We love creating something from complete scratch just as much as the next person…but we also LOVE short cuts. There is no better feeling than cutting the time it takes to create a recipe in half with just a simple switch! Rather than making a whole pie crust, rolling it out and cutting it with a round biscuit cutter, we swapped for store-bought sugar cookie dough! And to make it even faster..it’s already balled up in individual cookie portions!

Ingredients

1. 4 Granny Smith apples
2. A 24 pack sugar cookie dough
3. 1/3 cup butter
4. 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
5. 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6. 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
7. 1 tablespoon maple syrup
8. Splash of vanilla
9. 1/4 teaspoon salt
10. 1 tablespoon lemon juice
11. 1 tablespoon corn starch

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° and spray mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Fill each muffin pan hole with one ball of sugar cookie dough – no need to press it down or shape it!
3. Bake according to package. Once done baking, remove the pan from the stove and *gently* slam pan to get any air out of the cookies, this will help the middle of the cookie cave in to create a little bowl. Let cookies cool almost completely in the pan.
4. Meanwhile, peel and cut up apples into small bite-sized pieces.
5. Over medium heat, melt butter on stove top, once butter is melted and a little bubbly, pour in chopped apples, stir to coat apples in butter.
6. Let apples and butter cook over medium heat for about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Once apples start to soften, add in cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, syrup, salt and lemon juice. Stir to coat apples.
8. When the apples are coated, let cook for 5 minutes to continue to soften.
9. Once apples are soft, reduce heat to medium/low and pour in corn starch slurry (1 tablespoon of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons water).
10. Cook until sauce thickens (about 2-3 minutes) over medium/low heat.
11. Remove cooled cookies from muffin pan and place on cooling racks.
12. Spoon about a tablespoon of apple pie filling into each cookie.
13. OPTIONAL: Drizzle with caramel – I used a jar of store-bought caramel, warmed it up and added a sprinkle of sea salt!
14. Plate up and enjoy!