Almond Apple Pie Crescents are sweet, cinnamon apples baked in a almond pie crust shaped into crescents, perfect for lunches for a fall treat.
Almond Apple Pie Crescents
I bought some ginger gold apples the other day and decided to make tiny apple pies with a couple of them for Labor Day. I love ginger gold apples for baking, they are just the right balance of tart and sweet. In fact usually I can use less sugar with them as opposed to other apples I might choose to bake with.
Did you know we can thank Hurricane Camille in 1969 for the ginger gold apple? When Hurricane Camille brought the floods in Nelson County, VA, it wiped out many of the orchards there. A farmer found a lone tree there and planted it when he replanted his orchard. That tree is the first ginger gold apple, which he named after his wife. It is the first yellow apple to ripen in the fall so you should be seeing them in your stores now.
These little apple pie crescents are easy to make. If you are short on time use pie dough from the grocery store. This dough tends to get soft while working with it so I suggest that after you make the crescents put them in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes, then take them out and make sure the edges are sealed well. Then brush with the egg white and sprinkle with the sugar.
One of the advantages to putting them back in the fridge is that it hardens that butter back up so it doesn’t leak out when you bake. Just about anything I bake that has a high butter/fat content I refrigerate it before baking even if the recipe doesn’t say to do it. It will make a difference in your finished product.
- Pie Dough
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 5 tablespoons frozen butter - cubed
- about 4 tablespoons ice water
- Apple Filling
- 1 1/2 cups diced apple 2 - 3 small
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon butter
- pinch cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 - 3 tablespoons water
- Topping
- raw sugar (can use regular)
- egg white
- To prepare the pie dough, put the almonds and sugar into your food processor bowl. Pulse off and on until the almonds are ground. Add the flour and frozen butter cubes. Pulse until butter is just combined. Add ice water until it comes together in a ball. Remove from food processor and wrap up tightly in saran wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Prepare the apple filling. Cut up apples into tiny pieces. Place in a saucepan with the sugar, butter and pinch of cinnamon. Cook over medium low heat until apples are tender, stirring often. When the apples are tender mix together the cornstarch and water. Stir in as much as needed to thicken the apples. Refrigerate to cool.
- To make the crescents
- Roll the dough out, using additional flour as needed. Cut circles of dough using a 2 1/2 inch cutter. Place a scant teaspoon of the apple filling on the dough. Fold over and seal edges. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 20 minutes before baking. Check that they are sealed good before baking.
- Brush egg white on top and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 15 - 18 minutes until lightly browned.
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