make sure the pieces are at least 2 inches in diameter, or the pies won’t be big enough to fill properly.
5. Start with 1 piece of pie dough. Press the lollipop sticks about halfway into the dough, and gently push into the dough.
6. Place a little bit of the butter-sugar mixture in the center of the dough. This will melt and turn into caramel, coating the apple mixture while it bakes.
7. Spoon on some of the apple mixture. Top with pie dough. Use a fork to crimp the edges together.
8. Place the pies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
9. Whisk together an egg and a little water. Brush the egg wash onto the pies.
10. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.

More apple pie recipes

Caramel apple pie collides with a margarita for the perfect fall cocktail
Easy hot apple pie rolls made in just 20 minutes
Overnight slow cooker apple pie oatmeal is a super-easy breakfast