Mini Apple Pies and Crockpot Applesauce

Last week our dryer sparked and smoked when we started a load of laundry. I was really nervous about what might come of this dryer situation. They are expensive to fix and expensive to buy new. My husband took the dryer apart and found this burnt control board. :(

Luckily he found a new control board on eBay for $60 and I found a YouTube video that showed how to remove the old and install the new one. :) Yay! That was a close call. And now I have no excuse for loads of unclean laundry...

I will say that for the short time that I was hanging up laundry on a line in my kitchen it was not so bad... I mean who can resist these little underwear??

I spent a day hanging up laundry and crossing a few more items off my Fall Bucket List (I have through the end of November). I made homemade applesauce and some mini apple pies. The applesauce was soooo so easy and made in the crockpot. Here's a look at the apples over the course of the 6 hours they were cooking:

Here's my recipe...

Ingredients:
A bunch of apples (I bought a 3lb bag of organic fuji apples and used about 3/4)
1/4 cup apple juice (optional)
1 1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons brown sugar lightly packed (optional)

Directions:
Cut, chop, dice the apples (leave the skin for more nutritional value). Pile all your apple pieces into the crockpot and add the remaining ingredients. Mix, cover, and turn crockpot on to low. Let them cook for 6 hours stirring occasionally. When finished empty contents of crockpot into a blender/food processor. Blend as much or as little as you want and then ENJOY!

Variations:
Skip the brown sugar and add 1 cup blueberries, peaches, or strawberries for some fun new flavors.
Replace the apple juice with juice from one lemon and some lemon zest. I use whatever I have on hand... this recipe is so versatile!

*This applesauce keeps for about a week or so. You can freeze it and it is still tasty once thawed.

The other baking endeavor for the day was mini apple pies. I was so excited about making a 100%, from scratch, apple pie but shoot if I was tired by 2pm (nap time) and wanted to take the easy way out! I bought some buttermilk biscuits from this new (to me) company, Immaculate Baking. Their products do not contain some of the harmful ingredients that are commonly found in refrigerated baking items. I like the convenience, but not the chemicals... I digress. The biscuits would do for the pie crusts and here's my recipe:

Ingredients:
1-2 apples diced into small pieces (skin removed)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
1-2 tablespoons butter
1 can buttermilk biscuits (6-8)
Flour, as needed

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease six spot muffin tin. Flour your workspace and rolling pin. Roll biscuits flat and thin (1/8-1/4"). Place six flattened biscuits into the muffin tin to create the crusts. Mix cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mix over the crusts. Add apples to the crusts evenly amongst the six crusts. Place a dalup of butter on each pie. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar mixture over the pies. If you have left over biscuit dough you can cut fun shapes to place on top of the pies.... I cut hearts. :) Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the dough is golden brown.

I have a photo of the pies before baking but unfortunately no after pictures... we ate them up before I could snap a picture! :) Yum!

I hope you like these as much as us... let me know if you try them or have other recipe variations!

<-Kassy->