Vegan Apple Jack-o'-Lanterns

Ingredients

0 of 12 out on the counter

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ⅔ cup cold all-vegetable shortening, in small pieces
• 6 to 7 tbsp ice water
• 2 apples, diced small
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• A squeeze of lemon
• 2 tbsp oat milk + 1 tsp maple syrup, for sealing and the wash
• Flour, for rolling
• 12 parchment squares

All set! Everything is out. Time to bake.

Method

1. 1Make the crust: whisk the flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in the cold shortening with a pastry blender, two knives or your fingertips, and stop while the pieces are still about the size of walnut halves, for a flaky crust.
2. 2Sprinkle on 6 tablespoons of ice water and toss with a fork just until the dough holds when you squeeze it. Add the last tablespoon only if it still crumbles; up here a little more water may help. Do not knead: overworking makes the crust tough. Press it into two disks, wrap them and chill at least 1 hour.
3. 3Set a rack in the lower third of the oven, so the bottoms bake crisp instead of soggy, and heat the oven to 375 °F. Put a parchment square in every other cup of a 24-cup mini muffin tin, so the lids don't fuse.
4. 4Roll the dough out on a floured counter and cut 24 rounds with the rim of a ⅓-cup measure (about 2.6 in): 12 bottoms and 12 lids. Leave a small tab on each lid for the stem.
5. 5Press the bottoms into the lined cups. Chill the lids while you make the filling.
6. 6Toss the apples with the sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and lemon. Put a heaping tablespoon in each cup.
7. 7Punch the eyes and mouth out of each lid. Dab oat milk on the rim of each bottom, set the lid on and press to seal. Brush the tops lightly with the wash.
8. 8Bake on the lower rack 22–26 minutes, until the filling bubbles through the faces.
9. 9Cool 10 minutes in the tin, lift out by the parchment, and cool completely.