Cook Time: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

We have updated this post from a few years ago with fresh pictures and content.

We all need to unplug now and then and spend quality family time. Aside from game night, movie night, and puzzle night, cooking and baking together is another perfect family-enriching activity for all ages. Cooking and baking are easy, as it allows kids and parents to unplug and connect and it is a fantastic learning tool (it builds math and reading skills, it teaches scientific concepts, enriches oral vocabulary, and so much more). We used these cooking moments to keep our children away from videos and television when they were younger.

These rustic, tasty mini apple tarts are a fun way to get kids cooking in the kitchen and a great way to spend quality family time together. This recipe is forgiving and lends itself to any fruit on hand, including frozen fruit. (We have not tried this recipe with frozen fruit, but by all means, go for it and let us know how it worked out). We had apples that we needed to use, which was the fruit of choice, but instead of one pie, we made several mini tarts so everyone could be proud of their creations.

I usually make this apple pie recipe with our Cherchies® Apple Butter Spread instead of sugar. Considering we had half-full jars of our butter spreads (Apple, Cherry, and Strawberry), we decided to use the ones we had on hand, and we created several different tarts with the chopped apples. The icing and the lemon zest at the end finished off this dessert nicely.

So, if you are looking for a creative family activity, unplug the electronics, and consider making these delectable Cherry Apple Pie Tarts with your loved ones and create some beautiful memories together. They are perfect as a tasty dessert, a delicious breakfast treat, or an after-school snack.

Comment below on your creations. We'd love to hear your ideas:). As always, thank you for visiting. Come back again for more yummy recipes and cooking tips.

* Note- I forgot to add the lemon zest when photographing these little tarts.

Ingredients

2 packages refrigerated pie crust
6 medium Granny smith apples (or your favorite apples), peeled and chopped into small chunks
Zest of one lemon (optional)
Juice of 1 lemon, divided
1/2 jar Cherchies® Cherry Butter Spread (could substitute Cherchies® Apple Butter Spread or Cherchies® Strawberry Butter Spread
6 Tablespoons Apricot Preserves
Cinnamon
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon water
Parchment paper

Preparation

Chop apples into small chunks. Place chopped apples into a large bowl and add half of the lemon juice. Mix apples to coat with lemon juice. Add Cherchies® Cherry Butter Spread (I divided the chopped apples into three bowls and added a different butter spread to each bowl) and mix together. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove pie dough from package and "smoosh" (ha!) the dough together until you have one ball of dough. Separate dough into 6 equal portions (I was going to trace dough with a small bowl and cut out circles, but figured I'd have to reroll the scraps anyway).

Roll out individual dough balls into circles approximately 6 inch circles (it does not have to be perfect...this adds to the rustic factor). Place rolled dough onto baking sheet.

Leaving about 1 inch around the edge of the dough, spoon apple mixture into center of dough. Crimp edges around tart. Sprinkle tarts with cinnamon. Bake tarts in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until crust is golden and apples are soft.

As tarts are cooking, prepare the glaze and the icing. In one bowl, combine the Apricot Preserves and the remaining lemon juice. In another bowl, combine the powdered sugar and water.

Remove the cooked tarts from the oven and while the tarts are warm, brush them with the Apricot Preserves and the lemon juice mixture. The final step is the icing and completely optional, as the tarts are delicious on their own, but I wanted to make them extras pretty for their "glamour shots". Drizzle the icing when tarts are mostly cooled.

For other uses for apple butter, check out our blog, blog.cherchies.com. Enjoy!