This is a fun and tasty Pillsbury recipe for mini apple pies with cinnamon rolls and diced apples. We add caramel for added yumminess. Easy individual bite size dessert with fruit and so fun to make. If you love muffin tin recipes this is a great one to try.
Ok, I admit….I am a little obsessed with my muffin pan! I have made our favorite meals, mini sized thanks to this favorite pan of mine. This one takes the cake (well pie that is)! These crescent roll mini apple pies was created (there are 2). Special thanks goes out to Pillsbury for sponsoring this post so we could share our easy apple pie recipe with all of you! (affiliate links present)
Mini Apple Pies with Cinnamon Rolls
They look good right??!! The best part about this recipe is that there are only 4 ingredients. Less if you choose to omit the nuts and raisins. You just line the muffin cup with refrigerated dough of your choice, fill and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. You can fold all the way over if you’d rather make them as air fryer apple dumplings.
Crescents and cinnamon rolls are so versatile and make cooking dinner easy for this busy Mom, we use them in our leftover ham recipe and so many other dishes too! Let me show you what you’ll need to grab at Walmart to get these goodies going. 😉
You can find all of these items easily at Walmart. 1 package of crescents or a can of cinnamon rolls, your choice. One is enough to make 8 mini apple pies. If you want more than that just double or triple this recipe.
You will need 1 can of or homemade pressure cooker apple pie filling or 2 apples skinned and diced into small pieces. A handful or 2 of the lunchbox sized boxes of raisins (or caramel bits), as well as about 1/4 c. chopped walnuts. I add a bit of cinnamon to this mix too but typically I already have that in my cupboard. Here is the entire recipe:
Ingredients
- Refrigerated cinnamon rolls (below style)
- or Pillsbury crescent rolls (like version above) are used instead of homemade pie crust.
- Store bought pie crust would be okay but a but thinner than I like.
- Granny Smith apples, green chopped apples is our favorite choice
- Walnuts – optional
- Brown sugar or granulated sugar (only used with fresh fruit, not pie filling)
- Caramel bits – optional
Can you use frozen cinnamon rolls?
I have defrosted frozen cinnamon rolls too and those work just as well if that is what you have on hand. You just want them thawed enough to flatten with your hands and push into the holes.
You could use pie crusts instead and make more into a pouch like our Pumpkin Hand Pies instead, same idea but different shape on a baking sheet. Beyond this on top of the pies you could add a bit of vanilla ice cream on top of your tart apple bites. Y’all these are just like classic apple pies but smaller!!
They’re kinda’ like our air fryer apple crisp but made in the oven. You want the dough to be a golden brown. Once they are done let them set before scooping out so they stay in tact once they are put on a plate, they show quite nicely!
How to Make Muffin Tin Apple Pies in the Oven
- Preheat your oven to 350 F.
- Put your raisins and nuts into a bowl and then empty about half of the can of apple pie filling.
- Use a knife and cut the apple pieces into about thirds. It is not an exact science.
- You just want the pieces to be smaller because we are making these pies mini sized.
- Now open your crescents (or flattened cinnamon roll) and lay one in each muffin cup.
- Put plenty of non stick cooking spray in first so they are easier to scoop out once they’re coked.
- Lay the larger half if you’re using crescents into the bottom and up onto the sides of each muffin cup. The “triangle” should be hanging off the side.
- Others can just be flattened and used like a 3 ingredient pie crust of sorts.
Scoop up your apple pie mixture from your small bowl and fill the cup to the top. One heaping spoonful should be just right (do NOT overflow or it will stick to sides easier).
Fold the side of the Crescent that is hanging over on top of the apple pie mixture. Tuck under the other side (using cinnamon rolls just press flat and put in bottom. Once again this isn’t an exact science but you get the idea. Now set your oven to 350 degrees and cook for about 10 minutes then check.
How to make a simple glaze for pies
You could make a quick glaze too with 1 cup powdered sugar and just enough milk to become thick. Drizzle that on the top or with ice cream too! I don’t even put these on a rack to cool, they don’t last that long. Instead we prefer these warm right out of the muffin tin. I use a spoon to scoop 1-2 out for each person and on to a small plate they go. In 20 minutes you literally can have a semi-homemade treat.
If you want to make our muffin tin apple pies here but don’t have that type of pan there are other options. You can buy stiff aluminum foil cups that you set on top of a baking sheet instead. I like to use small ramekins myself. Just spray the inside with non stick spray and use as if it were a hole in a muffin pan.
That is not necessary. You will need to slice or dice the fruit into smaller pieces though in order to break down and get nice and tender while baking. Make sure your pieces are all the same size and thickness so they cook at the same rate.
Mini Apple Pies with Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- 1 muffin tin
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 pkg cinnamon rolls , refrigerated, or crescent rolls
- 2 green apples , peeled and diced, or use canned apple pie filling
- 1/4 c walnuts
- 1/4 c brown sugar, if using fresh apples
- 1/4 c caramel bits , optional
Instructions
- Combine diced apples or apple pie filling with walnuts, caramel bits (or raisins), and brown sugar (only used if you are using fresh apples) in a bowl.
- If you are using cinnamon rolls save the frosting packet that comes with the cinnamon rolls to sweeten it up at the end.
- Flatten cinnamon rolls and push into muffin tin (spray with non stick spray first). If using crescent rolls put the larger end of the triangle into the muffin hole and fold other half over the top once you fill it with your apple mixture.
- Fill with mixture and put in oven at 350 for about 12 minutes or until rolls or crescents are cooked and light brown on bottom.
- Serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or drizzle frosting over top if using cinnamon rolls.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If using fresh diced apple, do they get soft enough at this baking time? thanks!
I made these into mini pies by dividing the dough into 16 pieces. They came out so cute!!! I loved the idea of caramel chips added in and happened to have some on hand! Took about 8 minutes to bake.