Mini Apple Hand Pies

An easy to make buttery and flaky pie crust, filled with a sweet apple filling, that all fits in the palm of your hand!

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Ready in: 2 hours 30 minutes

Serves: 10 hand pies

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes (227g)

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp. salt

• 8 tbsp. ice water

Apple Filling:

• 2 cups peeled, cored, and chopped apples (240g)

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50g)

• 2 tbsp. all purpose flour (15g)

• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

• 1 large egg

• 1 tbsp. milk

• 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed into small pieces

• coarse sugar or brown sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)

Process:

1. For the crust: pulse the chilled butter, flour, and salt in a food processor until the mixture resembles a course sand. Make sure there are some very small lumps of butter remaining. This typically takes 15-20, 1-second pulses.

2. Through the feed tube of the food processor, add one tablespoon of ice water at a time, pulsing 4-5 times after each addition. After 8 tablespoons of ice water, the mixture should form large clumps and pull away from the sides of the bowl of the food processor. If your dough is too dry, add up to 2 extra tablespoons of ice water.

3. Lightly dust a work surface with flour, and dump out the mixture. Push the dough together into a big lump and divide it into two even halves. Form each half into a flat disk, 4 inches in diameter. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

5. For the filling: combine the chopped apples, sugar, flour, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Stir until fully combined, and all of the apples are evenly coated.

6. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and milk until completely combined.

7. Remove the pie crust dough from the refrigerator and let it sit for 3-4 minutes to soften before rolling it out. Lightly flour your work surface and roll each disk out with a rolling pin from the centre, moving outward until the crust is about 1/8 inch thick.

8. Using a 3.5 inch circle cookie cutter, or cup, cut out as many circles from the pie crust as you can. You should get about 20 circles.

9. Evenly distribute the pie filling among half of the dough circles, leaving some room around the edges. Place 1-2 pieces of small, cubed butter on top of the filling of each hand pie.

10. Place the other half of the pie crust circles on top of each hand pie, using some of the egg wash on the edges to help seal them together. Crimp the edges of each hand pie with a fork.

11. Brush the top of each hand pie with the egg wash, sprinkle with coarse or brown sugar if you'd like, and cut 2-3 small slits on the tops of each pie.

12. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until the tops of the pies are golden brown.

Notes:

This recipe can also be used to make a full-sized pie instead of mini hand pies. The recipe for the dough makes 2 full-sized pie crusts (or a bottom + top crust). Doubling the amounts for the filling will give you enough filling for 1 full-sized pie.

Click to print:

Petra's Cookbook_ Apple Hand Pies.pdf

Download PDF • 8.81MB