Pepper Design Blog

Apple Pie Pops

I’ve been meaning to try these out for a while and I’m happy to report back that they were possibly one of the easiest desserts I’ve made… and one of the yummiest!

I am a pie fan. I love a good slice of homemade American apple pie (my mom’s especially) over most desserts and I was really excited to give these a go after seeing them over here.

No, I didn’t make a homemade crust (which is usually the golden pie rule) but that’s also what made these so easy. And when in little turnover batches like these pie bites, the pre-made, rolled out crust sold in the frozen food section of the grocery store is quite tasty. Mmmm that bite above was delicious. 100% as good as it looks!

This is a must try – they’re cute, tasty and unique. The girls at the baby shower I brought them to loved them!

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Apple Pie Bites
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Ingredients: Pre-made pie dough, 1 apple (I used a granny smith), 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1 T brown or white sugar, water, flour for rolling dough, 8 lollipop sticks (found at Michaels or a craft/baking store), glass or cookie cutter, parchment paper

Makes 8 pops (the average pre-made dough round makes 16 rounds – or 8 pops total – so double or triple as necessary.) Preheat oven to 375.

1. Peel and core your apple(s), chop up into small 1/2″ pieces and mix with cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. (There’s no science to the amounts I chose here, season to taste or even use an apple pie spice. I like to bake in ‘pinches’ and ‘dashes’ measurements myself).

2. Cook over low heat until the apples are slightly soft, but remember they’ll finish cooking in the oven. Add 2-3 T of water to your raw apples as you’re cooking to help the apples break down.

3. While the apples simmer, unwrap your dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Add a small amount of flour to the top to keep your rolling pin from sticking.

5. I found the perfect size circle in a beer glass that we have from a favorite local pub, but a round cookie cutter or water glass would have worked swimmingly.

Gather up your scraps and kneed another flat layer out one last time to get a full 16 circles (plus scraps for covering in sugar and baking).

6. Parchment paper is really useful here and I generally just dig how easy it makes baking and clean up. I staggered my circles in windows so that there was plenty of room for the long lollipop sticks.

Be sure to press those sticks over half way up through the circle for maximum post-baking support.

7. Now it’s time to add just a bit of filling to each circle. The pie bites that stayed together best were those with just a tablespoon or so of that yummy apple goodness. Of course you could add berries, cherries or even a square of chocolate here for an entirely different flavor.

8. Place your second round on top of the circle and gently press together the edges to seal up those seams.

9. Using the end of a lollipop stick, create a little ribbed design in the edges (further sealing that seam):

Voila! One down.

Looking so delicious already! What a fun little packet of yumminess.

10. Add a dash of cinnamon and sugar just before putting in the oven. (Optional: brush on a glaze of whipped egg whites for a more crackled pie crust look. I completely forgot this step but they ended up still looking tasty). Bake for 10-15 minutes.

You really must try these, I insist. Between rolling out the dough, assembly and cooking, these guys could not have taken me more than 30 minutes (that’s including baking).

Here they are straight out of the oven. Give them a little time to cool and then enjoy!

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Speaking of the shower that I brought these pie pops to, here are some fun ideas that the hostess thought up:

The table with its jars of candy, alphabet letters and vintage books was adorable. A simple piece of plexiglass over wooden puzzles turned them into the perfect trays (love that idea):

A little foam puzzle was strung up to create unique bunting, likewise with paper dixie cups over Christmas lights:

The craft for the evening was handmade alphabet blocks using modge podge and cute cut outs on wooden blocks, it was so creative and such a neat gift for the mom-to-be, Sarah. Great job, Cassie!

Customized Valentine’s Day Treat Bags

I have a massive stationary collection (I heart beautifully made cards) and was rifling through my stash the other day to write thank you notes for Liv’s first birthday when I came across a handful of cards that I had purchased for envelope purposes only. I am often short on envelopes and sometimes buy the super cheap cards just for extras!

These cards have a sweet pattern that remind me a little of a playful Valentine’s day note – and an idea was born.

After hunting around the house I was happy to find that I had nearly everything I needed on hand for my Valentine’s Day treat bags. Though I did pick up those two small bags of salt water taffy for $1 at Target.

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Custom Valentine’s Day Treat Bags
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Materials: cellophane treat bags (available at Michaels or on Amazon), note cards, candy, photos, scissors and stapler

To make the treat bags, I filled each plastic sack with salt water taffy and a photo of Liv trimmed to size (I keep a stack of pictures on hand from Costco to send to grandparents and great grandparents when they’re needing a Liv fix). My cellophane bags were just the right size to match up with my 4×6 note cards, but if you’re buying all of your materials from scratch that’s something to keep in mind (you can always trip down your note cards but you don’t want the bag to be wider than the cards).

The notecards have the perfect fold for the top of your treat bags, I simply chopped mine in half length-wise (so that the card was shorter near the fold) and sandwiched the treat bag between each side of the card. Two staples held my finished bag in place.

An alternative to note cards would be scrapbooking paper with a bone folder for a professional looking fold (this tool scores and creases your paper). Or for a cheaper option just fold that sucker in half and press between heavy books so that the fold stays put.

These would be great for family, but for a kid-friendly option I would fill the baggie with animal crackers and include a fun illustration instead of a photo, or perhaps a few crayons and a coloring sheet. Cookies and wrapped candies are probably the way to go since any candy prone to melting would smudge up the photo and transfer ink to the candy. Fun stamps or stickers might make for a neat note at the top of the treat bag, too.

I can see reusing this ideas for party favor bags somewhere down the line… PS I can’t believe it’s already the middle of February!

More Valentine’s Day ideas right here.

Good Eats: Killer Crisp Crust

This is a delicious crust that is perfect for fall fruit crisps! It caramelizes in that melt-in-your-mouth sort of way and creates a crispy-sweet shell for roasted apples, pears, figs… or whatever happens to be in season.

It’s such an easy recipe that it’s one of my go-tos when I need a fancy dessert but am short on time – and I literally make it with any fruit that’s sitting in our glass fruit bowl at that moment.

On this particular summer’s day, I had a few extra pears and a whole lotta figs from our neighbor’s tree. So pear & fig crisp it was.

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Killer Crisp Recipe

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Ingredients

*3/4 cup flour
*2/3 cup (packed) brown sugar
*1 teaspoon cinnamon
*1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
*6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

{2.} Blend in butter with fingertips until mixture forms small clumps.

{3.} Prepare the inside of your baking container by greasing it with butter.

{4.} Press crust into edges of baking pan until a layer 1/4″ or so forms.

{5.} Layer in fruit slices and add pats/spreads of apple butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.

{6.} Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes (since every oven and climate is different, look for an initial browning of the crust).

{7.} Remove foil and bake 10-20 minutes until sugars and fruit caramelize. Don’t remove until poking with a fork results in a firm crust – the more carmelized, the better!

{8.} Let stand for at least 30 minutes, serve with a sprig of mint and vanilla ice cream!

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Try this dish with apples, peaches, nectarines, plums, strawberries, blueberries… you name it. I love crisps because they’re quick and easy, you could even freeze the dough in portion-sized balls for future thawing. Note: not an ideal recipe for pies, this is really and truly a crispy-sweet crust.

The perfect summer-meets-fall dessert!