Super Easy Mini Apple Pies | Vegan + Gluten Free
These super adorable mini apple pies are SO easy to make and fun for a deliciously sweet fall dessert! Naturally vegan, dairy free, no sugar added filling, and easily gluten free, theses vegan mini apple pies are sweet, gooey, flaky, and perfect for a party, fun fall dessert, or snack!
The most adorable hand held mini apple pies ever!
You You are just going to LOVE these vegan mini apple pies! Don’t the cutest desserts just come in the tiniest form? Much like my vegan mini cakes, this is like the best vegan apple pie you’ve ever had…only miniature! You can share a pie with a friend or loved one…or even have one all to yourself if you want!
Let’s go over the details:
- Taste: these mini apple pies have all of the flavors of traditional full sized pie. Super sweet and full of gooey cinnamon coated apples that are baked to perfection. And the pie crust? Perfectly “buttery” yet entirely dairy free!
- Texture: the apple pie filling itself comes out so perfectly gooey, yet doesn’t make the crust soggy in the slightest. It’s the best of both worlds. Plus, the vegan pie crust is so flaky and crispy!
- Apple to pie crust ratio: unlike a large apple pie, or even really tiny pies made in muffin tins, you have the best apple filling ratio to pie crust. One doesn’t outweigh the other!
- Easy & fun: if you’ve been hesitant about making your own full sized pie, then try these mini ones- they’re much more approachable, and just so much fun! The apple pie filling is made with just 5 ingredients!
- Undetectably healthier! Yep, you won’t believe that these mini apple pies are naturally vegan, gluten free, no sugar added to the filling, and dairy free!
How to make mini apple pies (overview)
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
The Best Homemade Vegan Pie Crust
The amazing part about these vegan apple pies is that you don’t need to par-bake (partially bake) the bottom pie crust before you put the filling in. Seriously! And yet, there will be no soggy bottoms here!
This pie crust is actually based on my Vegan Pie Crust guide that I wrote, detailing everything you need to know about vegan pie crusts (and how to make them delicious for absolutely anyone).
You can use this pie crust for any dessert or savory dish you’d like, but it’s just perfect for these adorable mini pies! You’ll simply blitz the flour and vegan butter in the food processor until you get a sandy texture. Then carefully add in the remaining ingredients until you form a thick dough.
Once the dough is chilled, we’ll create mini apple pie bottom crusts by using a bowl that’s about 1″ larger in diameter than the mini tart pans. Roll the dough to be about 1/8″ thick, then press the dough into your mini tart pans.
Quick & Easy Apple Pie Filling
This is actually based off of my healthy apple pie (that’s also undetectably vegan). It uses just apples, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg, and arrowroot starch. Yep, there’s no added sugar!
The apple pie filling couldn’t be easier, actually. Simply remove the skin off of your apples (this will help create a gooey filling without sugar), and dice the apple into small cubes. As small as possible! We’re making mini apple pies after all. Then toss everything together!
How to make a lattice crust
Making a mini lattice crust for a mini apple pie is actually a lot easier than making a regular sized one. So if this is your first time making lattice crust, this is a great start! Plus, these mini pies actually act like a practice for the real deal!
I have a whole section of the Vegan Pie Guide where we go over making a lattice crust. The most important part, in my opinion, is keeping the dough cold enough to hold its shape and warm enough to move. The ideal temperature is 65-68F. The other thing you should watch out for is just being careful not to overwork the dough!
Making a lattice crust is much like weaving a basket.I like to line half of the lattice pieces onto the pie parallel to each other. Then pull back the second, fourth, and sixth if you have it. Place a lattice piece across the first, third, and fifth that’s perpendicular to the original set. Then place the second, fourth, and sixth back on top. This time, pick up the first, third, and fifth in the opposite direction, placing another strip perpendicularly across the second, fourth, and sixth. Place the lifted pieces down, and now repeat!
To close off the lattice, you can either press the pie dough into the edge of the tart pan to seal it off, or pull the overhanging part of the bottom pie crust over and seal off the lattice that way.
Either works!
Can I make a single serving mini apple pie?
If you don’t want to make three mini apple pies, you can actually just make one vegan mini apple pie instead! I’ve already made the measurement adjustments if you’d like just one mini apple pie:
- 62 grams all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour, plus more for rolling
- 37 grams vegan butter, chilled and cubed
- 10 grams arrowroot powder
- 1 tsp maple syrup, optional
- 1-2 tbsp chilled water
- 3/4 large apple, skin removed
- 1 tsp arrowroot starch
- 1 tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- Cinnamon & nutmeg to taste
What pie dish do I use for mini apple pies?
Contrary to some popular mini apple pie recipes on the web, I wanted to be a bit more diverse and actually make mini apple pies that are closer to mini apple tarts. That way, they truly look like a miniature version of an able pie, and it’s a bit better on the apple filling to pie crust ratio.
A lot of people use muffin tins, but I recommend miniature tart pans. You can find them at Crate & Barrell, Home Goods, and Amazon.
Can I make these mini apple tarts gluten free?
You can easily turn these mini apple tarts into gluten free apple pies as well. Simply swap out the all purpose flour for gluten free 1:1 baking flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill in the blue bag.
What apples do I use for this recipe?
Typically, for an apple pie recipe, you’d use a mix of sweet and sour apples. However, since the vegan apple pie filling requires no added sugar, we definitely want to have a sweet apple to begin with. I used Gala apples here, but you can also use Ambrosia, Fuji, Golden Delicious, or Jazz apples. For more sweet varieties of apples, check out this post!
Do I need to make a lattice crust?
If you don’t want to do the lattice crust, not a problem! You can either make mini apple crumble pies by using only half of the pie dough recipe down below and swapping in an oat crumble topping, like the one on my vegan apple crisp.
Alternatively, you can keep the same amount of pie dough, and simply do the double pie crust look, slicing little holes into the top for decoration.
How to store mini apple pies
These miniature apple tarts will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Alternatively, you can freeze them for up to 3 months in the freezer. To reheat, heat the oven to 350F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the pies onto the baking sheet and heat for 5 minutes.
Serve ala mode and enjoy!
You are just going to absolutely love these adorable and cute mini apple pies! My whole family keeps raving about them, especially for that apple pie filling. They’re deliciously sweet, without being full of sugar, warm and cinnamon-spice filled, and perfectly baked with a crisp and flaky pie crust!
You’ll also love these other fall inspired vegan apple recipes:
Easy Vegan Apple Pie Overnight Oats
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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
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Super Easy Mini Apple Pies | Vegan + Gluten Free
- Prep Time: 40
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These super adorable mini apple pies are SO easy to make and fun for a deliciously sweet fall dessert! Naturally vegan, dairy free, no sugar added filling, and easily gluten free, theses vegan mini apple pies are sweet, gooey, flaky, and perfect for a party, fun fall dessert, or snack!
Ingredients
Pie Crust:
- 145 grams all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour, plus more for rolling
- 22 grams arrowroot powder
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 85 grams unsalted vegan butter, chilled and cubed
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 4 tbsp ice cold water
Apple Filling:
- 1.5 apple, skin removed and diced into small cubes
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp arrowroot starch
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Read through all instructions before beginning. Measure out all ingredients. Make sure that the apple is peeled and diced. Keep the vegan butter in the fridge until ready to use. Prepare three mini tart pan (about 3-4″) greased with olive oil. Set aside.
- Start by making the pie crust: in a small food processor, pulse together the flour, arrowroot starch, and sea salt. Add in the Flora Plant Butter, and pulse until you achieve a sandy texture, about 10 seconds. Add in the maple syrup and 2 tbsp of water to start at first. Pulse until the wet ingredients start to combine into a thick dough. If you need more water, add it in here. You should have a thick but small dough ball. Place the dough onto a piece of parchment paper, wrap it, and store it in the fridge while you make the apple pie filling.
- Make the apple pie filling: Preheat the oven to 400F. In a small bowl, combine the diced apple, lemon juice/apple cider vinegar, arrowroot starch, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Toss until the apple pies are evenly coated, then set aside.
- Make the mini apple pie: Remove the pie dough from the fridge. Slice the dough in half. The other half will be for your lattice crust. Dust a piece of parchment paper with flour, as well as the dough disk and a rolling pin. Gently roll the dough to be about 1/8″ thick. Use a small bowl that’s about 1/2″ bigger than your mini tart pan, and cut out a circle with a knife. Repeat for the two other mini pies. Any pie dough scraps can be used for the lattice. Roll the circle once more to smooth it out, then gently drape the pie dough over the pie dish and gently press the dough into the sides of the pie dish. Be careful not to pull the crust down but gently lift and press the dough into the bottom edge of the pie dish and up the sides.
- Fill the apple pie: Pour the apple pie filling into the middle of the pie crust. Then set aside as you prepare the lattice crust.
- Make the lattice crust: Divide the dough into three separate balls. You’ll make one lattice at a time. Roll one dough ball out like in step 4. However, this time, to make the lattice, measure a square that’s about 7×7″. Use a pizza dough slicer to slice each lattice strip into 1/2″ strips. Drape half of the strips in one direction over the pie. Do not seal off the lattice yet. Now begin to weave the other strips going the opposite direction, lifting up every other strip to cover the opposite strip (see photos). Use scissors to slice off any pie dough pieces that spill over, then gently tuck the loose ends into the pie crust. Repeat for the other two pies.
- Bake the mini apple pie: Brush the apple pies with 1 tbsp dairy-free milk, such as coconut cream, and sprinkle on top 1 tsp of brown sugar or coconut sugar each, if desired. Place the apple pies onto a baking sheet, and bake the apple pie for 25-30 minutes, or until the dough has lightly set.
- Serve the apple pie: Remove the apple pie from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes in its tart pan. Then use a butter knife, and gently line the edges of the pie to carefully remove. Serve with a scoop of dairy-free ice cream and enjoy!
Notes
SINGLE SERVING:
- 62 grams all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour, plus more for rolling
- 37 grams vegan butter, chilled and cubed
- 10 grams arrowroot powder
- 1 tsp maple syrup, optional
- 1-2 tbsp chilled water
- 3/4 large apple, skin removed
- 1 tsp arrowroot starch
- 1 tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
Can I swap cassava flour for all purpose?
Unfortunately, I have not tested this recipe with cassava flour- you’re more than welcome to try it out! I have made cassava flour crusts before with a similar recipe and it has worked in the past, but I can’t guarantee the results here!