Make the pie dough: In a large bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, shredded cheddar cheese and salt (add ½ teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter). Combine well.
1 cup all purpose flour, ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese, ¼ teaspoon salt
Mix in salted butter and cut in with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
⅓ cup salted butter
Add ice water. Incorporate with a fork until the flour is just mixed with the water.
3 tablespoons of ice water
Bring the mixture together into a dough. If it is very crumbly, add another Tablespoon of ice water, a little at a time, until a soft dough is formed. The dough should feel a little sticky, but not overly wet. Do not add any more water than you need
Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20-30 minutes. During this time you can prepare the apple filling.
Make the apple pie filling: In a large bowl fresh lemon juice, diced apples, white granulated sugar, ground cinnamon, salt and diced candied ginger. (If you do not have candied ginger, you can use ½ teaspoon ground ginger instead)
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 5 cups apples, cored, peeled and diced, ½ cup white or brown granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon salt, 3 Tablespoons diced candied ginger.
Mix all together until thoroughly combined. Set filling aside as you roll out the pie crust.
Roll out the chilled pie dough: Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface, and then roll out the first half of the dough until it's about ⅛ inch (3mm) thick. Use a 4-inch (10cm) cookie cutter or a cup to cut out circles.
Re-roll the dough and cut until you have 12 circles (these are measurements for a standard muffin pan and will make 12 standard individual mini pies )
The pictures in this post display apple pies that were baked using a jumbo muffin pan.
If you prefer using a jumbo muffin pan, simply cut the pastry into larger circles, roughly 6 inches (approximately 15 cm) in diameter. This adjustment will yield six jumbo individual apple pies
Grease with butter or spray the muffin pan with cooking spray. Press each circle of pie crust into 12 cavities of a standard muffin pan (or 6 cavities if using a jumbo muffin pan) You want the crust to fit in the bottom and snuggly around the sides.
Take the remaining half of the dough and cut it into strips if you're going for a lattice pattern, similar to the images in this post. Alternatively, for a quick and simple pie topping, use small cookie cutters to cut out decorative shapes.
Fill and bake: Divide the apple pie filling evenly among the pie crusts. Add cut-out shapes on top or create a lattice pattern if you've cut strips. Lightly brush the surfaces with either a small amount of milk or a blend of milk and one beaten egg. Optionally, you can sprinkle a bit of brown sugar over the crust.
Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven , and preheat to 356° F / 180° C (160° C fan).
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes (if you used a 12 - cup standard muffin pan) or 30 -35 minutes (if you used a 6 - cup jumbo muffin pan)
You can serve these mini apple pies either warm or after they have cooled. For an extra treat, pair them with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.