mini carmel apple pies

mini carmel apple pies

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  I wanted to share with you one of my new favorite recipes that I made for dessert for the big turkey day feast.

Mini Carmel Apple Pies

(recipe adapted from Just A Taste)

Mini Carmel Apple Pies Recipe

 

MINI CARAMEL APPLE PIES

Makes about 12 mini pies.

INGREDIENTS:

For the dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup cold sour cream

For the filling:
2 cups small diced green Granny Smith apples  (about the size of corn kernels)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
8 soft caramels, roughly chopped
Egg wash (1 egg lightly whisked with 1 Tablespoon water)
Crystal sanding sugar

***You could also use refrigerated pie crust to cut your prep time down.  Next time, I think I will do this to make the recipe easier!***

DIRECTIONS:

FOR THE DOUGH

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the cubed butter to the bowl and use your fingers to work the butter into the flour until the mixture is the consistency of wet sand. Stir in the sour cream (the dough will be very wet), and then turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface.

Knead the dough a few times until it comes together, adding more flour, 1 teaspoon at a time, if the dough is too sticky to handle. Roll the dough into an 8×10-inch rectangle and dust both sides with flour before folding it into thirds as if you were folding a letter.

Rotate the dough 90º and roll it out again into an 8×10-inch rectangle. Fold the dough again into thirds then wrap it securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes while you make the filling.

FOR THE FILLING:

In a small bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar and flour, stirring until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.

MAKE THE PIES:

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and unfold it onto a well-floured surface, rolling it out to a 14×14-inch square.

Using a 3-inch circular cookie cutter or cup (I used a pint glass), cut out as many circles as possible. Re-roll the scraps and continue cutting out circles until you run out of dough, ensuring you end up with an even number of circles.

Place six of the dough circles on a Silicone pad or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Spoon a small portion of the apple filling into the center of each circle, leaving enough of a border around the filling. Top the apple filling with some of the chopped caramels. Place a second dough circle atop each filled circle then use a fork to crimp the edges together, sealing each pie.

Brush each pie with the egg wash, and using a sharp knife, cut two or three vents on the top of each pie. Sprinkle the pies with crystal sanding sugar.

Bake the pies for about 15 minutes, or until they’re golden brown.

Remove the pies from the oven and allow them to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

 Thanksgiving Dessert Bar

We had quite the dessert bar for Thanksgiving!  Complete with the “I am thankful for dessert” free printable posted last week.

Have you gobbled up all of your Thanksgiving leftovers yet?  Now, only 23 days until Christmas!

Heather Johnson - The Creative Stack

hosting my first thanksgiving – part 2

hosting my first thanksgiving – part 2

My Thanksgiving table is set!  The linens have been pressed, the china has been cleaned and I finally decided on my Thanksgiving table decorations.  A couple of weeks ago, I posted a bunch of Thanksgiving decorating ideas I had been gathering up.  Here is what I ended up with:

Thanksgiving Table with Sunflowers and Pumpkins

 

Hurricane glass with nuts and candle
I purchased the hurricane glass and candle at Garden Ridge.  The nuts came from my local grocery store.

Sunflowers in vase with washi tape
You might remember how I love washi tape!

And mini pumpkins!
purchased at Whole Foods

Sunflower table decor

 

I also wanted to decorate our mantle in the living room which opens up to our kitchen.  This main room is where everyone will be hanging out while the turkey is cooking and football is on.  Check out what I came up with:

Thanksgiving Mantel - Sunny Slide Up

 

Thankful Sign
Free printables here for the letters, plus some ribbon from a craft store.

Thankful Free Printable

More mini pumpkins & little trees
I found these cute little trees in wood boxes at Trader Joes

Glass vases with scented pinecone mix 
Purchased at Michael’s

Holiday Mantel Display Sunny Slide Up

For the dessert table  I wanted a sign that read “I am thankful for dessert”….because aren’t we all 🙂

Click here for the FREE PRINTABLE! (for personal use only)

Branch graphics in printable designed by We Lived Happily Ever After

thankful for dessert printable

Now, Gobble! Gobble!  Who’s ready for some turkey?!?

Heather Johnson - The Creative Stack

batkid

batkid

This story has been all over the news the past few days.  A 5 year old kid battling Leukemia was granted a wish to become Batman by the Make-A-Wish foundation and it seems that practically the whole city of San Francisco pulled together to make his wish come true.

I first caught a glimpse of it on my Facebook newsfeed as a story with the headline “BATKID SAVES CITY” showing the “Gotham City Chronicle” Newspaper.  Turns out the San Francisco Chronicle printed this special edition for their paper to be handed out as people gathered for the big event in the streets of San Francisco.

Check out this video telling a little about the story.  What an amazing thing to do for a kid going through such a tough thing.

Batkid from San Francisco Chronicle on Vimeo.

Batkid-newspaper

(image source)

Heather Johnson - The Creative Stack