these sweet little pecan apple pies are not only gorgeous, they’re an easily-decadent and delicious individual treat.
Not gunna lie, I’ve been baking heavyyy with pecans as of late. Perhaps it’s obvious because literally all my new recipes in the past couple of weeks have some sort of “pecan” involved in their name or in their ingredients. Oops. Sorry not sorry, but pecans are actually my favourite nut if I had to choose.
There not only super versatile in terms of how you bake with them, whether that be lending their naturally dark-brown colour to create these “brownies” or else as a simple addition to create a loaded cookie. I just love how they taste, plain and simple, and when you’re relegated to certain dietary restrictions (ahem, I still don’t eat chocolate chips, unless I make my own, rarely/if ever), you end up finding alternative ways to get your cravings of decadence satisfied (as it were). For me, that’s often via pecans. Meaning like, they’re essentially my go-to replacement for chocolate chips in cookies, and they also make a magnificent crumble topping, and they also are fantastic grounded up into a flour for cakes and blondies, andddd the list goes on.
The latest iteration of my baking obsession are these bad boys. Mini pecan apple pies. They’re not only cute af, individual-serving-style pecan pies, they have some apple thrown into the pecan pie filling too.
To make these miniature pecan apple pies, I used my go-to whoopie pie mold, the same one that I tend to use for these raisin cinnamon english muffins and sandwich rounds. You’ll need a similar shape and sized mold for these, although a large muffin tin could also work (those bakery style muffins).
First, you’ll make a very simple and effective cashew and almond flour crust, and then fill it up with the pecan-apple filling. In the end, the two layers will essentially blend together, but you’ll get this nice crunch to the lightly-vanilla-scented crust to complete the softness (and crunchiness, as it were), of the pecan-apple filling too.
If you want a fancy-looking yet quite easy dessert, and one that actually freezes quite well too – I put half of them in my freezer and proceeded to warm up at least one per day in the oven to enjoy with my daily yogurt – then this is it. It also feels a bit appropriate for cold weather and holiday season, there is definitely a cozy factor going on with this dessert, and I highly recommend you serve warm!!
Find the full recipe below. If you try it, let me know what you think by leaving a comment below! Follow me on Instagram for more daily recipe and food shares @grainfreee.
A few more recipes if you’re looking for some delicious dessert ideas:
- PEANUT BUTTER MARSHMALLOW BLONDIES
- PECAN PUMPKIN “BROWNIES”
- SHORTBREAD COOKIES (ALMOND FLOUR)
- STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE (COCONUT FLOUR)
- APPLE CHEESE DANISH (COCONUT FLOUR & ALMOND FLOUR)
mini pecan apple pies: ingredients
crust
- 1 cup of cashews
- 1 cup of almond flour
- 1 tbsp of pure vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp of coconut oil, melted
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp of honey
filling
- 2 cups of pecans
- 1 apple, peeled and shredded
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 2 tbsp of coconut milk
- 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
mini pecan apple pies: how to
crust
- start by preparing your crust. start by grinding the cashews in the food processor, before adding the flour, and all other ingredients for the crust, until well combined.
- press down the batter, approx 1 and 1/2 tbsp per pie, into a silicone whoopie mold (i recommend this one).
- bake the crust in a preheated oven at 340 for 13 minutes, until turning slightly golden.
- remove from oven and set aside while you prepare your filling. if they’ve puffed up a bit, gently press down the batter with your fingers a bit while they’re still hot.
filling
- chop up your pecans, and in a large bowl, place your pecans, shredded apple, cinnamon and toss.
- add the honey and combine, before adding the coconut milk, vanilla extract and beaten eggs (whisk eggs in a small bowl separately beforehand).
- once everything is well-combined, place approximately two tbsp of pecan-apple filling in each mini pie.
- bake in a preheated oven at 340 for 40 minutes or so. remove from oven and allow to cool completely before attempting to pop them out of the trays.
- serve warm, with a side of yogurt or even ice cream! store in an airtight glass container in the fridge or freezer. they do freeze well.
mini pecan apple pies
Ingredients
filling
- 2 cups pecans
- 1 apple, peeled and shredded
- 1/2 cup honey
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp coconut milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
crust
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup almond four
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp honey
Instructions
crust
- start by preparing your crust. start by grinding the cashews in the food processor, before adding the flour, and all other ingredients for the crust, until well combined.
- press down the batter, approx 1 and 1/2 tbsp per pie, into a silicone whoopie mold (i recommend this one).
- bake the crust in a preheated oven at 340 for 13 minutes, until turning slightly golden.
- remove from oven and set aside while you prepare your filling. if they've puffed up a bit, gently press down the batter with your fingers a bit while they're still hot.
filling
- chop up your pecans, and in a large bowl, place your pecans, shredded apple, cinnamon and toss.
- add the honey and combine, before adding the coconut milk, vanilla extract and beaten eggs (whisk eggs in a small bowl separately beforehand).
- once everything is well-combined, place approximately two tbsp of pecan-apple filling in each mini pie.
- bake in a preheated oven at 340 for 40 minutes or so. remove from oven and allow to cool completely before attempting to pop them out of the trays.
- serve warm, with a side of yogurt or even ice cream! store in an airtight glass container in the fridge or freezer. they do freeze well.