Apple Cookie Pies

Friends of ours invited us for dinner this week and I wanted to make them a little something as a thank you.  I love a cookie that offers a surprise inside and these little gems do not disappoint.  A buttery crisp cookie filled with a delicious, not to sweet apple filling.  Packaged in a little cellophane bag and tied with a raffia ribbon, it makes a great hostess gift.

 

 Ingredients 

For the dough...

350 g.(2 3/4 cups) all purpose flour, sifted

200 g. (14 Tbs.) butter, at room temperature

130 g. (2/3 cup) granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract

For the filling...

2 golden delicious apples

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon butter

1 egg, beaten in a small bowl for egg wash

coarse sugar

Makes 32- 2 1/2 inch cookies

Preheat oven to 350° F.

1.  To make the dough, in a mixing bowl, add butter and sugar and salt.  Mix on high speed using the paddle attachment, until fully combined.  Reduce the speed on your mixer and add egg and vanilla and mix to combine.  Add flour in 3 batches and mix until all is incorporated well.  Do not over mix.

2.  Divide dough into 2 parts and flatten each half into a disk.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate while apple filling is being made.

3.  To make the filling, peel and core the apples and cut into 1 inch chunks.  In a small sauce pan, combine the apple chunks, sugar and butter.  Cook over medium heat until apple softens and most of the juices evaporate, being careful not to scorch the apples.  Remove from the heat and mash the apples with a fork until smooth.  Allow to cool completely.

4.  Remove one of the dough disks from the refrigerator and on a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to about an 1/8th of an inch thickness.  Using a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut as many circles as you can and then gather up the scrapes and roll and cut until all the dough has been cut. 

5.  Use a 1/2 teaspoon, scoop to fill half of the dough rounds and with a finger dipped in water, moisten each edge of the unfilled rounds and place together with the filled, pressing lightly to seal.  Repeat the same process with the other half of the dough.  Place the filled cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet, one inch apart.  Brush each cookie with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Poke a hole in the top of each cookie to allow steam to escape.

6.  Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes, or until the edges start to turn a light golden color.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely.  Enjoy!