Award Winning Apple Cranberry Mini Pies
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These Apple Cranberry Mini Pies are an award winning healthy holiday dessert that the whole family will enjoy!
This month’s recipe redux theme “Trimming the Table” is having us share a healthy holiday dessert that we will be sharing with our family and friends this holiday season! The recipe I decided to share is one that I have been cooking up for my family for the past three years. It’s an oldie but goodie. So good it won Healthiest Holiday Pie on a Today Show segment back in 2013!
Yes that’s right! I was selected along with three other healthy foodies to share our healthy holiday pie recipe on air during fellow dietitian Joy Bauer’s healthy holiday pie segment. During the segment Al Roker and Willie Geist tried and ended up selecting my Apple Cranberry Mini Pies as their favorite! So you know these pies have got to be good!
I love these mini pies because they are portioned controlled and packed with flavor and nutrition. The crust is made of graham crackers which I have used vegetable oil and milk instead of butter to bind. The filling is apples, cranberries, orange zest and maple syrup and the topping is an oat crumble. Can you say YUM!!
I have made this recipe at least a dozen times over the past three years and am currently on my second batch of the season to share at Thanksgiving dinner this week!
- CRUST
- 10 cinnamon graham cracker sheets ( ~ 1 ½ cups crushed )
- ⅓ cup chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons milk, fat-free
- FILLING
- 3 medium (4 small) apples, peeled and diced
- 1 cup cranberries, fresh
- ½ teaspoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ⅛ cup orange juice
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- TOPPING
- ¼ cup old fashioned oats
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons milk, fat-free
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pre–heat oven to 350 degrees. Fill 12 cup muffin tin with muffin liners.
- To make crust. Crumble graham crackers and pecans in food processor, add oil and milk and combine until smooth. Evenly fill muffin tins with ~ 3 tablespoons of crust mixture. Press crust mixture down evenly into muffin cups. Bake crust in pre-heated oven for 5 minutes.
- To make filling. Combine apples, cranberries, orange zest and cinnamon. In a separate dish, mix cornstarch with orange juice to dissolve. Pour orange juice mixture and maple syrup over fruit mixture and combine. Evenly fill crusts with fruit mixture.
- To make topping. Mix together all topping ingredients and then sprinkle over the top of the fruit mixture.
- Bake mini pies in oven for 25-30 minutes.
Notes:
- Don’t have fresh cranberries? You can use frozen instead or 1/2 cup of dried cranberries.
- The pies are best warmed up. Simply place in the oven or toaster oven at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes.
- These mini pies are healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast! Just top with vanilla Greek or siggi’s yogurt.
Looking for other healthy holiday treats? Try my No-Bake Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes
Love apples and cranberries? Try my Naturally Sweet Apple Cranberry Compote
