Mini Apple Pies with Caramel (gluten-free, vegan)
These mini apple pies have a delicious oatmeal cookie crust and are covered in caramel sauce. The perfect individual dessert for Thanksgiving! Gluten-free, vegan and dairy-free.
I’ve been working on apple pie recipes since I started this blog 8 years ago, and I still haven’t posted one. The crust is never as good as I want.
Except for these! The crust is delicious on its own and tastes like an amazing oatmeal cookie.
I’ve tried it in a pie pan (many, many times over the years), but it doesn’t work. It slides down and is just a mess.
For the apple filling, you just mix it all together. A lot of mini apple pie recipes have you cook the filling first, but I didn’t find that necessary.
Straight from the oven, the apples aren’t very soft, but as they cool, they soften more.
You can stop there and eat the apple pies as is. If you do that, let them sit for a few hours or even overnight. I think they’re better that way!
If you feel up for one more step, you can make this vegan caramel sauce I posted last week and pour it all over the top. I highly recommend it!
If you try these mini caramel apple pies, I’d love to hear what you think! And for another fun apple treat, try these Apple Pie Cookies! This Small Pumpkin Pie is also a great smaller dessert choice for Thanksgiving.
Questions about these mini apple pies?
Can I use something instead of oat flour?
Pie crusts are not forgiving. I do not recommend experimenting with the flour! Plus, there’s no good sub for oat flour. Sometimes coconut flour works in some recipes, but not in one like this that consists mostly of oat flour.
Can I reduce the amount of coconut oil?
Nope! I’ve made these a ton of times, and this is just the right amount of coconut oil.
Can I use unrefined / extra-virgin coconut oil?
You can if you don’t mind a coconut taste in the filling!
Can I use something else in place of the coconut oil?
If you use butter (which I don’t recommend), the crusts will likely fall apart. Butter is 82% fat, and coconut oil is 100% fat. Changing out the fat in a crust recipe is not an easy sub. It’s what holds it all together.
For the caramel:
Can I use something instead of coconut cream?
I can’t think of a paleo or vegan sub. Heavy cream would probably work if you can have dairy. Almond milk, cashew milk, etc. would be too thin.
Can I use something instead of maple syrup?
Honey and maple syrup don’t really work the same way in boiled candy-like/caramel recipes. I’ve never tried honey but I’m guessing it might work, but that it’d be thicker and that you’d need to boil it for less time.
And also, I think the honey flavor would overpower the caramel taste! Whenever I’ve made other caramel-like recipes with honey in the past, the honey was way too strong (at least in my opinion).
Can I use something instead of coconut sugar?
Brown sugar would probably work.
Mini Apple Pies with Caramel (gluten-free, vegan)
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 1/4 cups (115 grams) oat flour make sure to use GF oat flour
- 2 cups (180 grams) rolled oats make sure to use GF oats
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup (133 grams) coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (168 grams) refined coconut oil melted
For the filling:
- 2 cups (250 grams) apples finely chopped – should be about half the size of your pinky nail
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) coconut sugar tightly packed
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or tapioca flour / starch
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
For the caramel:
- 2/3 cup (160 ml) coconut cream NOT milk!
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) coconut sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Prepare the crusts:
- Preheat the oven to 375 °F (190 °C). Line a muffin pan with 12 muffin liners. Silicone or parchment paper liners are best. I tried these with some different paper liners as well and they stuck to one brand. This recipe makes 15 pies so you’ll have to do another batch with just 3 in it.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the oat flour, oats, cinnamon, sugar and salt. Stir in the melted coconut oil until well combined.1 1/4 cups (115 grams) oat flour, 2 cups (180 grams) rolled oats, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 2/3 cup (133 grams) coconut sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 3/4 cup (168 grams) refined coconut oil
- Pat about 3 tablespoons (40 grams) of the crust mixture up the sides and on the bottom of each muffin liner. It’ll be crumbly and annoying and it doesn’t need to look perfect. I used the bottom of a spoon to press in the mixture.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or just until they start browning. They’ll look greasy and wet and the crusts will have fallen a bit. They’ll look pretty bad. Use the spoon to push the crusts back into shape. They’ll reabsorb the oil while cooling and look better. While they’re baking, start the filling.
Prepare the filling:
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together all the filling ingredients. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the mixture over each pre-baked crust.2 cups (250 grams) apples, 2 tablespoons (25 grams) coconut sugar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, pinch salt
- Bake for another 16 minutes or until the apples look soft. There will just be a little bubbling around the edges but not much.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10-15 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Use a knife to carefully remove the pies from the molds (but keep them in their liners until time to serve).
- Place on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Prepare the caramel:
- Add all the ingredients, except for the vanilla, to a saucepan or small pot. Put in a candy thermometer if you have one.2/3 cup (160 ml) coconut cream, 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup, 1/4 cup (50 grams) coconut sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Bring to a boil, over medium heat, stirring frequently. Once it’s come to a full boil, continue boiling for 8 – 8 1/2 minutes. Adjust the heat if you need to so that the mixture doesn’t burn. I kept mine at 5 out of 9 and never had an issue with that.
- The mixture quite quickly came to 195 °F (90 °C), and then it took several minutes before it started getting hotter. Then it quickly moved to 203 °F (95 °C). You could also see a change in the mixture when that happened (but maybe you won't so don't use that as a measure of it being ready). But it will be clearly thicker than when you started. It will thicken quite a bit more as it cools. When it's done, add the vanilla and remove from the heat.1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Once the pies and caramel are cool, spread 1 1/2 teaspoons of caramel over each pie. Place in the fridge to harden (will take 1-3 hours) and then keep refrigerated for up to 2 days.
- They freeze great. I recommend that if you want to make them more than 2 days in advance. They don’t need long to defrost. Maybe 30 minutes at room temperature.
Notes
- The nutrition information provided is calculated as a courtesy and is only an estimate. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian. For the most accurate nutritional data, consult a professional or use your preferred calculator.
Hi there! The recipe is correct. I made them several times before posting. :) Are you sure you used 3/4 cup of oil? It’s actually quite a lot! Or did you use something else in place of coconut oil (like butter)? Make any changes? And did you take a look at the recipe video for this recipe and see what the crust looked like? I’m sorry that it didn’t work out well for you. :( I hope we can figure out the issue!
I made these this morning…a cold wintery morning here! They are very good! (with or without the caramel sauce!)
Thank you for a great recipe!
Woohoo! It’s always great to hear from you. :) I’m so glad you liked the pies! Thanks a bunch for your comment. :D
These look so fun! My kids will love them. :)
I hope you will, too! :)
apple pie is my absolute favorite dessert (and what I request as my birthday cake every year too!) . . . your little caramel versions look SO GOOD! I’m going to put them on my holiday baking list
Yay! I hope that you’ll enjoy them as much as I did. :)
That oatmeal cookie crust is just over the top awesome, plus the caramel apple combo is always a win!
I totally agree! :)
I have some apples that need to be used up real soon! Now I know what to do with them!
I hope that you’ll love them as much as we do! :)
These are adorable and dare I say it, better than apple pie (says the guy who doesn’t really like apple pie)?
I’m with you there! Regular apple pie is kind of sucky. ????
These little pies are magnificent! I could eat the whole pan!
Nothing wrong with that! ;)
Love that oat crust, these look so delicious!
Thank you! :)
The pies came out amazing! Next time I’ll just add less of the honey for the Carmel sauce
Yay! So glad you liked them! Did you cook the caramel a bit shorter than the recipe calls for? I’m curious how using honey changed the recipe. Thanks for your feedback!
I did a strawberries and cream version of these and they came out amazing. You could even do a banana/Nutella hand pie.
Oh, wow! I’m surprised that worked. Strawberries are so juicy! I’d love to try them, too. Can you please share how you made them? Thanks so much!
Kudos for the updated classic! I’m definitely making these asap!
I hope you’ll love them! :)
Wow, what a genius idea with the cookie as the crust!
Thnks! :)
Apples and cinnamon are one of my favorite fall foods. These look very good.
I hope you’ll get to try them! :)
I just made these tonight and they were amazing!!! I will definitely will be making these for Thanksgiving. Thank you!
Oh, yay! I’m super glad to hear that. :) Thanks for your feedback (and sorry for my slow reply!).
These are SO cute and look amazing! I love individual portion-sized desserts like this. So fun!
Thanks! :)
These look so yummy and perfect for entertaining!
Thanks! :)
Wow, these look so darn good! I love that the crust is like an oatmeal cookie & apple with caramel is always a win for me :)
For me, too! :D
I’m always looking for dessert ideas for my kiddos. These minutes apple pies will be perfect with some ice cream. I’ve pinned to try later.
Thanks for pinning! :) I hope you’ll like them!