Apple Hand Pies
These Apple Hand Pies are portable and delicious, and bring back memories of those little pies in the grocery store checkout line. You could use this base pastry recipe and mix and match all sorts of pie fillings to suit your tastes and use up seasonal fruit.
Apple Pie: rustic, flaky, tart, and spicy. The most iconic of American traditions.
These marvelous little pies package up the best parts of apple pie, eliminate a lot of the work, and deliver scrumptious, addictive fruit-wrapped-in-crust that can be stowed away in your pocket for safe keeping.
I originally shared these apple hand pies with you way, way, wayyyyyyy back in the dark ages of 2008. It’s been quite a long time since I’ve made them myself, but when Joseph saw an episode of his favorite show, Hey Duggee, and it featured an apple pie, he proceeded to walk around the house saying “apple pieeeeeeeee” for days and days. He’d never had apple pie; how could I deprive my child of something so delicious?? I immediately thought of these hand pies, since they would be much easier for him to eat than a slice of apple pie, and I got baking!
The dough for this recipe is really just incredible. I admit that I was somewhat skeptical at first, as it contained sour cream. I had never heard or seen sour cream used in a pie or pastry dough before, so it certainly caused me to raise an eyebrow. But like the good trooper that I am, I forged ahead. This dough has such an incredibly buttery, flaky texture, much like that of a laminated dough you would create for croissants. When you bite into one of these pies, the crust just flakes and shatters, which is basically a crust-lover’s dream come true.
I made two modifications to this recipe (and those changes are reflected in the recipe as it’s written below):
- The original recipe required A LOT of time chilling ingredients and the dough at different steps, which I have now condensed a bit. I didn’t find there to be any reduction in the quality of the final crust by doing so. I also made the dough mixing step a little easier to execute, as well.
- I added a little cinnamon to the filling – I can’t believe I left it out originally!
I couldn’t wait to get these baked and cooled enough for Joseph to try one. When I told him I had made him little apple hand pies, he said, “APPLE PIE?!?!”
I gave him half of one and he went over and sat on the fireplace, took a bite, and said, “Mmmmmmmm!” He polished it off quickly and then requested the other half. I’m so happy that I could make his apple pie dreams come true, ha!
These hand pies are a fantastic option for changing up the traditional slice of pie and ice cream and would be especially welcome as a dessert at an outdoor gathering or one that included small children.
And really, for the kid in all of us – what’s much better than a slice of apple pie that you can pick up and carry around with you?
Apple Hand Pies
Ingredients
For the Pastry
- 2½ cups (312.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
- ½ cup (115 ml) sour cream
- 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup (125 ml) ice water
For the Filling
- 2 large apples, peeled, cored and diced small
- ⅓ cup (66.67 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
To Finish
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons water
- Coarse sugar
Instructions
- Make the Pastry: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the butter to the well and, using a pastry blender, cut it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water. Add to the flour mixture and, using a fork, gently toss and stir together until large lumps form and all of the flour has been moistened. Using your hands, pat the dough into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour (if preparing ahead of time, the dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month).
- Assemble the Pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the refrigerated dough in half. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one half of the dough to ⅛-inch thickness. Using a 4½-inch round biscuit cutter, cut seven circles out of the rolled dough. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the remaining half of dough. Refrigerate the dough circles for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small pan, combine the apples, sugar, cinnamon and salt, and cook over low heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the apples are tender. Set aside. Prior to preparing the pies, drain any accumulated liquid from the apples.
- Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. Spoon about 1 to 2 tablespoons filling onto one half of each circle of dough. Brush a little water around the circumference of the dough, and fold it in half so the other side comes down over the filling, creating a semicircle. Seal the hand pie, and make a decorative edge by pressing the edges of the dough together with the tines of a fork. Refrigerate the assembled hand pies for 30 minutes.
- Bake the Pies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and water for the egg wash. Remove the chilled hand pies from the refrigerator, and lightly brush with the egg yolk wash. Using a paring knife, cut a few small slits on the top of each hand pie, then sprinkle generously with coarse sugar. Bake until the hand pies are golden brown, anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how thick you rolled the dough. Remove the pies from the oven, and let stand to cool slightly before serving. The pies are best eaten within a day of baking them, but they can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. They can also be wrapped with plastic wrap and placed in a freezer storage bag and frozen for up to 2 months.
Notes
- Feel free to use any type of apple you'd like in this recipe, as it's quite forgiving. I've used Granny Smith, Gala, and Honeycrisps!
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This recipe was originally published on October 15, 2008.
You can certainly see your expertise in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe. Always follow your heart.
These are delicious! Flaky, buttery pastry and bright flavor of the green apples. Possibly could use a teensy bit more salt in the dough but depends on your taste and what kind of salt you are using.
Great for a portable treat or anytime.
Great – I should certainly pronounce, impressed with your web site. I had no trouble navigating through all tabs and related information ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, website theme . a tones way for your customer to communicate. Excellent task..
Good post. I study one thing more challenging on different blogs everyday. It should at all times be stimulating to read content from other writers and follow a little something from their store. I’d want to use some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll offer you a hyperlink on your net blog. Thanks for sharing.
awesome awesome awesome
Yummy apple hand pies, but can I ask something if it’s okay to switch the filling of hand pies into chicken or tuna?
how do you cook these from frozen?
Me and my daughter just made these apple tarts tonight and neither one of us liked them! We were disappointed as everyone mentioned that the crust was wonderful and that they gave it a 5 star because they tasted wonderful, well that is not the case in our experience, we followed the recipe exactly but we thought the crust was extremely buttery and the whole thing just tasted so bland!!I won’t be making these again! We put way too much time into making them followed all the steps and it wasn’t even worth it.thats too bad!
Learn how to bake stop complaining!!!
Awesome recipe! I cut down on the sugar some (as I do on every recipe I make), and also cut the crust into circles and stored them in the fridge overnight, and premade the apple filling, so the next morning all I had to do was fill, seal, and bake them. They were very flaky and were an awesome hit at the party I went to. I would definitely recommend trying!
What are the instructions for baking after freezing?
Made theses the orther days they were delicious 🥰👍
I made these for the first time last night and they were so good. I haven’t worked with pie dough much so apprehensive about how they would turn out. Very happy!
Thank you for sharing this! I had made these a few years ago using blueberries and had lost track of the recipe. So sad! Now so happy again! You ROCK!
I made these apple pies last evening. They were delicious; however, they didn’t look as nice as yours. They cracked. Did I fill them too much? I did slit them. Did I cook them too long? They didn’t get that golden look that yours have. I want to make these again, perhaps, for Mothers’ Day but want them to look pretty. Any tips you can spare would be helpful.
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I made these years ago per their original recipe and they were great, but tiring sigh. This time around I used the pastry recipe and did a savory filling with mushrooms and caramelized onions. Boy! Were they fantastic, flaky, scrunchily delicious. The pastry is to die for… thank you!
I was a little afraid of making the pastry but everything about this recipe was SO DARN EASY! The pastry came out beautifully flaky and the pockets are easier/better for a smaller amount of people (made these for Thanksgiving 2020). I’ve already printed the recipe out and I can’t wait to make more!
WOW!!
This is my first time making pie and turned out WAAY better than I thought. I would give this 10 out of 5 stars for the crust alone. The crust ended up being a beautiful golden brown, flaky, buttery, shattery like no other pie crust I’ve had.
The insides were a perfect amount of sweet and warm with cinnamon.
My deviations from the recipe:
I made a half batch of this, halfing all the crust ingredients but doing the full filling ingredients because the comments said they didn’t have enough filling. I ended up with about a tablespoon or two extra filling but just ate it.
I didn’t have a 4.5 inch biscuit cutter and used 4 inch wine glasses instead- finding my rounds were too small, instead of folding each circle in half I layered two on top of another for one pie.
In the beginning my dough seemed a little too dry. I poured some extra water but accidentally spilled too much and compensated by adding in probably 1/3 of a cup more flour.
I was too lazy to bother separating the egg white to make the yolk wash and just beat one whole egg and no water for the egg wash, which turned out just fine.
Useful tips:
1) the extra liquid cinnamon-apple from cooking the apples? pour that in some milk, it’s delicious.
2) if you like your filling a little less mushy and more firm, reduce filling cooking time to 5 minutes.
3) prevent the bottoms from getting burned by layer an extra baking sheet (you can do this for any baking project)
4) this recipe seems pretty flexible, don’t be afraid to leave it in the fridge a little shorter or longer if your schedule is a little hectic, it won’t be detrimental.
5) don’t go by the bake time stated, look for that golden brown color. mine needed 15 more minutes, it all depends on your oven!
7) don’t be afraid to stuff your pies full of filling even if it looks like there’s too much, when it bakes the apples shrink waaaay down and the pies are very good at not exploding.
8) I suggest you double the filling, you will need it with only a little leftover that you can make good use of as some fuel while you’re toiling!!
9) don’t feel like you need to buy biscuit cutters or anything, large wine glasses are fine!! (these aren’t biscuits where you need that sharp edge to let them rise, you’ll be pinching the crust together anyways!
I have been craving apple since the fall season started. My spouse brought home an oven baked one last night. It didn’t hit the spot, but it gave me inspiration. I have never baked a pie and not much of a baker. However, your recipe made me feel as if I I had been baking forever as I followed it about 98%. I had no mixer, but used a potato masher and I didn’t have “course” sugar. But sparingly sprinkled brown sugar. I made them with mostly organic ingredients and I must say, my… (I mean your) apple pie pockets can sell. My children and spouse loved them. In addition, I ran out of apple filling but sliced one banana for 5 pies. They were still delicious to me. I most of all loved how everything I baked were not overly sweet. Most of all, there was something about how moist and light the dough was.
Oh my goodness baby Joseph was sooooo adorable. Still is adorable but taller and boyishly handsome now. Time sure flies. You especially see it in kids as they grow.
Pies look amazing.
Could I leave out the lemon juice? One of my kids hates any hint of lemon flavor.
i made this and you can’t taste the lemon really.
Made these this afternoon and they are delicious! I was a little hesitant about the addition of sour cream and lemon juice. But the crust was so flaky and rich. All I had on hand were Ambrosia apples, which are quite sweet. So didn’t need to add any sugar. Thank you so much for this lovely recipe. I will be making these again!
Excellent hand pies! I baked a few right away and froze the rest. They were all excellent, especially with vanilla ice cream. I like that I can freeze a bunch and bake a few in the toaster oven whenever I get a craving. I added a splash of bourbon to my apples while cooking. ;-)
Do you bake them first and then freeze, or do you freeze them unbaked , then thaw, and bake when thawed? If the former, do you have to thaw them before reheating? Or reheat from frozen? Thanks for any info!
The dough looks curiously similar to King Arthur’s blueberry hand pie recipe. King Arthur’s version has a better salt ratio and the dough handling instructions provide better lamination in the pastry dough once baked . In addition the size of the pies just seems a little small. I’d rather have larger pies with more filling. Third the pie filling is seriously lacking. I altered this recipe filling by adding a bit of cornstarch, unbleached white flour and gelatin along with clove, allspice and nutmeg and lemon juice plus a tad bit of salt and ghee. This allows for a luxurious filling that is not boring at all- without any binder the filling can drain of its juices during baking and taste bland once cooked and saturate the dough.
The crust on these turned out great – flaky and delicious! I rolled out the dough and it was easier to handle than regular homemade pie crust. Followed the directions to a ‘T’ and the quantities worked out. These are a new favorite in my house. Can’t wait to make them again!
This is the first time I have ever baked any type of pastry.. I can’t even make biscuits. But amazingly they came out pretty good. Took me forever to make them. The flaned edges were kinda hard but I probably put too much sugar and egg around edges. I didn’t feel like they had enough apples in them. But they only had so much room. Maybe next time I make 6 inch pastries
I am also in the process right now- just finished with the dough & waiting for it to chill.. I noticed the recipe didn’t specify when to stop whisking the wet ingredients- however I whisked mine until they were nice & foamy, not just incorporated… & to me my dough ball did not turn out overly sticky like some others have mentioned in the comments. So if you are struggling with a overly sticky dough, try whisking until foamy- then pour into your dry ingredients! <3
Great recipe. I veganized it using vegan sour cream, vegan butter. and vegetable shortening (as I miscalculated the butter amount otherwise I would have used only the vegan butter). I also made four times the amount (I was a bit worried at first) and still it was delicious. My apple choice were honeycrips thanks to a free bag. I highly recommend this recipe. Delicious!
I’m just starting the process now, but I ended up with only 7 piecrust rounds. I used a 4 1/2” cutter and they’re not 1/2” thick, so not sure what’s going on here. But 7 apple pies are better than no apple pies!
I read all the comments before I made these, which I think helped. Yes, the dough is sticky – but it does form a ball nicely. When I took it out after refrigerating, I only used half at a time, and put the rest back in the frig.
I also used flour quite liberally while rolling out the dough, so sticking was minimal. By the time I was done with all of the shaping, etc. it was late so I just kept them all in the frig and baked the next morning, which turned out fine.
The dough is nicely flaky, but I think I’d add a tiny bit of sugar so that it has more flavor. And rolling it out on the thicker side so that it has more texture to go with the filling. I used jostaberries for the filling and they all leaked, but, not a big deal. Overall quite tasty and fun to make!
Can I use greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
I made these today and they were sooooooooo delicious😋 some friends gave us a box of apples and I made a whole bunch of mini pies. My family loved em. Will definitely save this recipe. Pie crust was so good. Thanks for sharing!
This was absolutely perfect. The pastry was so flaky and delicious, I added a bit of butter, milk and brown sugar to the filling and it was so good! Definitely making this again.
This recipe was so good! Yes not enough filling so we filled the extra with Nutella.
The dough was so fluffy. After I baked the pies it was so buttery and flakey!! Yum!!
I’m trying this recipe for a quiche I loved the dough so much!!
I made these today and they came out amazing. I did cook the sugar a bit with the apples to almost caramel stage and then added a small pat of butter. A bit of a tarte tatin type flavor that way.
My pastry was sticky at first but I gave it a few gentle kneads and then wrapped in plastic and rested and it wasn’t too sticky wHen I rolled it out. It had an excellent texture and withstood handling well.
My crust was AMAZING! Thank you!
Michelle, these were fantastic. The crust is sooo flaky and buttery. The misses is ready for an assortment of fillings after she tasted a few. Thanks for sharing!
Oops….I commented earlier but forgot to add the star rating!, 5 stars!
I made these yesterday and then read the reviews today! I was initially surprised at the sticky dough, I used my food processor to bring it together and thought I had messed it up because it was so sticky, and I weirdly added the butter last, even though I knew I should have added it first…I ended up having to use my hands to help incorporate the diced butter. I shaped it into a ball, wrapped it in plastic wrap, and prayed it would still work. I felt I could have done four apples for filling, and ended up with extra dough, I may just make chocolate filled pies with the rest but haven’t decided yet. Anyway, the point is, I baked the ones that I had enough filling for and they turned out delicious! After baking I set them on a rack to cool and then moved them to paper towels to soak up any extra butter. This recipe was easy, it did take a long time, and the dough was delicious. I love your recipes and thank you for this one!!!!!
did not like this dough it was sticky too much liquid should have known better i followed the recipe to a tee so will not make it again!
This pastry is brilliant, with a few modifications. I find I don’t need the water or the extra lime juice, just the sour cream is adequate. It is imperative to work quickly and ensure that the dough is quite chilled at all times though, because it does get sticky as it warms up. If it does, I just pop it back in the fridge for a bit to firm up and then continue. This makes for a longer process but its all worth it in the end.
I’ve made a few recipes from this site they’ve been great. I was hoping to try a new pocket pie crust, made A.Brown’s several times without problems. I was skeptical about adding sour cream….you should be because this pie crust recipe is awful. It was wet and sticky and stuck to everything, even with a bit of flour and rolling it on parchment paper. Epic fail for my egg allergy kids Thanksgiving dessert. Don’t let this deter you from trying the other recipes here though, this is my first fail.
Can I use this crust to make a regular apple pie?
I’ve never tried it, but I don’t see why not!
This was a wonderful recipe! My hand pies turned out so well and taste delicious! They puffed up so nicely and the egg wash made them such a lovely golden brown! I added a bit of butter and flour to my apples to make a bit of a thick sauce which worked out well and made the apple insides nice and melty!
This is a great pie crust recipe. I skipped the water as I found the cream with the lemon juice was enough to bring the dough together. Very nice and flaky, though not as photogenic as the pictures make it seem.
Great recipe. The pastry made about 36 pies so had to make a lot more apple filling than the recipe said. Used about 8 Jonogold apples. Didn’t have sour cream so used yoghurt and substituted 1/4 cup of shortening for 1/4 cup butter. Will definitely make it again. Thank you for the recipe.
These are fantastic! I made the first batch until the egg wash and froze them overnight before yolk washing, sugar sprinkling, and putting them in the oven for breakfast… I made the mistake of not adjusting for the fact they were frozen! Crust would NOT ‘crust’. This afternoon I finished the second half of the dough & THIS TIME I followed the recipe exactly. They were photo perfect!! A few separated at the edges but they were still beautiful. I’ll definitely be remaking this over and over again!
Thanks!
Wondering if I could make fried pies with this crust? Went to local farmers market and Amish sell these as fried pies
I’ve never fried hand pies, so I’m not sure, but let us know how they turn out!
My great grandmother would use buttermilk biscuit dough to make her fried pies. You fry in a cast iron skillet. Heat oil to 375F and cook for 5 minutes until golden brown.
Made these pies for a family gathering. Everyone loved them. Followed the recipe exactly except I did use 3 extra large Granny Smith apples as 2 seemed to be not enough. Making these pies is time consuming so don’t expect it to be quick.
I made these for my DH today to use up some freezer apple pie filling I need to use up. At first the dough was really crumbly so I had to add a few sprinkles of cold water to get it to roll out. After that, the dough rolled and cut beautifully. I had to drain and cut my pie filling so that i could measure the filling for the pastries. I could only get 1 Tbsp of filling in each pie and it still wanted too ooze out. Even though I used a fork to crimp them shut, everyone burst at the seam. I think an egg wash around the edges would help to seal them better. I brushed the finished pies with cream and sprinkled with raw sugar for a little sparkle. No matter the burst seams, DH will be in heaven when he enjoys them. I’m not sure I’ll do these again though since it took all afternoon to complete the treat.
The BEST pastry I have ever used for hand pies! So flaky and easy to make. I found I didn’t have quite enough filling, so I would suggest adding an extra apple. These were a big hit with my pre teens and husband!
Hey! I’m making the dough and it’s oddly very sticky. Is it supposed to be like this?
Same here. Too sticky to use. I even went scant lemon, sour cream and water. Hrmmm
Same here, how did you work around it
Hi Michelle,
I would love to make a vegan version of your crust! I’ve searched online for Sour Cream substitutes and found many options. Do you have any suggestions for what the best substitute would be?
Thanks! Looking forward to making these hand pies for Thanksgiving.
Hi Pearl, I haven’t made the crust using any substitutions, but I wonder if a plain dairy-free type yogurt would work?
Hi, I only used flour, salt, shortening (organic palm & coconut shortening which was kept in fridge instead of cold butter/ghee) and ice cold water.
I also switched out the flour to cassava flour (Otto’s brand)
Kept the measurements to everything exactly. And dough result was flakey and great. Any flour without gluten/wheat in them like the cassava flour is very sensitive to tears but it is also very easy to pinch back together with some patient.
I made these for my parents and siblings and they loved them! I didn’t have butter so I used vanilla greek yogurt and they were still super fluffy and soft.
These turned out really well, but I think that you must have some giant apples since I diced three pretty decent sized apples and was still a tiny bit short on filling. I didn’t use all of the sour cream/ice water mixture (only needed about half). I can’t imagine how sticky it would have been otherwise! I was impatient, so I used the freezer to chill the dough after the initial 1 hr chill in the fridge. The pastry is delightful and much better than I had expected. I cannot wait to use it for other recipes. The apple mixture was decent, but I think I’d like to come up with something with some thickened sauciness in the mix like a traditional pie. Overall, I was delighted with the recipe and can’t wait to use it again. I can imagine the flavor being even better when apple season rolls around.
Just found your site when Googling “apple hand pies”. Since I had store-bought pie crust, tried first that way. Excellent! Next batch will be the right way-crust sounds great. And love the pic of your boy!
My family loved this crust. My Mom used to make fried apple pies in our electric skillet . Unfortunately she took her recipes to heaven with her. So non of my sister have them.
My question is can you fry these? If so how?
Thank You
Karen
Oh wow that sounds amazing. I would assume you could, I think? I’ve never tried!
Can these be assembled and frozen to bake at a later time?
Thanks!
Lorraine
Hi Lorraine, Yes, definitely!
I made these this evening for my boyfriend’s family. His dad is always stopping at the gas station mini mart on the way home to grab the mini pies they sell there for a quick pie fix. I figured he deserved some really yummy homemade hand pies. I had my mom, dad and grandma each try one after dinner this evening. They loved them and asked that I make more just for them. Though I added a few things to the apples (brown sugar, ground cloves and nutmeg) this recipe is great. It’s easy and produces a great tasting pie. My boyfriend’s dad was thrilled. I put come in a ziplock bag just for him with his name on it so the rest of his family won’t eat them all. He said he will share though… maybe. Haha!
This is definitely a keeper. I did add nutmeg and added more apples. Will be making again for sure
Would these be better frozen before or after baking?
Never mind, I found my answer in the comment above!☺️
Hi:) I have been wanting to make these all week. I thought I got everything from the store but I forgot the lemon ( shopping with a 3 year old will do that to you lol ). Could I add something else in its place?
Hi Rebecca, You can make do without it, just gives a little punch of flavor!
Absolutely delicious. The dough is easy to work with and turns out flaky. Since Apple are in season I want to make a big batch and put them in the freezer. Have you froze them both raw and baked? Which would you recommend
Hi Tina, I’ve frozen them both ways, I prefer to freeze them raw and then bake them fresh.
I’d like to freeze these hand pies. Would you recommend freezing them unbaked? (That’s what I do withregular pies and it seems to work well.
Hi Amber, You can freeze them both unbaked and baked (I’ve done both).
Did you forget to put any water with the apples when you cook them?
Hi Susie, No they will release their own liquid as they cook down.
Best crust ever. I have been looking for a good flaky crust. I think I found it.
Try it you will not be sorry.
Made this delicious portable apple pies. Can’t stop eating them. Thank you for sharing!
I’m making my own pie crust bc I have a gluten allergy. Would I need one crust’s worth of pie dough, or two crusts? Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth, You would need two crust’s worth. Enjoy!
I love this recipe!!! These pies didn’t last a day in my house. My only difference was instead of the crescent shaped crust I cut out hearts with a cookie cutter and sealed them together. They were so cute! A lot of work, but a huge hit!!! Will be making again often ❤😊
Hi, Is it necessary to cook down the apples before filling them into the hand pie? Or can I use uncookeda pples?
Hi Lydia, If you don’t precook the apples, you could have two potential issues:
(1) The apples could still be a bit crunchy and raw in the finished hand pies; and
(2) As the apples cook in the hand pies, they’ll release liquid and cause the crust to become soggy.
Really like this apple pie recipe, love to make cherry & Blueberry mini pies.got the recipe for them. .Tks
Please read my previous comment on how amazing these little pies are!
These are some tips I figured out while making these; for one, the dough will be sticky. Wrap in cling wrap and set in the fridge. You will need plenty of extra flour to roll out the dough, keeping the counter lightly covered, you need to work somewhat quickly on cutting the circles out before the flour soaks into the dough and makes lifting them up difficult. Continue to dust flour on top when you roll it out, and you can flip the dough easily when it’s still thick. Next tip: cut your fruit pieces into small dice. This makes it so that you can add more filling per pie. Otherwise, you’ll have large gaps of air in between the fruit, and it will make a lumpy filling. Last but not least: make sure your filling is cooled down! I got impatient when it came to my peach filling, and the dough began to melt immediately. Yup, make sure you cool it down (fastest way is use an ice bath).
My boyfriend and I LOVE these pies! We made them last night, and, yes, we were unsure about the crust as well, but when we saw them come out of the oven, we knew it was going to be flaky and amazing! Two apples were not enough filling for how much dough we made. Luckily, we had a can of peaches in the pantry. We cooked them up similarly to the apples and added cornstarch because peaches have more liquid to them. Still, we had excess dough. What did we do next? Oh, we have a can of pot roast in the pantry? Along with some canned peas, par-cooked diced potatoes, BBQ sauce, and spices, we made a beef stew filling! Instead of sprinkling sugar we sprinkled salt and pepper on top! With how thin we made the crust it took 25 minutes to bake. Wonderful! We have to keep the meat ones in the fridge, but they still warm up nicely!
Can you fry this pasty instead of baking it ? I have fried other pastry dough (but they didn’t have sour cream in it).
Hi Annette, I haven’t tried frying these, so I can’t say for sure.
First of all, I would like to thank you for this recipe! I teach high school culinary arts and we made 6 batches of these last week. Fabulous! Such a big hit that I have people wanting us to make them for Valentine’s Day next week. I think we are going to do cherry filling for some but was wondering what you thought about making some sort of chocolate pie filling? I’m worried it might be too messy.
Thanks again!
Hi Jyll, That’s so awesome, I’m thrilled to hear it! I’m wondering if you could simply do some chopped up chocolate or a piece of chocolate candy (square of Ghiradelli chocolate, peanut butter cup, etc.) instead of an actual loose chocolate pie filling?
Hi, I just finished making these delicious looking hand pies. The dough is gorgeous although I haven’t eaten on yet because they are still cooling. My question is whether the scraps can be rerolled. I hate wasting food but don’t want to end up with a tough crust. Have you rerolled your dough before and if yes, how was the texture?
Hi Ginny, I think you could re-roll without an issue!
I love your blog, I am so glad I came across it! I want to attempt to make these for Christmas, Im not much of a baker, but want to learn, and your recipes look so easy to follow.
My question is….I read that you can use canned pie filling, would that apply to any canned filling?
Thanks!
Hi Sharon, Yes, I think whatever flavor you’d like would work here!
As always, you’re recipes are well-written and easy to follow. I made these hand pies for our family Thanksgiving and they were amazing. The pastry was perfectly flaky and the filling was yummy. I will definitely be making these again.
These are delicious! I made them for my family and they loved them! I want to make a whole pie for thanksgiving and wondering if this recipe will yield for a pie with a crust top?
Hi Kim, So glad you enjoyed them! I’ve never tried to convert this recipe to a pie, so I can’t say for sure, but based on common crust ratios, you should be good to go. Enjoy!
Just made these with the kids. We used whole wheat flour and they still came out great. Easy pretty and tasty!
What a yummy recipe! I followed it exactly and the pastry was heavenly. Everyone in my family loved it. I am adding this recipe to the family recipe box.
These were fantastic, buttery, and flakey. When you make this recipe, make sure in advance that you have a large enough biscuit cutter. I only had a 3.5″ round cutter, so mine are smaller than the recipe — and they have too much pastry and too little actual filling.
Could I use canned apple pie filling? And if so, same baking time?
Hi Kim, Yes, you could totally use canned apple pie filling; I would use the same baking time.
First time visitor to your site. Apples–probably a Yellow Delicious variety–from a friend’s tree. Substituted FAGE 2% plain yogurt for sour cream. Given that the size of the apples varied, I prepared about 8 or 9, doubled remaining amounts in your printed recipe for filling, and used all but a generous tablespoon to fill the dough. Once peeled, cored, and diced, apples sat in a lemon juice/water bath until drained before cooking. No biscuit cutter, but a 5-inch metal bowl upended on the rolled-out dough and my pizza cutter worked like a charm! The bake was successful, and delicious! My friends, the apple growers and a lucky two of my grandkids are enjoying these little apple gems, tonight! Thanks for sharing your recipe. What a great way to spend a fall afternoon!
Made them today the dough was a bit soggy but just used a bit of flour as I was getting ready to roll out and just coated it and kneaded it in
I had no problems with the long resting times I went and walked the dog and cleaned the house and painted my mum’s nails haha!
Fantastic and really flaky
Saving this recipe thanks for sharing
I’m not sure if i’m doing it right. I just put the dough in the fridge, but after i mixed the moist ingredients with the flour/butter, the entire thing got really really wet. It was not liquidy, but it wasn’t like other dough if made. I tried adding a little bit more flour, but it was still really wet and sticky. Help?
Hi Jasmine, It is a super soft dough, but it shouldn’t be wet or liquidy. I’d give it a rest in the fridge and then if you can’t even work with it, I’d add a little bit of flour at a time unless it’s manageable.
What would be the best way to bring the dough back from the freezer? Just to let it unthaw? Any advice welcome :) I have a tupperware of dough in the freezer right now…
Hi Britt, I usually thaw dough in the refrigerator overnight and then set it out on the counter to bring to room temperature if necessary.
These look so cute. Sadly, the pie dough was a bear to work with (got too warm & sticky easily & I wound up needing more flour than called for just to counter the fat & liquid) and now that they are in the oven, they are dissolving into gooey puddles of mostly melted butter. I was following your weight measurements, so I’m not sure if that was the problem, but I clearly made a wrong turn somewhere. I’m tossing these and will have to try again with a different dough. ;(
I see that these are okay to freeze after baking. After that, are they microwave-able? I’m think about taking some into work.
Hi Kelly, You can definitely microwave them! I love them reheated in the toasted oven since it makes them a little crisper than the microwave, but I’ve definitely done it!
Gorgeous looks insisting to try it now. Can I use pineapple instead of Apple?
I think you could!
Not sure if you’ve tried this, but have you tried frying them? Here in the south these are called “Fried Apple Pies” and they have festivals built around these things. Identical to your recipe except they’re fried instead of baked. You thought the baked ones were delicious, get ready to have your socks knocked off tasting the fried ones. This is an awesome recipe!!!!
Oooooh I have not, but that sounds amazing!!
Michelle, thank you for sharing this, we love anything w/ apples and I need ways to use up my 2 containers of sour cream. They look awesome!
These pies look scrumptious! I can’t wait to make the recipe. Your photos are great, so much so, I want to make everything you post. Thank you. 😊
Yeah Penguins!!
:)
Delicious! Totally worth all the steps! Thanks for sharing your recipe ❤️
Made a double batch of these on a Sunday afternoon and yeah, the crust really was everything the recipe promised! While time consuming due to frequent chillings, the dough is amazing to work with; so soft and velvety with zero cracking when rolling out. We used Granny Smith apples and cut back the sugar in the apple filling to 1/4 cup and then added 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp salt along with 2 TBLS flour (per batch) in order to acquire more traditional apple pie filling and not lose the sweet liquid that you’re called to drain in the original recipe. Sure, more juice leaked out of the pies than probably would have otherwise but the bottom crust baked beautifully nonetheless. Almost any kind of filling would work wonderfully with this crust but follow the dough directions closely. It is exquisite!
Hi! I made these beauties in 2013 and they were GORGEOUS, both in taste and appearance. I want to make them again, but this time I was wondering if I can freeze them? If yes, can I freeze them before cooking, and then just cook them up as I want them?
Thanks!
Hi Maria, Yes, you could make them ahead of time and freeze them after assembling, then bake as you’d like.
Would this also work for refrigerating the assembled pies, just for 24 hours or less? I was hoping I could assemble them one evening and bake them the next day. Thank you!
Yes, you could definitely do that!
Should the amount of apples be 2lbs, rather than 2 apples? In the original bourbon peach hand pie recipe, it calls for 2lbs of peaches; and 2 apples doesn’t seem like a lot for a whole pastry recipe.
Hi Anna, Yes, they are large apples and more than enough for the filling.
These things are amazing!!! Ive made them twice already and they were SOOO good! I completely changed the apple filling though because I wanted it more thicker and added cinnamon and nutmeg. Also I used about 5 apples at least. And I used nice rich grass fed butter. These are SOOOOOOOO good warm with ice cream!! I’m wondering if I can use this dough for apple pies??
Hi Nicole, I’ve never tried this dough for pie; not sure if the sour cream would make it too soft?
This is my first success at making my own pie dough. The only reason I even tried is because all of your recipes work perfectly and are awesome! I can’t believe I made pie dough! THANK YOU!
So I added the sour cream mix to the flour and butter and it was so wet and sticky and I had to throw away half of the dough. What did I do!
Making these now, but I was lazy and tossed everything in the food processor, was easier, hoping these turn out good
Just popping these in the oven now, made them super tiny, perogie sized…
Just made these. They were delicious! I ended up using 4 and a half apples and it was enough for 12 pies.
Wish i can try this recipe… The toaster oven that i have at home, the highest temperature it has is like only 200degrees >: any ways of still trying out this recipe??
Hi Mabel, Unfortunately, this will not work at 200 degrees.
Hey Michelle, i’m making these right now and after i mixed the sour cream mixture with the butter/flour mixture, it turned out sort of, wet? Not tough?
I’m refrigerating it right now and wondering if it will turn out right.
Great recipe! one quick question…what kind of apples did you use?
Hi Regina, I used Gala apples.
I made these for a Super Bowl party last year for some friends who don’t like apple pie (blasphemy!). Instead, I made a mixed berry filling and they were amazing.
I’m making some now for National Pie Day with an apple filling. I cooked it with some butter, lemon juice, cinnamon, brown sugar and granulated sugar, plus a bit of corn starch. It’s delicious and tastes a little like caramel apple.
Hey, Can you use pre-made puff pastry for this? I run a bakery out of my house, and sometimes I just make puff pastry in bulk and use that over a week.. Thanks! -IsraeliBaker
Yes, you could use puff pastry as the dough here. Enjoy!
I made these this past Friday and we finished them all in less than 2 days! The pastry was AMAZING! Totally worth the time and effort! I just made a blogpost about it too because it’s going into my keeper file :)
http://myninjanaan.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/apple-hand-pies/
These little pies taste great and are fun to bake! I tend to share my baking with the neighbors and were all addicted! I made them three days in a row to satisfy everyone’s cravings! Soooo good!
I am going to make these. They made my mouth water. YUM!
These look fantastic! I’m thinking about making them for an upcoming bake sale. Any tips on how to store these babies??
Hi April, I would store the in an airtight container to transport, but otherwise would just cover them in foil. Too much time in an airtight container or under plastic wrap can cause the “crust” to get soft.
Holy Smokes! I just made these today to take to a clambake. They came out picture perfect…BEAUTIFUL! So light and fluffy. I will definitely be making this again. I added some lemon juice, cinnamon & about 1.5 teaspoons of Minute tapioca when I cooked the apples. Perfect! Thanks!!
I followed your instructions closely (minus using a pastry blender because I don’t have one.) It took a lot of effort and time to cut the butter into the flour, it was very frozen. When it came time for me to roll the dough out, it was waaaay too wet to work with, and I just about gave up. I had to add a ton of flour more than what your recipe called for, and I’m stumped at what went wrong.
My mouth is watering already. I’d like to make these today, but don’t have sour cream on hand. Do you think plain Greek yogurt would work in place?
Hi Chelsey, Usually that’s a good substitution, but I haven’t used it here, so I can’t guarantee the results.
These were fantastic! My only complaint was that it was hard to fit a lot of apples in there: although before baking the pies were bursting with filling, after they were baked there was a lot of empty space. Delicious crust, though!
Do you think these would these freeze well after baking?
Yes, definitely!
The dough you made looks beautiful! Would you have any idea if it could be used for a full-sized pie (providing I made enough dough)?
i love em! Just finished a batch for the 4th of July, the crust is so worth the time!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!!
Ok..so I’m a guy..and a single Faza..and I like to keep the food I serve fresh and relevant for my boys, who are also athletes. These delicious treats are the perfect before a game snack because they are light and contain all of the requisite nutrition. I made them and they were everything promised in the recipe and more. This is the ideal method to make puff pastry as is it much less work and far less time consuming. I follow sk and have never been disappointed with any recipe.
My mind is replete with the many, many filling possibilities for these pocket rockets.
This recipe is outstanding.
Thank you .
SR
P.S. – I used Progressives Dough press set to make these. And I ran some home made caramel over the top after they cooled. Just met-in-your mouth delicious.
These look scrumptoius! I have an event in 2 days & want to make these. I also want to make the peach filling. Any suggestions where to find a really good peach filling recipe? (peaches aren’t in season yet, so.. no fresh ones.)
Hi Jana, Hmm I’m not sure, could you use frozen peaches? Sometimes they have them in the freezer section with the frozen fruit. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be sure about a peach filling unless you bought it canned or jarred?
You can make peach pie filling from canned sliced peaches, look on the internet. The one I made was delicious and everyone loved it.
These look great, and I really want to try them, but I have a question, when you say “remove the large lumps” after adding 1/2 of the liquid, do you literally mean remove them to a separate bowl?? I was slightly confused on that part and found your directions not very clear.
Also, could the dough be made in a food processor?
Hi Roberta, Yes, remove them to a separate bowl, then proceed with the next half. Then combine everything (including original lumps) into a ball.
Although I haven’t, I don’t see why you couldn’t use a food processor for the crust. Just pulse in short bursts so you don’t overwork the dough.
Absolutely adorable! These liitle pies a fabulous! AND the pastry cutter that you use in this post is amazing!!!! Where did you find such a great pastry cutter with a long handle on it? My pastry cutter is one of my most favorite tools in the kitchen so I am immediately attracted to yours….:-)
Hi Avril, That pastry cutter is from Pampered Chef. It’s great!
Check out the pamperedchef website and you can order the pastry cutter
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/nicolehelmer
WOW! These are definitely a lot of work with the preparation of the dough, but they’re so delicious that they’re worth the effort. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
You’re welcome Felicity! Glad you found them to be worth the effort :)
I made a batch of these last night for dinner guests. They were everything you said they would be. The recipe is simple, produces the flakiest pie crust and has maximum flavor.
FYI, I did not chill the dough as directed; no time & in a hurry (guests arriving). The dough was just stickier to work with but for the effort, I still got great results. I would suggest using an empanada press to make the mini pies. They come in various sizes up to 7.5″. I’ve never had much luck with pies but feel encouraged to make them after my foray with these mini pies. The crust is the secret ingredient to this recipe. Adding cinnamon to the apples as they cook was also a winner. I’m new to your site but am very grateful for the time you take to share with us. Thank you.
I just made these today, I was telling myself I would never do them again (because they DO take a lot of time) until I tasted one of them right out of the oven… Oh my god, flakiest crust I’ve ever tasted in my life. Thank you so much for the recipe! I did add a little bit of cinnamon because I love it. And used a couple more of apples.
Hi Alisha,
Actually a pastry blender is just a handheld gadget that cuts butter into a flour mixture. You can see one here:
http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=broeyebak-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000QJE48O
If you don’t have one you could simply use two knives or even your fingers to combine the flour mixture and butter.
Let me know if you have any additional questions!
I was wondering if you could use a regular blender instead of a pastry blender?
Hi Amy,
I did make a steam hole in the top of the hand pies – just a slit using a paring knife. I will go back and edit the directions. I hope you enjoy these!
It looks like you made holes in the top of the pies before baking. I didn’t see that in the instructions. Did you make a steam hole?
mmmm i love hand pies!
Agh you’ve been baking so many delicious tempting things! I totally have to try this too. Your hand pies look just perfect. I love the flakey dough mmm.
I tried making these and while the recipe was fantastic and easy, I found that 2 apples were not enough (maybe mine were smaller than the ones you used). I do plan on trying this again with more filling (and more variations on the filling)!
Kay- I was worried about the quantity as well. I found that dicing the apples REALLY small helped spread it out more- also I used the 4″ cutter so that may have helped.
Wow. I’m drooling! These look amazing.
+Jessie
a.k.a. The Hungry Mouse
Wow! This is amazing! I can’t wait to try this. I’m Hispanic and am wondering if you have ever done any Mexican pastries like empanadas, pumpkin being my favorite, since it’s very similar to these apple hand pies.
what a gorgeous pastry! I love the pic!
These look like a perfect way to use up the rest of my apples!
How adorable, they look fantastic!
All I have to say is…YUM!!!! I love baked apples
I love mini desserts and these pies are so adorable. I love the flaky crust and the apples look fantastic!
I love the idea of handpies – little mini pies!
Hand pies just make everyone happy :) I;m glad to see the pastry is without shortening as a lot of pie doughs require them. I remember eating the mini ones from my cafeteria as a kid, but I bet these are ten times better.
These look so good and flaky! I’ve been wanting to make these ever since Deb posted them. I’m thinking about making them next weekend for an event I’m baking for, so hopefully I’ll get to try them soon :)
Oh, these look delicious. I could eat way, way too many.
They look great! I wish I had been able to take a pic of the inside to better show the pretty, flaky crust but I didn’t want to interrupt things with our guests :) Great process pics too!
That’s some gorgeous pastry – LOVE the sugar sprinkle! I bet they’d make a really awesome just got home from work snack too – I’m on my way over.