Mini apple crumble tarts are the perfect treat to add to your holiday menu. These adorable desserts have a caramel apple filling and a delicious crumble topping for all the classic apple pie flavor with half the work.
Mini pies are happening at my house this Thanksgiving. I am picturing a big table full of individual desserts, with bowls of salted caramel sauce, vanilla ice cream, and pumpkin spice whipped cream. Homemade apple pie is my personal favorite, so these mini apple tarts will be front and center.
Made with crisp apples in a perfect flaky pie crust, topped with buttery caramel sauce and cinnamon brown sugar crumble, these mini apple tarts have all the flavor of classic apple crumble pie. The best part is that they bake up in individual servings in a muffin tin in only 20 minutes! I am always on the hunt for truly easy recipes that are fun and memorable enough for special occasions, and this is one of my favorites. Serve with a big scoop of ice cream on top of the warm cinnamon apples for a simple holiday dessert your whole family will beg you to make again next year.
You Will Love This
- These cute apple crumble tartlets are a perfect easy dessert to add to your holiday dessert table.
- This will become one of your favorite fall apple recipes. These mini apple pie tarts freeze and reheat beautifully for a single serving of homemade apple pie any time you want it.
- Mini apple pies take less time to cook and less time to cool, meaning fresh apple pie on your table in only 45 minutes.
Ingredients
For these mini apple pies, you will need the following simple ingredients (exact measurements are in the recipe card below):
- Apples: Any firm and tart cooking apples will work in this recipe. My personal preference is for granny smith apples, but I have also used pink lady apples. You need about two cups of diced apples, which amounts to 2-3 large apples.
- Mini pie crusts: You can use homemade pie crust or store bought. This recipe uses approximately two crusts, with a little dough left over. I recently saw a store-bought package of mini pie crusts, specifically for using in a muffin tin (awesome!). Feel free to buy those, or follow the instructions below to cut a regular size pie crust into mini crusts.
- Unsalted butter, divided
- Flour, divided: You want all-purpose flour for this recipe.
- Brown sugar, divided
- White sugar
- Rolled oats: I used Old Fashioned rolled oats. Quick oats will also work, but instant oats and steel cut oats will not.
- Ground cinnamon
- Kosher salt
Instructions
Step One: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare your mini pie crusts. Roll out your pie crust into a thin dough circle. Using a 3-4 inch diameter circular cookie cutter, cut the crust into mini dough rounds. Lightly grease a muffin tin, and press a dough round down into each cup. The crust may overlap a bit - just pinch the crust together in the overlapping spot. Move the muffin tin to the refrigerator to keep the crusts cold while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Step Two: Prepare the apples. Peal the apples and cut them into slices. Dice the apple slices into very small pieces, about ¼ inch cubes. Add a couple tablespoons of diced apples to each muffin cup, forming a small mound in each cup.
Step Three: Prepare the caramel sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, and cook for a few minutes until fragrant, stirring constantly. Add both sugars and the water, and bring to a light simmer. Allow the sauce to simmer for 3-4 minutes until smooth and caramel colored. Remove from heat and allow the sauce to cool until comfortable to touch (slightly warmer than room temperature). Spoon one tablespoon of caramel sauce into each muffin cup on top of the apples.
Step Four: Prepare the crumb topping. Add the oats, flour, brown sugar and ground cinnamon to a large mixing bowl. Mix together thoroughly. Melt the butter. Drizzle the melted butter into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Spoon the crumble mixture onto the top of each mini tart.
Step Five: Put the muffin tin into the preheated oven on the center rack. Put a cookie sheet on the bottom rack to catch any caramel sauce that drips over the side. Bake the mini tarts until the apples are bubbly and the crunchy crumble is golden brown, approximately 20 minutes.
Step Six: For best results in getting the mini tarts out of the muffin tin, allow them to cool in the tin for about 5-10 minutes, and then remove them to a cooling rack.
Storage
Store leftover tarts in an airtight container in a cool dry place for 3-4 days. Allow them to cool completely before storing. For longer storage, wrap tartlets tightly in plastic wrap and put them in a sealed container in the freezer for up to 3-4 months.
Recipe
Mini Apple Crumble Tarts
Ingredients
- 2 prepared pie crusts
- 2 large granny smith apples
For the caramel sauce:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
For the crumble topping:
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare your mini pie crusts. Roll out your pie crust into a thin circle. Using a large circular cookie cutter (3-4 inches), cut the crust into mini dough rounds. Lightly grease a muffin tin, and press a dough round down into each cup, overlapping the crust a little if necessary. Move the muffin tin to the refrigerator to keep the crusts cold while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Prepare the apples. Peal the apples and dice them into about ¼ inch cubes. Add a couple tablespoons of diced apples to each muffin cup, forming a small mound in each cup.
- Prepare the caramel sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, and cook for a few minutes until fragrant, stirring constantly. Add the sugars and water, and bring to a light simmer. Allow the sauce to simmer for 3-4 minutes until smooth and caramel colored. Remove from heat and allow the caramel sauce to cool slightly. Spoon one tablespoon of caramel sauce into each muffin cup on top of the apples.
- Prepare the crumble topping. Add the oats, flour, brown sugar and ground cinnamon to a large mixing bowl. Mix together thoroughly. Melt the butter. Drizzle the melted butter into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Spoon the crumble mixture onto the top of each mini tart.
- Put the muffin tin into the preheated oven on the center rack. Put a cookie sheet on the bottom rack to catch any caramel sauce that drips over the side. Bake the mini tarts until the apples are bubbly and the crunchy crumble is golden brown, approximately 20 minutes.
- For best results in getting the mini tarts out of the muffin tin, allow them to cool in the tin for about 5-10 minutes, and then remove them to a cooling rack.
Tony
These things are awesome fresh but also really good after being frozen. You can grab one from the freezer, pop it in the microwave, and boom goes the dynamite… nice little taste of apple pie. Hard part is trying to stick to only one.