Personal Cardamom-Apple Pies

       Look what I got! Then made! The other day my rather wonderful significant other bought me some new apple-shaped ramekins. Needless to say, I was pretty stoked and didn't have to think long about what I would make first in them. Since I got them as a gift from my-rather-wonderful-significant-other, I immediately decided I should try making personal-sized pies in them, being that his favorite thing ever is pie. I had to make an apple pie, specifically, for two reasons: I still have tons of apples on my apple tree and the ramekins are apple shaped. I briefly considered being ironic and making a different sort of pie, but the fact I had free apples won.
       Now to be perfectly honest I have only made pie two times in my life before making these. Meaning, I don't have any "go-to" recipes. So I searched online to see who had "the perfect pie crust". However, I had stipulations: there was NO WAY I was going to use any shortening in my crust. Butter all the way, baby! It makes the world taste better. Well, I got to searching and virtually all the recipes contained either only shortening, or a mixture of both. I didn't want that. So, instead of searching for "perfect pie crust" I searched for a "butter pie crust". Right away one of my favorite blogs popped up (go-figure (now I really know it's a good blog if they have an all butter pie crust  (and yes, it is legal to keep doing parentheses like this as long as your end parentheses match the same amount as your opening parentheses (which sometimes can be hard to count if you start doing a lot)))). <---See? =) Hehe, sorry for my digression. Anyway, smittenkitchen has an amazing pie crust recipe. Seriously, I refuse to even try any other recipes because I love this one so much! It was sooooo delicious--you could eat it on its own. Super flaky, full of flavor, and ahhhhh "perfect". Even if you already have a favorite pie crust, do me a favor and at least try this one once.
       Well I believe I have my love of buttery pie crust covered, so I'll move on to the filling. I wanted to do more than just have cinnamon and sugar on my apples, so I thought to myself, "Self, you have a little jar of cardamom sitting in your cupboard waiting to be used. Why don't you add that to the filling?" Instantly realizing the awesomeness of my idea, I quickly browsed the web for an apple pie recipe that included cardamom. This is what I found. I liked the looks of it, and also the name (I have a lot of Scandanavian blood in me) so I decided to give it a go. I was pleased. In the future, though, I may consider using more cardamom. Or use some freshly ground stuff. After all it is named a "Cardamom" Apple Pie, and I think if cardamom's going to be included in the name it should be tasted a little more. Overall, though, it was delicious.



Personal Cardamom-Apple Pies

Ingredients

For the crust

Since I'm a pie crust newbie, I'm going to send you over to smittenkitchen for the directions. Her's were wonderful. =)

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup very cold butter

Note: smittenkitchen says that this recipe makes one double-crust pie crust, or two single-crust pie crusts, "regular" sized.


For the filling
Recipe from theweekinfood

• 6 cups apples--peeled, cored, and sliced
• 1/2 cup  sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cardamom
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Note: This filling is enough to fill two ten inch pies.

Directions
--Preheat your oven to 350°F.

--Make your dough, according to smittenkitchen's directions.

--Combine sugar, spices, and apples in a large bowl, making sure all the apples are covered equally.

--Once you have your dough ready, place in the prepared ramekins.

--Fill the bottom part of the crust with apples, creating a little bulge on top, if desired.

--Roll out your dough again for the tops of the pies, tucking the top layer of dough under the bottom layer for sturdy edges. Make sure they're pinched together tightly so extra juices don't run out while baking.

--Cut slits in the top layer of dough for air vents. Don't want that pie to explode on us now do we?

--Place ramekins on a baking sheet, just in case excess juices run over.

--Bake for 30-40 minutes.
         *If you are using regular pie pans, try 20-30 minutes first.

--Once the crust is golden brown, remove from oven and let them rest for a little bit. They're piping hot!

--ENJOY! =)



Happy Baking!
--H