All the pleasures of indulging in a whole pie without the downside of consuming a regular-sized pie – these individual apple pies feature sautéed Fuji apples in a brown-sugar-speckled crust topped with gooey caramel dulce de leche sauce.

We love desserts that could, in theory, be shared but are best enjoyed on your own. Click the links to see these delicious ways we’ve end meals with individual serving desserts: pecan persimmon upside down cake, anniversary crème brûlée, fall harvest cakes and, of course, molten lava chocolate cake.  Individual miniature desserts are especially enjoyable because you can savor the textures and flavors of the entire pie.

Individual Apple Pies

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 1 cup frozen, unsalted butter
• 14 tbsp ice cold water

Filling

• 5 large Fuji apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1/4 inch cubes (6mm)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tbsp dark brown sugar

Directions

1. Liberally grease a 12-muffin tin with butter. Set aside.
2. Make dough. Whisk together flour, salt and dark brown sugar in a medium bowl.
3. Using a cheese grater, grate frozen butter into flour mixture. Stir so that butter is evenly distributed in flour mixture.
4. 1 tbsp at a time, mix ice water into flour mixture until dough comes together. Knead a few times on a floured surface. Form dough into a flattened disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
5. While dough is chilling, make apple filling.
6. Melt butter over medium heat. Add apples, cinnamon and dark brown sugar.
7. Sauté apple mixture for about 8 minutes. Apples should be firm but soft enough to pierce with a fork. Set aside to cool slightly.
8. Place chilled dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to about 1/4 inch (6mm) thick.
9. Cut circles of dough to fit muffin tin cups.
10. Fill pies to the brim with apple mixture.
11. Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree F (175 C) oven. Crusts should be golden brown when finished.
12. Let pies cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the tin.
13. Drizzle dulce de leche on top of pies just before serving.

Dulce de Leche Topping

Ingredients

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

Directions

1. Pour 1 can sweetened condensed milk into top of double-boiler pan; cover. Place over boiling water.

2. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 40 to 50 minutes, or until thick and light caramel-colored. Remove from heat. Beat until smooth.