Apple Pie Cookies

Aren't these the cutest things?  Not my idea, although I wish they were.  These have been pinned to my to-do list for quite a few months now and I've actually seen them in at least a dozen places.  They all seem to stem back to one original source, though, which is Smitten Kitchen.  So I'll go ahead and say the inspiration came from there.

Sometimes, when I have the idea in my head, I just go play around in the kitchen and that's kind of how these cookies evolved. I used my own pie dough recipe, slightly sweeter, and kind of winged it when it came to the filling.  I've made them a few times, to get it right, not that any of them didn't get eaten anyway.  Probably would have been more efficient to just look at the dang recipe, though.  You can make them a little thicker and larger, like a hand pie, but I stuck to the thin, cookie version.  Buttery dough with just the right amount of sweetness, these are dangerously addictive.  Enjoy!









Ingredients
(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Crust:
1 Stick unsalted butter, well chilled and cut into 1" pieces
1 Cup all purpose flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1/4 Cup ice water

Filling:
1 Apple (your choice), peeled, cored and cut into quarters
1/4 Cup sugar
1 Teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Dash of nutmeg (optional)

To make the crust, combine the butter, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a food processor with a steel blade and pulse just until it resembles course crumbs. Slowly pour in the ice water and pulse just until combined and a dough ball forms. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

When the dough has chilled, roll it out on a well floured surface until it's quite thin.  Using a round cutter, cut out an equal number of circles.  You can re-roll the scraps to use up all the dough.  The number of circles you get will depend on your size cutter but I used a 3 1/2" cutter and got about 10 circles.

In a bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.  Slice each apple quarter as thinly as you can and place 2 or 3 slices on half of your dough circles.  Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of the sugar/cinnamon mixture over the apple slices and top with the blank dough circles.  Using a fork, crimp the edges so that the filling doesn't run out and cut a criss-cross slit across the tops.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, sprinkle the tops of the cookies with a tablespoon of additional sugar, if desired, and bake in a pre-heated 350 oven for 20 - 30 minutes or until the cookies are a light golden brown.