These gluten free spiced caramel apple pies are flavoured with cinnamon and all spice, making them perfect for autumn and winter time. Cooking them will fill your house with festive smells, and eating them is a tastebud-tingling joy.
A shell of gluten free buttery shortcrust pastry encases soft cooked apple in a caramel infused with cinnamon and all spice. These are a great alternative to mince pies, as well as a very nice buddy for them, so add some variety to your festive baking by trying these.
I have a wonderful, easy gluten free shortcrust pastry recipe you can use for the pie pastry shell, but shop bought pastry is good too (just not as lovely and buttery as my homemade recipe…go on, give it a try :D).
Could I Use a Different Fruit for These?
Apple is fantastic for these pies, especially as they are so readily available this time of year. However, another seasonal fruit I think would work wonderfully is pear. I’ve not tried a pear version yet, but can imagine they would be sweet and wonderful and definitely will give it a go soon.
Can I Make these Apple Pies Ahead of Time?
Yes definitely. They keep really well for a few days, so just store them in an airtight tin until ready to serve. You could warm them in the oven/microwave or simply serve them cold.
What is Golden Syrup?
For my non-UK readers, you may not be familiar with the golden syrup I have included for the caramel sauce. Golden syrup is akin to corn syrup, but with a slightly more rounded flavour.
Corn syrup is a good sub, or try use extra light brown sugar to replace the golden syrup if none is available to you.
How Many Pies will This Recipe Make?
This recipe makes 6 mini spiced caramel apple pies, but you can easily double/triple/quadruple it if you want to make more. Simply increase all the quantities and it will work just as well in greater volumes.
Gluten Free Spiced Caramel Apple Pies Recipe
You will find the recipe for my spiced caramel apple pies below and I’ve also added some photo under it to help make it extra easy to follow. However, if you need any help along the way please do DM me on social media (@myglutenfreeguide) or email me at [email protected].
Also, if you do enjoy this recipe please leave a review on the recipe card below – it makes a world of difference to me :).
Happy baking!
Laura xxx
Mini Spiced Caramel Apple Pies (GF)
Ingredients
- 300g apple, peeled and finely diced
- 35g butter
- 25g light brown sugar
- 20g caster sugar
- 25g golden syrup
- 0.5 tsp ground all spice
- 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
- 350g gluten free shortcrust pastry (see link to my recipe below)
Instructions
To make these spiced caramel apple pies with homemade pastry, do try my easy gluten free shortcrust recipe, it is delish and works perfectly for these.
- First, prepare the spiced caramel apple filling. Add the butter, light brown sugar, caster sugar and golden syrup to a small non-stick saucepan. Heat over a very low heat for 10 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
- Sprinkle the all spice and cinnamon over the caramel and stir through. Turn the heat up a little and let the caramel bubble for 2 minutes to thicken and for the spices to infuse.
- Add the finely diced apple pieces to the caramel and stir to fully coat. Cook over a medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. This will help reduce the amount of water in the apples to avoid the dreaded soggy pie bottoms! Set aside to cool slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 180C (fan).
- Place a 30cm piece of cling film onto your worktop and dust well with gluten free flour. Pop the chilled shortcrust pastry dough on top of the cling film, then greaseproof paper on top of the dough.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the pastry out to the thickness of a pound coin (3mm). Then cut six circles out of the pastry using a round 10cm cutter.
- Grease 6 holes of a muffin tin and tuck a pastry circle into each hole. You want to cover the base and sides of each hole, then use your fingers to press the pastry into shape and cut off any excess if needed.
- Divide the apple mixture between the cases, approx 1.5-2 heaped tsp in each.
- To top, either cut out a small pastry star or other decoration for an open tart. Or for a closed pie, use a 6cm cutter to create a small circular lid. Press the edge of the lid against the case to seal - crimp with a fork for a nice tight seal, or embrace the chance or yummy caramel sauce bubbling out and onto the sides of the pie...tastes great! Use a sharp knife to make two small slits in the centre of the pie lid to allow any moisture to escape during cooking.
- Brush the pastry tops and decorations with a little milk, then pop the apple pies into the oven to bake for 25 minutes at 180C (fan).
- Once baked, remove from the tin and set on a wire rack to cool (or eat them warm just beware the mega hot centres!).
For more fun festive recipes and some lovely autumn/winter bakes, why not try some of my other treats while you are here:
- Lemon Meringue Yule Log
- Spiced Orange Loaf Cake
- Pecan Pie
- Slow Roasted Honey Ham
- Christmas Tree Guacamole Dip
Enjoy! x
