I got this idea from Nadiya Hussain. She uses some good 'cheats' to make her recipes quicker. She used 2 cans of chunky apple sauce for her filling, but I haven't seen these in Auckland shops so I just made my own stewed apple.

700 g apples, preferably Granny Smith

Splash of water and lemon juice

1 tsp mixed spice

1/2 c raisins

1/2 chopped nuts (I used toasted hazelnuts)

cooking oil spray

12 sheets filo pastry

demerara sugar, optional
icing sugar, optional

Peel and chop the apples into small cubes and stew in a small pot with a splash of water and lemon juice. Stir in the spice. When softened, remove from the heat and stir in raisins and nuts.

Preheat oven to 180C. Spray a 12-hole muffin tray with cooking spray.

Cut the pastry sheets into quarters using kitchen scissors. Put one piece over a muffin hole and spray with oil. Lay another piece on top at a different angle and spray. Repeat with another piece. Gently push the 3 oily pieces of filo into the muffin hole. Repeat with the rest of the holes.

Divide the apple mixture evenly between the pastry cups.

Lay another piece of pastry on top of each pie and spray with oil. Fold in each side of the pastry pieces into the centre of the pie and spray again if the tips are dry. Sprinkle each pie with demerara sugar.

Bake for around 15 minutes until browned and crisp on top. Dust with icing sugar if desired.

Best eaten warm with custard or ice cream but cold is still good!