Apple Hand Pies

These sweet and crunchy Apple Hand Pies are the perfect little grab and eat on-the-go dessert and great for little hands to hold. Little circle pastry pockets filled with delicious chunks of sweetened cinnamon-y apples. A great way to use up lots of apples too.

Whilst we love slicing in to a big apple pie, these cute little apple hand pies are much easier to manage, are great for taking to a picnic and they are toddler friendly too as they can easily hold them themselves.

What we love about this mini version of a classic dessert is that it's great for portion control. Rather than cutting yourself a huge slice of a pie (we have all been there), they are already portioned out for you and ready to share.

Jump to:

• Why should you try it?
• What you will need
• Step by step
• Pie crust
• What other fruit can be used?
• How to shape a hand pie
• FAQs
• Extra tips
• More dessert recipes
• Recipe
• Feedback

Why should you try it?

What you will need

Apples - The star of the dish. We like to use Granny Smith or Honeycrisp, but you really could use any apple.
Pastry - We used a good quality store bought shortcrust pastry. You can make your own though if you prefer.
Butter - This helps the apples to get golden and caramelised. We used unsalted butter.
Sugar - We used brown sugar and whilst you might not expect to see sugar in a "healthy" recipe, it really does add so much flavour and we have only used 4 table spoons, the rest of the sweetness comes from the apples.
Cinnamon - apple and cinnamon is such a classic combination. You could swap the cinnamon for nutmeg or ginger, or even a mixture of all three.
Vanilla - Make sure to use extract instead of essence, as you will have a chemically flavour.
Egg and milk - This creates an egg wash and is used to glaze the apple hand pies before they go in the oven to help them brown nicely.

Step by step

One: Chop the apples in to small chunks. The smaller the chunks, the easier for them to stay in the little pies.

Two: Melt the butter in a large pan and then add the apples, Hermesetas Granulated Sweetener, cinnamon and vanilla and mix well.

Three: Gently cook for 3-4 minutes, until the apples have softened. Allow to cool completely.

Four: Roll out the ready make short crust pastry and then using a cup or cookie cutter that is about 4 inches in diameter, cut out 10 circle (this will make 5 pies).

Five: Place 5 of the circles on a lined baking sheet (use 2 sheets if there is not enough room) and then divide the apples between them. You will need about 2-3 tablespoon of filling per pie, making sure there is an edge around the pie.

Six: Put the other pastry circles on top and then carefully crimp around the edge using a small fork. Make a slit in the middle and then after mixing the egg and milk together, use it as an egg wash to brush over the pies.

Seven: Put in a preheated oven at 190C/375F/Gas 5 for 18-20 minutes, until the pastry has cooked.

Pie crust

We used ready made pastry, because in all honesty we can't taste the difference between store bought and homemade. I am sure there is some subtle difference. But do I think it's worth the effort of making it when you have a hungry 2 year old hanging off your leg demanding apple pie? Nope! If you want to make your own healthy crust, follow the recipe in our Chocolate Pie recipe.

Even top chefs used ready made and say they can't taste the difference - so if it is good enough for them... We have also made these with a puff pastry, rather than a short crust that is in this recipe and it makes a nice change.

What other fruit can be used?

Whilst apple is a classic filling for a pie, you don't have to use apples. We have made this before with cherries, strawberries, blueberries, pears, peaches and even a combination of a few different fruits.

You might have to play around with the cooking time if using a different, more juicy, fruit and add some cornstarch to thicken.

How to shape a hand pie

We went with a classic circle, but you don't have to. You could do moon (Cornish pasty) type shapes, rectangle, squares or even make mini pies in a shallow muffin tin with cut out pastry shapes as a lid.

Kids will love making their own pastry shapes and filling them with this delicious apple filling. Just remember to keep the pies small.

FAQs

Extra tips

• You can use any kind of apple for this recipe, or even use a mixture if you have some that need using up.
• Cut the apples in the small pieces. This way you can get more mixture in to each pie.
• We went with cinnamon as the spice for these apple pies, but you could swap it for ginger or nutmeg, or use a mixture of all three.
• Not a fan of apples? You can make a berry version of these or even swap the apple for pears.
• Feel free to get creative with the shape pies you make, and use cookie cutters.
• Make sure to look for a ready made pastry that is as low in sugar (or sugar free) as possible.
• Take these apple hand pies to the next level by finishing them off with a drizzle of salted caramel before serving.

More dessert recipes

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