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Welcome, fellow cottagecore bakers! 🍂
With the temperature finally dropping and the rain visiting me more often, it’s the perfect time to indulge in cosy baking sessions that warm both the kitchen and the soul.
Today, I’m sharing an easy recipe that combines the wholesome charm of apple pies with an artistic touch: Sunflower Mini Apple Pies. These little delights are decorated with hand-shaped sunflower tops, naturally coloured with cacao, turmeric, and cinnamon.
Whether you’re a seasoned baker or just starting, I think you’ll find these mini pies both fun and rewarding to create!
So, let’s dive into this recipe and bring some sunflower magic into your autumn baking!
Sunflower Mini Apple Pies Recipe
Crust Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups of flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- ¼ cup of oil
- ½ cup of warm water
- Lemon zest (optional, for added flavour)
- For colouring the dough:
- 2-4 tablespoons of cacao powder (for the brown sunflower centre)
- 2-4 tablespoons of turmeric (for the yellow sunflower petals)
- 1 tablespoon of cinnamon (to balance the turmeric’s strong flavour)
Crust Instructions:
1. Prepare the dough: In a bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Add the oil and warm water slowly, stirring until the dough forms. If desired, mix in lemon zest for a bright, fresh flavour.
2. Separate and colour the dough: Divide the dough into three portions, following a ratio of 70-20-10.
Leave the 70% portion without any colouring to use as the base crust.
Colour the second portion with turmeric and cinnamon for the petals, and the third one with cacao powder for the sunflower centres. Add the powders gradually (2-4 tablespoons) until you reach your desired hue.
3. Roll and cut: Roll out the plain dough and use it to line your muffin tin, creating the base of each mini pie. With a fork, poke holes in the pastry dough to allow the steam to escape, so that the pie crust doesn't puff up in the oven.
4. Set aside the coloured dough portions for the sunflower decoration.
Filling Ingredients:
- 2 medium apples (peeled and diced)
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- 1 teaspoon of agave syrup (or other sweetener of your choice)
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of cornstarch (to thicken the filling)
Filling Instructions:
1. Prepare the apples: In a medium bowl, toss the diced apples with lemon juice, agave, cinnamon, and cornstarch. Stir well until evenly coated.
2. Cook the mixture: Cook on low heat for around 15 minutes or until the apples are soft.
3. Fill the pies: Spoon the apple mixture into the dough-lined muffin tin, making sure each pie has a generous amount of filling.
4. Cover each pie with plain dough. With your fingers, gently press to seal where the two pie crusts meet. Poke some holes with a fork.
Creating the Sunflower Decoration:
1. Sunflower centres: Roll out the cacao-coloured dough, cut out small discs and place one in the centre of each pie.
2. Sunflower petals: Take small balls of the turmeric-coloured dough and arrange them around the cacao disc. Using your fingers, press the centre of each ball while gently pulling and pinching the outer edges to create a petal shape. Continue this around the entire circle, forming a sunflower.
3. With a dessert fork, create a textured flower centre by marking holes all over it. With the same fork, create marks on the petals, where they overlap with the centre discs as shown in the picture below.
4. Bake: Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is slightly golden and the sunflower tops have set.
And there you have it—your very own batch of Sunflower Mini Apple Pies!
These little treats are as delicious as they are beautiful, with a rich apple-cinnamon filling and soft, light crust.
I hope you enjoy making them as much as I did! Be sure to check out my latest video to watch the entire process.
Make sure to tag me if you share yours on social media. Thank you for baking along with me, and I can’t wait to see your creations! 🍂
Until next time, happy baking! 🍎🌻
With love,
Indoora
