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Apple Hand Pies

October 17, 2014

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Apple Hand Pies on a serving platter, with one of the Apple Hand Pies cut in half.

I think I’ve mentioned this before but homemade pie crust and I have a bit of a history.  We haven’t really always been the best of friends.  Let me tell you about the latest episode in my pie crust drama.  I’ve been pretty frustrated with my pie crust skills for so long, I’d pretty much given up on them and just decided I would always be one who always buys frozen pre-made crust.  And really, there’s nothing wrong with that.  I think one of the reasons I felt so frustrated with my homemade crust is because what I can buy frozen is pretty darn good!

Apple Hand Pies on a serving platter, with one of the Apple Hand Pies cut in half.

But, I’m all about convenience, and sometimes as strange as it sounds, its more convenient for me to make my own pie crust than it is to run to the store and buy one.  Anyone who has ever shopped with a handful of kiddos know what I’m talking about?  And I like knowing that what I eat is mostly homemade.  Less weird stuff thrown in right?  If I’m going to eat something as naughty as pie crust, I at least want it to be naughty in a homemade sort of way.  Since I always have the ingredients on hand, HELLO – butter, flour, H2O – I knew if I could just master some pie crust skills and I’d be all set!

Apple Hand Pie cut in half, with more Apple Hand Pies in the background.

So every now and then I get the gumption to try my hand again.  This time, I wanted to make little mini hand pies with some apples I had in the fridge.  I decided to try the “butter grating technique” that I’d heard about.  So I grabbed my cheese grater, and a very chilled stick of butter and grated it just like cheese.  The I put the grated butter back into the freezer just for good measure.  Everyone says that the key to a good pie crust is to keep your butter as cold as possible right up until you put the pie crust into the oven.

When I used my pastry cutter to cut the flour into the grated butter, it was so much easier than when I had cut the butter into small cubes with a knife the last time I’d tried to make a crust.  I had the perfect little flour coated pea sized pieces of chilled butter with hardly any effort at all.

Apple Hand Pies on a serving platter, with one of the Apple Hand Pies cut in half, and some whole apples next to the platter.

Then I slowly added ice cold water one tablespoon at a time, mixing by hand until the dough came together in a ball, with just a few straggling crumbs to gather.

Step by step photos of how to make the pie crust for the Apple Hand Pies.

I shaped the dough into a round, flat disk, wrapped it in plastic wrap and placed it in the fridge for 4 hours.

Then, I rolled it out on a floured surface, and I could still see tiny flecks of butter throughout the dough.  This is a sign of good pie crust dough, so I started to really get my hopes up!  Those tiny flecks of butter create steam when they go into the oven, which create air pockets in the crust, which gives it that FLAKEY texture we so LOVE!

Two photos - one of the Apple Hand Pie filling and the other of the pie crust rolled out.

So I cut out circles of dough, filled them with my simple apple filling, and crimped the edges closed.  I have a Cut-N-Seal tool for this, but you could also use a biscuit cutter, or the rim of a glass.  Use the tines of a fork to seal the edges.  Before they went into the oven, I brushed them with an egg wash to make the top nice and shiny, and then sprinkled them with a coarse sparkling sugar.

Apple Hand Pie cut in half, with more Apple Hand Pies in the background.

Let me tell you, the crust turned out so much better than I had ever hoped it would.  We’re talking TENDER and FLAKY and BUTTERY- the best I’ve ever had!  I can’t wait to make an actual regular sized pie with this method.  I don’t think I will ever be buying frozen pie crust again, and I’m so happy that homemade pie crust dough and I are finally the best of friends.  Hope you get a chance to try it too!

THE END

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Apple Hand Pies

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review
  • Author: Julie
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 6 Hand Pies 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American
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Description

How to make these adorable apple hand pies plus the secret to making the FLAKIEST pie crust!


Ingredients

Scale

Crust

  • 1 stick cold butter grated then frozen (salted)
  • 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup ice cold water by the tablespoon

Filling

  • 2 cups diced apples (pretty small)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon orange juice.

On Top

  • Egg Wash – 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water whisked together
  • Sparkling sugar

Instructions

  1. Grate your butter into a mixing bowl and place the bowl into the freezer for 15 minutes.
  2. Add 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour and cut it into the grated butter with a pastry cutter until you have coarse crumbs of flour coated butter.
  3. Add about 1/4 cup of ice cold water by the tablespoon to your coarse crumbs. You may not need this much, so add gradually as you mix by hand. When a dough ball is formed, gather it together and place it on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape it into a round, flat disk and cover it with the plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours.
  4. Roll the dough out onto a well floured surface. Using a circle shaped cutter (or the rim of a glass), cut out as many circles as you can fit. Then gather up the remaining dough and cut out the circles again. You will want an even number because each pie needs a top and bottom circle.
  5. Place half of the circles on a baking sheet. Top with 2-3 tablespoons of the diced apple filling. Your filing will be juicy, but try to leave as much of the juice in the bowl as you can when you are spooning the filling onto the pie dough.
  6. Top each one with the remaining circles of dough. Crimp the edges closed with the tines of a fork, and be intentional as you do this, so that the majority of the filling will stay put. I used my Pampered Chef Cut N Seal to do this.
  7. Cut a small hole in the top of each pie.
  8. Using a pastry brush, brush on the egg wash and sprinkle generously with sparkling sugar.
  9. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Juices may run out as the apple filling cooks, but don’t worry about it.

Notes

Sparkling sugar is a coarse sugar you can find near the sprinkles in baking supply stores, or craft stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby. If you don’t have any, you can use regular sugar but don’t skip this step because you need the additional sweetness.


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Hand Pie
  • Calories: 341
  • Sugar: 24g
  • Sodium: 137mg
  • Fat: 16g
  • Saturated Fat: 10g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 5.2g
  • Trans Fat: 0.6g
  • Carbohydrates: 46g
  • Fiber: 1.8g
  • Protein: 4g
  • Cholesterol: 71mg

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Filed Under: Dessert, Pies

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Comments

  1. Sarah @ The Budding Table says

    October 17, 2014 at 9:35 am

    Julie, these are so beautiful! And I completely agree; I feel way better about eating homemade “naughty” food instead of store-bought stuff filled with who knows what. Although, this attitude may be how I rationalize eating treats a bit more often then I should… ; )

    Reply
    • Julie says

      October 17, 2014 at 10:01 am

      Sarah, thank you and I can definitely relate to the rationalization process!

      Reply
  2. Katya @ Little Broken says

    October 17, 2014 at 8:39 pm

    Julie these little hand pies are adorable! I love the basic pie crust recipe as it can be used with any filling!

    Reply
  3. Christina @ Bake with Christina says

    October 18, 2014 at 1:36 pm

    These seriously look SO delicious! Pinned!

    Reply
    • Julie says

      October 18, 2014 at 7:37 pm

      Thanks Christina!

      Reply
  4. Lindsay @ The Local Taste says

    October 20, 2014 at 8:52 am

    Julie, these look so delicious! These would be perfect to bring for a Thanksgiving or Christmas get together. I love apple ANYTHING! 🙂

    Reply
    • Julie says

      October 20, 2014 at 1:08 pm

      Thanks Lindsay, me too!

      Reply
  5. Julie @ HostessAtHeart says

    November 24, 2014 at 9:38 am

    These are just adorable! Apple is my favorite, but I can think of so many things using your method.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      November 24, 2014 at 1:50 pm

      So true, Julie. I’d love to make some berry hand pies when they come back into season. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  6. Nancy says

    March 21, 2015 at 10:40 am

    Thanks for a terrific recipe. I just finished making it! Grating the butter is a wonderful idea, since I don’t have a food processor, it makes mixing the dough together so much easier. I have had a phobia making pie crusts based on previous experiences, this recipe makes a really flaky and wonderful crust! The filling is tasty too!

    Reply
  7. Lisa says

    March 27, 2015 at 11:03 am

    This is an AMAZING recipe! I’ve battled pie crust all my life, and I was successful the very first time with this one. My house smells AWESOME and I’ve got two beautiful, crusty apple galettes for my family’s dessert tonight. This will be my go to for pie crust from now on! I think grating the butter is genius! It made all the difference for me. I will admit I used a food processor but still – I have never been nearly as successful with any pie crust before. I am usually horrible at rolling any dough, but this stuff rolls out like a dream! I can’t wait to make chicken potpies with this great recipe – no more Pillsbury chemically-flavored crusts for us! Thank you sooooooooo much!!

    Reply
    • Julie says

      March 27, 2015 at 1:13 pm

      That’s so great Lisa! I have always wanted to try making galettes. They are so rustic and beautiful. Congratulations on mastering your crust! I know the struggle well :0) Thanks for your sweet comment!

      Reply
  8. Pam Doty says

    December 3, 2015 at 11:40 am

    How big do you cut the circles of dough?

    Reply
    • Julie says

      December 4, 2015 at 7:35 am

      Hi Pam! My cutter is 3 1/2 inches in diameter.

      Reply
  9. Lizzy Patone says

    February 13, 2016 at 4:17 am

    These look delicious, I will be making some later but may I just ask if I could re roll the scraps of dough to make some more?

    Reply
  10. Jen says

    June 9, 2016 at 12:54 pm

    These are beautiful and delicious, question, when making apple pie can you use sorrel jam in it instead of cinnamon ?

    Reply
  11. Sarah says

    September 27, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    are there high altitude baking instructions? and is it okay if I chill the dough overnight?

    Reply
    • Julie says

      September 29, 2016 at 1:54 pm

      yes, you can chill the dough overnight. I really don’t have any experience with high altitude baking, so sorry I’m not much help there.

      Reply
  12. Sharon says

    October 6, 2016 at 9:59 am

    Wondering how these would freeze? Before baking or after?

    Reply
    • Julie says

      October 6, 2016 at 3:33 pm

      Hi Sharon, I haven’t tried freezing them but it should work well to freeze before baking.

      Reply
      • Mari says

        November 22, 2020 at 4:37 pm

        I tried freezing them, and they froze really well.

        Reply
  13. Michael A Moulton says

    September 12, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    How thick should you roll out the dough before cutting circles?

    Reply
  14. Mari says

    November 22, 2020 at 4:36 pm

    This pie crust recipe is SO good!!

    Reply

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Hi I'm Julie, and I spend a lot of time in my lovely little kitchen. I love gathering my family around simple delicious food. This is how I do it. Learn more →

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