Stuff We Like: Individual Apple Pies in Their Own Shell

'Tis the season for all things apple! The trees at apple orchards throughout the NYC area are heavy with the season's juicy red fruit, ready to be plucked by plump little hands and popped into waiting mouths. If you took advantage of this past weekend's perfect apple-picking weather like we did, you probably have a bushelful of fresh fall fruit just begging to be sliced up and made into applesauce, apple butter, apple bread, apple pie...the possibilities are (almost) endless!

For a quick fix, we love this recipe for low-fat individual apple pies from Franci Cohen, an NYC-based personal trainer, certified nutritionist, and exercise physiologist.

Ingredients:
Pie crust
6 Granny Smith apples
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

For the filling:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut off the top of 4 apples and remove the inside with a spoon or scooper. Be very careful, as to not puncture the peel!
3. With the 2 additional apples, remove the skin and slice very thinly. These apple pieces will be the filling for the mini apple pies.
4. Throw the apple slices in a bowl and mix with sugars and cinnamon. Scoop mixture evenly into each of the 4 hollow apples.

For the topping:
1. Roll out pie crust and slice into 1/4-inch strips. (Note: You can also add a strip of pastry inside the top of the apple, almost like a liner, to add a little more texture and
sweetness to the pie.)
2. Cover the top of the apple in a lattice pattern with pie crust strips.
3. Place apples in an 8×8 pan and add just enough water to the cover the bottom of the pan. Cover with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes.
4.Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until crust is golden

brown and sliced apples are soft.