Insta-Pie! (15-minute Apple Almost-Pie)

Have you ever wanted a sweet snack, maybe a quick and easy dessert to appease that mid-week after dinner sweet-tooth? Well, make sure you keep a box of graham crackers in your pantry and apples in your fridge... And- this recipe can be easily made vegan by using vegan graham crackers (Nabisco Original Graham Crackers are vegan) and oil instead of butter... it's just as good. It takes less than 15 minutes and makes a quick yet substantial dessert for 2, or a taster for six.

The best part is: you can whip up the apples while you're preparing dinner and let it sit while you're eating--or even prepare a big batch of diced apples to keep in the fridge to put on crepes or mix with granola and yogurt/soygurt--so that all you have to do is pop your delights in the toaster oven for 5 minutes when you're ready for dessert!

6 graham crackers

1-2 tbsp butter (or oil, with 1/2 a pinch of salt if vegan)

1 apple, diced

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp maple syrup (or 1/2-1 tsp brown or regular sugar)

2 tbsp grated cheddar cheese (optional, omit if vegan)

1. In a small saucepan on medium heat, brown the butter or heat the oil.

2. Sauté the diced apple in the butter for 4 minutes, until it's starting to soften, then add the cinnamon, lemon juice, and maple syrup or cinnamon. Turn heat down to medium-low continue to cook for around 5 minutes- until cooked through.

3. On your toaster oven baking sheet, arrange 6 graham crackers. Spoon apple mixture evenly (about 1 heaping tbsp. per cracker) over each cracker. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired.

4. Heat in toaster oven either on toast setting or at 350 degrees F for 3-5 minutes, until cheese melts. Even if omitting the cheese, do this step, as the sauce over the cracker in the oven will soften the crackers slightly so that they become more like pie crust. Because the crackers are softer, make sure you use a spatula to remove them from the tray... eat immediately.