Apple Hand Pies
on Oct 04, 2021, Updated Jul 15, 2024
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Just when you think apple pie couldn’t get any better, I bring you Apple Hand Pies! They have the same taste you know and love, but in a mini handheld baked dessert.
Apple hand pies are so fun for picnics or parties. You can literally hold them in your hand so no forks or plates are needed either. Apple hand pies make the perfect grab and go dessert and kids especially enjoy this mini version.
There is a time and place for making a full on apple pie but hand pies are ridiculously cute and take way less effort to make. Apple hand pies are made from the same ingredients that you would use if you were baking a traditional apple pie. You still get the same great pie crust and delicious chopped apple filling, plus a drizzle of icing.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Great for Gatherings: These hand pies are ideal for parties, picnics, and gatherings. Their size make them easy to serve and enjoy without the mess of cutting a traditional pie.
- Seasonal Delight: Apple hand pies are a wonderful way to enjoy the flavors of fall, especially when apples are in season.
- Perfect Balance of Texture: The flaky, buttery crust combined with the tender, sweet, cinnamon-y apple filling is the perfect contrast in textures.
Ingredients
- 9- inch pie crusts: store bought or a double batch of this homemade pie crust recipe
- Apples: such as Fuji, Granny Smith, or Gala
- Flour
- Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Butter
- Egg
- Powdered Sugar
- Heavy Cream
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities
How to Make Apple Hand Pies
Step #1. Peel, core, and dice the apples in 1/4″ cubes. Add to a medium bowl. Add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and melted better to the bowl and stir well.
Step #3. Roll out the other half of the pie crust dough into 9″ rounds. Place each round over the rounds dotted with filling and press around the mounds to seal. Cut them out with a cookie cutter.
Step #2. Roll half of the pie crust dough into two 9″ rounds, if needed. Place heaping tablespoons of filling onto the dough, leaving about a 2″ space around each. (About 7). Repeat with the other round. Brush around each mound with beaten egg.
Step #4. Place the sealed pies onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Brush tops with beaten egg. Bake. While cooling, mix the icing ingredients and drizzle over the pies.
Recipe FAQs
Apple hand pies can be served warm, at room temperature, or even make them ahead of time to serve at a later date. These pies freeze well too. We eat them like a cookie and they are just so fun.
For apple hand pies you can use your favorite apples or a combination of a couple different ones. The most popular apples to use are Fuji, Gala, or Granny Smith. If you have homegrown apples though, use those! No need to go find something different.
The slits in the crust not only make the pie look decorative but they serve as a vent to release steam. By cutting a slit into the pie it helps the crust from getting soggy as well. You use the same practice when you make apple hand pies and they look so cute too!
No! The skin doesn’t soften like the flesh of the apple does. When you are making an apple pie you want to wash, peel, and core the apples.
Expert Tips
- A 3.5 inch cutter (a standard biscuit cutter) is perfect for cutting out these hand pies – anything smaller means you can’t fit very much filling and anything bigger wouldn’t really be a hand pie.
- Cutting the apples into a small dice means you can fit more filling into the hand pies. Just leave enough space for crimping the top and bottom crust together.
- When you’re working with pie dough, keep it cold so that it flakes up when you bake it. If the dough starts to get too warm while you’re working, put it in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes and then start working with it again.
More Pie Recipes to Consider
Dessert Recipes
Easy Apple Hand Pies
Pies, Crisps & Tarts
Apple Pie Filling
Pies, Crisps & Tarts
Derby Pie
Pies, Crisps & Tarts
Apple Crumble
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Apple Hand Pies
Ingredients
- 4, 9- inch pie crusts, store bought or a double batch of this homemade pie crust recipe
- 2 large apples, such as Fuji, Granny Smith, or Gala
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- Prep your pie crust if you need to.
- Peel and core the apples and cut into small ¼ inch cubes. Add the apple cubes to a medium bowl.
- Add flour, sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter to the bowl and stir together well.
- Roll out 2 pieces (half) of the pie dough, into two separate 9 inch rounds.
- Place small mounds (roughly a heaping tablespoon) of apple mixture on pie dough with at least 2 inches of space around each mound. You can fit 7 little mounds on the pie crust well.
- Dot the second pie crust with filling.
- Brush around each mound of apple with the beaten egg
- Roll out the other half of the pie crust and place on top of the other prepared crust with the apple on it. This is kind of like you are making ravioli!
- Gently push around each apple filling mound to seal.
- Using a cookie cutter, cut out each mound to form an individual pie.
- Place each mini pie on a parchment lined baking sheet .
- Brush the top with more of the beaten egg
- Bake at 375 degrees F. for 35-40 minutes.
- While pies cool mix powdered sugar and heavy cream in a small bowl to make your icing.
- Drizzle the icing over warm or cool pies. Enjoy!
Notes
- Any time you’re working with pie crust dough, make sure to keep it chilled so that it will be nice and flaky once it’s baked.
- A standard biscuit cutter is perfect for cutting hand pies out.
- Dicing the apples nice and small is the trick to packing in as much filling as possible into each hand pie.
- You can roll out the scraps of pie dough leftover from the first cutting and cut a few more cookies if you’d like. Most of the time I just brush the odd scraps with water and then cinnamon and sugar and bake them as “crispies” which is what my mom always did with scraps of pie dough.
