Cooking with Kelly: Easy Mini Apple Pies

I've had an awesome and productive Saturday so far. I got up early and headed to lululemon Oak Brook for its weekly group run and yoga combination. It's amazing how motivating running with others is for me. I keep going past my usually quitting point because I don't want to slow other people down. We went just more than four miles with an average pace of 8:57, which has been my fastest run this week. We then headed in for an hour-long yoga session at the store. I left feeling sweaty and sore, but stretched out and accomplished.

Then, I gave this little guy a puppy bath. Napoleon hated it and probably hates me for it, but he looks like a pretty boy now. And he smells like apples instead of dog, so I'm happy, even if he isn't.

Next on the to do list was cleaning and caulking the bathroom and doing laundry. Man, home ownership is just so glamorous.

Finally, I whipped up some treats for later tonight. My dear friend Rachael is tying the knot and we're celebrating her bachelorette party tonight. I'm sure there will be lots of giggling, embibing and debauchery, but I'll never tell. As part of the celebration, we're surprising the bride with a comfort food buffet (don't worry, this is autopublishing after the festivities are underway. Thanks, blogger!).

For my contribution, I started with standard PB&J sandwiches using grown-up ingredients, including my absolute favorite peanut butter, Trader Joe's organic peanut butter, along with strawberry preserves on top of honey wheat bread, no crusts. My kitchen looked like I invited over an entire preschool for a snack.

In order to keep up my reputation, I made mini apple pies. My husband loved these things, so I think they'll go over well at the shin dig tonight. Here's the recipe for these individual apple pies:

2 cans of extra-large biscuits, eight biscuits per can

2 apples, peeled and diced

1/4 cup raisins, chopped

4 Tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

butter, as indicated

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease two muffin tins with a cooking spray and set aside. Mix the apples and raisins in a bowl, then sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon and stir to combine.

Assemble these by flattening and rolling out the biscuits until they're about 1/4 inch thick and 4 inches in diameter. Top with a small spoon full of filling, then add a sliver of butter on top of the filling before sealing the edges together in the same way you would a potsticker or wonton. My mini apple pies opened during cooking, but I kind of like that look. Place the packets in the muffin tins. If you haven't overfilled the pouches, they should sit comfortably in a regular muffin tin.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the filling begins bubbling at the top. Start checking the desserts around 12 minutes for doneness, as your oven may vary.