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These mini apple pies are what I make when I want apple pie but not a whole apple pie. You press pie crust into a muffin tin, pile in cinnamon-spiced apples, and cover them with cold-butter streusel that bakes up crunchy on top. No lattice, no crimping, no rolling pin skills required, and twelve individual pies out of the oven in under an hour.
This is one of my most-made fall recipes, right alongside my baked apple cider donuts, and the comment section here has quietly turned into its own FAQ. So I rebuilt this post around what you all actually ask me. How to freeze them, which apples hold their shape, what to do if all you own is a mini muffin tin. It’s all in here now, no scrolling through two dozen comments to find it!
Quick Look: Easy Mini Apple Pies In A Muffin Tin
- 🥧 What it is: Twelve individual apple pies pressed into a muffin tin, topped with cold-butter streusel.
- ⭐ Why it works: A parchment strip under each crust, ends sticking up. You lift them out whole instead of prying.
- 💛 Why you’ll love it: No lattice, no crimping, no rolling pin skills. Store-bought crust is fine here.
- ⚠️ What to watch for: Don’t overfill. The filling bubbles up and anything that spills glues the pie to the tin.
- 🍳 Pan notes: Standard 12-cup tin, 3.5–4 inch rounds, two crusts makes exactly twelve. Mini tin: 2-inch rounds, check at 15 minutes.
- ❄️ Make ahead: Freeze baked, 2 months, reheat from frozen at 350°F for 15–20 minutes. Don’t thaw.
Why You’ll Love These Mini Apple Pies
- Everyone gets their own pie, which means no slicing, no serving utensils, and no sad last piece.
- The streusel topping is faster than a lattice and honestly tastes better. Crunchy, buttery, a little bit like the top of an apple crisp.
- They travel well. I’ve brought these to more potlucks than I can count and they hold up in a container way better than a cut pie does.
- They freeze beautifully, baked or unbaked, so you can get ahead of a holiday.
- Store-bought crust is genuinely fine here. If you want to make flaky all-butter homemade pie crust instead, it works, but nobody will know if you don’t.
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients
Full measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom. These are just the four that actually change how they turn out.
- Pie crust. One package of refrigerated crusts is two crusts, which gives you exactly 12 pies. Store-bought is genuinely fine here, but my flaky all-butter homemade pie crust and my sourdough discard pie crust both work.
- Apples. Two medium apples, diced small. Granny Smith holds its shape and cuts through all that sugar. Peeling is optional, it just gives you a softer filling.
- Cornstarch. This is what keeps the filling from going watery in the tin. Don’t skip it.
- Cold butter for the streusel. Straight from the fridge, cubed. Cold butter is what makes the streusel stay crumbly instead of melting into a flat layer.
Substitutions And Additions
- Oat streusel. A reader asked about this years ago and I’ve made it this way ever since. Add 3 tablespoons of old fashioned oats to the streusel and change nothing else.
- Mini muffin tin. Cut 2-inch rounds instead of 3.5 to 4-inch, fill them a little less generously, and start checking at 15 minutes. Same pan I use for my mini Nilla wafer cheesecakes.
- Dutch apple style. That’s essentially what these already are. A streusel-topped apple pie is a dutch apple pie, so if that’s what you came here for, you’re in the right place. My dutch apple pie bars are the sheet pan version of the same idea.
- Shortcuts and add-ons. My homemade apple pie filling works here and cuts the prep to almost nothing, and a drizzle of homemade caramel sauce right before serving is never a bad idea. Right before, not ahead, or the streusel softens.
How To Make Mini Apple Pies
- Combine the diced apples, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch, melted butter, and lemon juice in a large bowl.
- Toss until every piece is coated and no dry cornstarch is left sitting at the bottom, then set the bowl aside while you do everything else. The sugar pulls some liquid out of the apples as it sits, and the cornstarch is what turns that liquid into filling instead of a puddle.
- Put the flour, brown sugar, cold cubed butter, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Work it with your fingers or a pastry cutter until you get coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces of butter still visible. Don’t overwork it into a paste, those butter pieces are what make it crunchy. Then put the bowl in the fridge until you need it.
- Spray each cavity of a standard 12-cup muffin tin and lay a parchment strip across each one with both ends sticking up over the rim. Roll each crust out on a lightly floured surface and cut six rounds from each, about 3.5 to 4 inches across. Two crusts gives you twelve. Press each round down into a cavity, easing it into the corners, and trim anything hanging way over the edge.
- Divide the apple filling between the twelve shells. Fill them generously but leave a little room at the top, because the filling bubbles as it bakes and anything that spills over glues the pie to the tin.
- Cover each pie with a heavy layer of the cold streusel, right to the edges. Bake at 375°F for about 30 minutes, until the streusel is golden and the filling is bubbling around the edges.
- Let them sit in the tin for a few minutes, then grab both ends of the parchment strips and lift each pie straight out onto a wire rack. They need to cool most of the way before they’ll hold together. I know. It’s the hardest part.
Expert Tips
- Dice the apples small. Bigger pieces don’t have time to soften in a pie this size and you end up with crunchy apple under a finished crust.
- Chill the streusel. If your kitchen is warm and the butter starts to look greasy, put the bowl back in the fridge for ten minutes.
- Don’t overfill. The filling bubbles up as it bakes and anything that spills over glues the pie to the tin.
- Use the parchment strips. This is the single tip that changes whether these come out whole.
- Bake on the lower-middle rack for the crispest bottom crust.
- Dust with powdered sugar right before serving, not before storing.
Mini Apple Pies FAQs
Yes, and I’d freeze them after baking. Cool them completely, freeze in an airtight container with parchment between the layers, and they keep for up to 2 months. Reheat straight from frozen at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes, which brings them back to temperature and re-crisps the streusel. Don’t thaw them first.
You can also freeze them unbaked. Assemble them fully in the tin, freeze until solid, then transfer to a container. Bake from frozen at 375°F for 35 to 45 minutes. Tent them loosely with foil around the 20 to 25 minute mark if the crust edges are browning faster than the middle is cooking. They’re done when the filling is bubbling in the center and the streusel is golden.
Granny Smith is the standard because it stays firm and its tartness balances all the sugar. Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and Fuji all hold up well too. A mix of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp gives you the best of both. What you want to avoid is anything that goes to mush fast, like Red Delicious or McIntosh.
Yes. The filling keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days, so you can prep it the night before. Give it a stir before you portion it out, since some liquid will settle at the bottom.
Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The streusel is crispest on day one, so if you’re making them for something specific, day-of is worth it. A few minutes in a 350°F oven or the air fryer brings the crunch back.
You can, with a couple of adjustments. Liners make it harder to press the dough down neatly, so use sturdy ones and work slowly. Foil pans conduct heat differently, so start checking around 10 minutes earlier than the recipe says and go by color and bubbling rather than the clock.
Other Favorite Apple Recipes
If you make these mini apple pies, come back and leave a 🌟 star rating 🌟 and tell me how they went. I read every single comment and half the tips in this post came from things you all figured out first. You can also tag me on Instagram or join my free newsletter so you get new recipes the day they go up.
Mini Apple Pies
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 2 cups peeled cored, and diced apples (about 2 medium-sized apples)
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tbsp butter melted
For the Crust:
- 1 package of store-bought refrigerated pie crusts contains 2 crusts in total
For the Cinnamon Streusel Topping:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup butter salted, or unsalted, cold, cubed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F then spray nonstick spray in each cavity of your muffin tin. You can also add a strip of parchment paper to make it easier to pull them out once they're done.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the diced apples, granulated sugar, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, melted butter, and lemon juice. Toss until the apples are well coated with the sugar and spices. Set aside.2 cups peeled, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1 & 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tbsp butter
- Roll out one of the pie crusts on a lightly floured surface. Use a 3.4-4 inch round cookie cutter or a glass to cut out circles that are slightly larger than the openings of your standard muffin tin. You should be able to get about 6 circles from each pie crust. Repeat with the remaining pie crust.1 package of store-bought refrigerated pie crusts
- Carefully press each pie crust circle into the cups of your muffin tin, making sure to mold them to the shape of the cups. Trim any excess crust hanging over the edges. Make sure that the parchment paper is still poking out of the sides. Put aside for later.
- In a separate bowl, prepare the cinnamon streusel topping. Combine the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cold cubed butter, ground cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to blend the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Fill each crust with the prepared apple filling, then sprinkle the cinnamon streusel topping over them.
- Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake for about 30 minutes, and until the streusel is golden and crispy and the filling is bubbling.
- Remove the mini apple pies from the oven and allow them to cool in the tin for a few minutes. Then, carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the mini apple pies with cinnamon streusel have cooled, you can serve them as is, with a dusting of powdered sugar, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of caramel sauce.powdered sugar
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Fabulous little treats! Added walnuts to the
topping and cranberries to the apples. Everyone
loved them, thank you!
That sounds amazing! Thank you for giving them a try!
Best mini apple apple pies ever
So glad to hear that!! Happy holidays!
Can you make the apple filling in advance, I have a recipe for apple pie filling but don’t want to ruin the muffin pies using it
You most certainly can! Making the filling in advance is perfectly fine as it should keep well in the fridge.
You say these can be made ahead and frozen. Please clarify: build and freeze unbaked OR build, bake, cool then freeze? Either way how do I reheat?
You can actually freeze them either way, baked and unbaked. You will reheat them in the oven from frozen, DON’T THAW. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes for pre-baked, and 25 minutes for unbaked.
I’ve been intimidated to try making apple pastries in the past but gave this one a shot! It was easy and straightforward for a novice baker like me to follow, and I am BLOWN AWAY at how delicious these came out!!! I used a butter crust recipe instead of the store crust but I think they’d be a showstopper either way. Definitely saving this one!
Happy to hear they worked out for you!
can you bake these in mini aluminum pans instead of muffin pans? adjust baking time/temp to?
You absolutely can! As far as baking time, that’s difficult to determine. Just start with 10 minutes then check on them every 2 minutes until done.
Can I freeze the pies before baking them?
Yes you can store them raw in the freezer for a month or two if they’re wrapped well and tight to prevent freezer burn. And you can cook directly from frozen, just add a few extra minutes to the bake time.
You mention oats, but they are not in the recipe. I would prefer oats in the strussel topping. Can you advise?
If you would like to make this recipe with an oat streusel topping you can add 3 tablespoons of old fashioned oats to the streusel mixture and follow the rest of the recipe as it is written!
Thank you for your reply! I will try that.
I’d like to try making them in muffin cups/cupcake liners… have you done this? any thoughts/tips?
thank you! always love your recipes! 💛
You could! It might be a little harder to place the dough in the muffin cups but if you get sturdy ones it should be easier.
Can these be made ahead and frozen?
Yes they can! My only tip is to cover the crusts with foil so they don’t over-cook or burn. This may be tedious but it’s definitely worth it. Bake in the oven until the filling in the middle starts to bubble.
What kind of apples can we use?
I used Granny Smith apples for this recipe!
Can these be baked, frozen out of pan and reheated later??
They absolutely can!