Can this recipe be made gluten free?

If you can get your hands on a store bought gluten free crust, go for it! Otherwise, use my homemade gluten free pie crust used in my gluten free peanut butter and jelly pop tarts . My tip is to work with this dough when it’s close to room temp. If it’s too cold, it will break on you. Also use a spatula to help lift the apple cut outs, just to ensure they don’t crack! Then, before baking, freeze the pies for about 10 minutes. This will firm up that butter again which will give you a delicious flaky crust. This dough also bakes at a lower temp, so bake the pies at 375F for about 15 minutes.

How can I make this recipe vegan?

Simply swap the butter with vegan butter, and the pie dough with puff pastry dough. If you didn't know, most store-bought puff pastry is naturally vegan. Follow all the same instructions, but bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. As for the egg wash, swap with a mixture of 2 tbsp milk alt with 1 tbsp maple syrup. I also suggest just cutting out 3.5" round slices of puff pastry rather than apple shapes. If you cut apples, they may lose their shape when baked so it won't be worth the extra detail in the end.

Can I make these apple hand pies ahead of time and bake later?

Yep! Fill and crimp the mini apple pies but leave off the egg wash. Store the bare pies in an air tight container in the refrigerator. They will keep for a couple days. Then to bake, apply the egg wash and cinnamon sugar and bake as usual. I also recommend this route if you’re only baking these pies for a couple people. Bake what you need, and chill the bare pies until you want another fresh batch.

How should I store apple hand pies?

Store the apple hand pies in an air tight container at room temperature where they'll keep for about 4 days. To last even longer, store in the refrigerator for about 1 week.

Mini Apple Hand Pies - Butternut Bakery

Description

These delicious apple hand pies take all the work out of making apple pie. The filling is just 6 simple ingredients, and the crust is store bought pie dough with a coating of cinnamon sugar – baked and ready in under an hour!

Ingredients

Pie Filling

1 box store bought pie dough, containing 2 sheets *see notes for GF option
2 tbsp unsalted butter (reg or plant-based)
2 1/2 cups finely chopped fuji or honeycrisp apples (about 2 large apples)
1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp cornstarch, mixed with 1 tbsp water

Cinnamon Sugar

1 large egg
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

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Instructions

Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and allow the sheets to come to room temp while you make the filling.
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt down the butter.
Once melted, mix in the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Heat for about 10 minutes, or until the apples are tender and swimming in its juices.
Mix together the cornstarch and water in a small dish and pour into the pot with the apples. Stir and heat for about 30 seconds and watch as the filling begins to thicken. Remove from heat and allow the filling to cool while we prep the pie dough.
Preheat the oven to 400F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Lightly dust your surface with flour and unroll one of the pie sheets. Use a rolling pin to gently smooth the surface, just enough to smooth out any wrinkles and ridges.
Using an apple-shaped cookie cutter or a homemade apple template (I made mine out of the box the pie dough came in – see notes for details), cut out your apples. Roll out the scraps to cut out a few more apples. You should be able to get about 8 apples per sheet.
Transfer these apples to the refrigerator while you cut out the other sheet.
Now place half of the apples on the baking sheet, spaced evenly apart. If you can’t fit all 8 apples, leave the excess in the refrigerator and bake after the first batch is done.
Fill the center of each apple with a tablespoon of the filling, leaving a small border around the edge.
Beat the egg with about 2 teaspoons of water. Brush the bare border of each filled apple with the egg wash.
To the other half of the apples, cut 4 slits in the center as shown in the photos.
Place the vented apples on top of the filled apples and gently press down on the seems to seal the pies shut. Then crimp the edges with a fork and brush the surface of each apple with the egg wash.
In a small dish, mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon sugar on top of each apple.
Bake for 12-14 minutes. Allow the apples to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Now they’re ready to enjoy!

Equipment

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Notes

GLUTEN FREE – Use the pie dough recipe from my gluten free peanut butter and jelly pop tarts. Make sure you let the dough chill before use. Then when rolling, if it’s breaking apart, let it rest for a few minutes. It’s much easier to work with when it’s closer to room temp. Then once the pies are formed, freeze them for about 10 minutes before baking. Bake at 375F for about 15 minutes.

VEGAN – Swap the butter with vegan butter, and the pie dough with puff pastry dough. If you didn’t know, most store-bought puff pastry is naturally vegan. As for the egg wash, swap with 2 tbsp milk alt mixed with 1 tbsp maple syrup. Follow all the same instructions, but bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. I also suggest just cutting out 3.5″ round slices of puff pastry rather than apple shapes. If you cut apples, they may lose their shape when baked so it won’t be worth the extra detail in the end.

APPLE TEMPLATE – The size of the template I made is 3.5″ wide by 3.75″ tall. I recommend cutting a template out of something thick like cardboard as this makes it much easier to work with. Otherwise, I suggest this apple cookie cutter. It’s slightly larger than the template I used, so you may only be able to get about 6 apples per pie dough sheet.

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes