Apple pie pops recipe

We've heard of cake pops - but how about pie pops? Putting apple pies on sticks is a fun new way to serve them - they'd be great for parties. All you need is some pastry (it's perfectly fine to cheat with ready made) and some apple filling and these apple pie pops can be whipped up in no time.

Ingredients

• 1x pack of ready-made shortcrust pastry

For the filling:

• 5 large cooking apples
• 100g caster sugar
• Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
• Egg, to glaze

You will also need:

• Cake pop sticks
• 58mm cutter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. To make the filling: Cut the apples into chunks and remove the peel and core. Place the apples in a saucepan on a low heat and add in the sugar.
3. Continue to stir until the sugar has started to evaporate. You can add a few tablespoons of water at this stage if the mix looks too thick.
4. Once the apples have become soft take them off of the heat and leave to one side.
5. When the apple mix has cooled slightly pour it into a blender and blitz for 10 seconds. If you don’t have a blender you could use a potato masher instead.
6. Prepare the pastry by rolling it out on a clean, floured surface with a rolling pin until about 5mm thick.
7. Using a cutter 58mm cutter, cut out 32 circles. Place 16 of those circles onto the greaseproof tin, leaving plenty of space around each.
8. Add a stick to each circle by laying the stick down in the centre of each circle, giving it a firm press in the middle. Make sure as much of the stick as possible is inside the pastry as it will need to support the weight of the pie. If you don't want to add the stick at this point you can just leave a gap in the pastry at the base of the pie when assembling to push the stick in once cooked.
9. Using a teaspoon scoop the apple mix onto each circle covering the stick. Make sure the spoonful stays in the middle.
10. Top the apple mix with another circle of pastry and press the edges down to meet the bottom circle of pastry, covering the apple mix inside like a parcel. You can press the edges down using your small finger or one of the cake pop sticks to get the crinkled edges.
11. If you have any pastry leftover cut out small heart shapes and add to each pie.
12. Brush the pies with a little beaten egg and bake in the oven for 15-20 mins until golden.