Mini Apple Pies

Instructions

1. First, make the crust: dice the shortening and butter into 1/2" cubes and place on a plate in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt, and whisk lightly to combine.
3. Add the chilled shortening and butter to the flour mixture, and use two forks or a pastry blender to combine. Incorporate the fats into the flour until the pieces are slightly smaller than peas. Don't over mix.
4. Evenly drizzle the ice water over the mixture in two batches, stirring gently to combine. The dough should start to clump together (but not seem overly wet), but there should be no dry patches of flour.
5. Scrape the dough into a large ball, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
6. When the dough only has about 30 minutes left of chill time, peel, core and slice the apples into 1/4" slices.
7. Place the sliced apples in a bowl, and stir in the sugar, flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and all of the spices. Set aside to rest while you roll out the dough.
8. After the dough has chilled for 2 hours, lightly dust your counter with flour. Divide the dough into 4 pieces, leaving 2 slightly larger than the other two (these will be the bottom crusts).
9. Preheat the oven to 375.
10. Roll out the two larger pieces of dough to about 9" in diameter to fit inside the 6" pie pans, leaving plenty draping over the edges for crimping and sealing. Drape the bottom crust in the pie plate, and set aside.
11. Next, roll out the two smaller pieces of dough to about 8" in diameter, and using a pizza wheel, cut 10-11 strips of dough that are 1" wide.
12. If you want to make a plain lattice, leave the dough strips as-is. If you'd like to braid the dough, cut 3 thin pieces of dough from 1" strips. If you want to alternate thin and thick pieces of dough, make the thin ones by cutting the 1" strips in half.
13. When you're ready to lattice the top of the pies, pour the apples into the pie pans. Pack the apples in very tightly. Be sure to include the accumulated juice in the bottom of the bowl.
14. Dice the remaining tablespoon of butter and spread it evenly on top of the apples.
15. Drape the strips of dough on top of the apples in one direction. To make a lattice, alternate flipping pieces back to weave in a strip of dough in the other direction (it's pretty hard to describe how to do this using words--search for a how-to video on YouTube, k?).
16. Once the top of pies are latticed, trim the excess dough from the edges, and pinch the bottom and top pie crust together. Use your fingers to crimp around the edges to seal in the apples completely.
17. Finally, beat the egg yolk with a splash of water, and brush it over the surface of the pie crust.
18. Sprinkle coarse sugar on top the pies.
19. Place the pies on a baking sheet, and slide them into the oven.
20. Bake them for ~30 minutes, and be sure to check to see if the crust is browning too much at around 20-25 minutes. If so, cover it loosely with foil to shield it from the heat of the oven.
21. After 30 minutes of baking, use a knife to poke some apples and see if they're done. The pie is done when the apples are fork-tender, and the filling is bubbling, about 30-40 minutes (use a foil shield as much as you need to).
22. Let the pies cool completely before attempting to slice and serve.