Why It Works
- Cooking the apple filling earlier than assembling the hand pies ensures the apples are completely tender and retains air gaps from forming between the filling and the crust.
- Contemporary apple cider underscores and concentrates the deep apple taste within the filling, and brown sugar and heat spices give these hand pies a traditional apple pie taste profile.
- Utilizing a mix of Granny Smith and Golden Scrumptious apples give the pies the proper steadiness of candy and tart taste.
Within the echelon of pies, hand pies rank on the very high for me. They’re the transportable, shareable, lovely cousins of conventional fruit pies, plus they maximize the ratio of flaky pastry to juicy flavor-packed filling, packing extra buttery pastry into every chew than a conventional pie. Hand pies are equally at house subsequent to a cup of espresso for breakfast, tucked right into a lunchbox as a snack, or served alongside a scoop of ice cream for dessert.Â
So when the primary chill of fall is within the air, making juicy apple hand pies stuffed with aromatic heat spices is one in all my favourite methods to rejoice the season. As a result of there’s solely a small pocket of filling inside a hand pie, it actually must pack a punch. Once I was creating this recipe, I wished my filling to ship deep apple taste with a number of heat spices, and to be tender with out being mushy or messy. I wished the pastry encasing the filling to be buttery and crispy, not soggy or overly thick. I am completely happy to say that after rounds and rounds of testing, I’ve landed on an apple hand pie recipe that delivers on all of these directives. Right here’s easy methods to make them.
Severe Eats / Debbie Wee
Ideas for Completely Baked Apple Hand Pies
Choose a mix of apples. As Kenji discusses in his information for choosing the very best apples for apple pie, the apples you decide tremendously have an effect on each the flavour and texture of the filling. To get a filling with tender however nonetheless intact chunks of apples and a vibrant fruity taste, I settled on a mixture of tart Granny Smiths and candy Golden Scrumptious, each of which maintain their form properly throughout baking—no mushy filling right here!
Precook the filling. I knew that these small pies would bake a lot sooner than a full-sized conventional apple pie. To make sure the apples are softened on the similar time the pastry is golden and flaky, the filling must be cooked earlier than you assemble the person pies. Pre-cooking the apples on the stovetop allowed me to tenderize them, focus the flavors of the filling, and in addition drive off extra moisture from the fruit. When the pliable cooked apple items are spooned into every hand pie, they nestle properly collectively right into a cohesive filling, which ensures there are not any air gaps contained in the baked pies. And since extra moisture has been eliminated by pre-cooking, there’s additionally no want to chop any vents within the high crust to permit steam to flee.Â
Construct the flavors. I begin the apples in butter for nutty richness, cook dinner them till caramelized, then deglaze the pan with apple cider to double down on the deep apple taste. Brown sugar and heat spices, together with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice, amp up the traditional apple pie flavors, and a splash of lemon juice retains issues tasting vibrant. (In a pinch, you may substitute two teaspoons of apple pie spice for the mix of spices on this recipe. Observe that varied manufacturers use totally different sorts and portions of heat spices of their apple pie spice blends, so every will likely be a bit totally different.)
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Thicken with cornstarch. The filling for hand pies ought to be juicy however not so moist that it makes the pies messy to assemble or to eat. dose of cornstarch absorbs the juices from the apples and the cider, making the filling shiny and clean and agency sufficient to simply fill and form the pies.
Take the time to make your personal pie dough. I am keen on the convenience of Stella Parks’s Buttery, Flaky Pie Crust (made by hand in a bowl!), and it proved to be an exquisite base for these hand pies. However you may substitute your favourite double-crust selfmade pie dough recipe if you happen to favor. You could get a yield of 1 to 2 extra or fewer pies, relying on the quantity of dough your recipe makes. Retailer-bought refrigerated pie dough, akin to Pillsbury, can work in a pinch, however is extra liable to bursting and received’t be practically as flaky or flavorful as selfmade pie dough.
Go spherical. When you can form hand pies in any variety of methods—half-moons, rectangles, and squares are frequent—I favor a circle. I discovered that urgent the 2 rounds of dough collectively saved the filling neatly enclosed (versus squishing or tumbling out if folding the dough over itself) and maximized the quantity of buttery crust all the best way across the edges.
Chopping the dough into four-inch rounds allowed me to squeeze in a few quarter cup of filling to every pie whereas nonetheless making certain the pies had been straightforward to shut and form with out leaking. I like to make use of a fluted pastry wheel to trim the sides of the dough for a neat look (although a paring knife or 3 ½-inch circle cutter work, too).Â
Refrigerate earlier than baking. Chilling the assembled pies within the fridge whereas the oven preheats ensures they bake up additional flaky. Chilly butter creates pockets of steam within the sizzling oven, giving the pie dough flaky layers slightly than a mushy or crumbly texture. The resting time within the fridge additionally permits the gluten within the dough to loosen up, serving to the pies preserve their supposed form slightly than shrinking.Â
End with egg wash and sugar. A brush of egg wash and sprinkle of turbinado sugar offers the exteriors of the pies a lovely sheen and scrumptious crunch. Buttery, flaky, and completely apple-y inside, these spectacular hand pies are a dessert you’ll need to make and share all autumn lengthy.
Severe Eats / Debbie Wee
Get Prepared for Fall with These Transportable Spiced Apple Hand Pies
Prepare dinner Mode
(Hold display awake)
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1/2 cup (120ml) contemporary apple cider (see notes)
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1/3 cup packed brown sugar
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1 tablespoon (15ml) contemporary lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
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1 tablespoon (8g) cornstarch
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1 teaspoon floor cinnamon
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1/2 teaspoon floor ginger
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1/4 teaspoon floor nutmeg
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1/4 teaspoon floor allspice
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1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity
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2 tablespoons unsalted butter
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2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/2-inch items (about 9 1/2 ounces, 275g prepped)
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2 Golden Scrumptious apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1/2-inch items (about 9 1/2 ounces, 275g prepped)
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1 recipe Buttery, Flaky Pie Crust, made via step 2, rolled into 2 (6-inch) rounds, tightly wrapped, and chilled for two to 24 hours
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All-purpose flour, for work floor
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1 massive egg, crushed with 1 tablespoon water and pinch salt
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1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
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In a medium bowl, whisk collectively apple cider, brown sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and salt till sugar is dissolved and combination is clean.
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In a 12-inch skillet, soften butter over medium warmth. Add apples and cook dinner, stirring sometimes with a rubber spatula, till softened and starting to caramelize, 12 to fifteen minutes.
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Pour cider combination over apples and stir till effectively coated. Prepare dinner, stirring and scraping backside of pan, till effervescent and thickened, about 1 minute. Take away pan from warmth. Switch apple combination to a shallow rimmed dish and let cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes.
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In the meantime, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Take away pie dough from fridge; if wanted, let stand at room temperature till barely softened, 5 to 10 minutes.
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Evenly flour work floor and use a rolling pin to roll one dough disk to a 12-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Use a 4-inch circle cutter to chop 6 rounds from dough (see notes). Switch rounds to parchment-lined baking sheet. Collect scraps collectively and reroll to 9-inch lengthy, 5-inch vast oval and lower out 2 extra rounds. Discard dough scraps or save for one more use.
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Repeat rolling and reducing with second disk of pie dough for 16 dough rounds whole (rounds can overlap on sheet). Cowl baking sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate to sit back till filling has absolutely cooled.
Severe Eats / Debbie Wee
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When able to assemble hand pies, organize 8 dough rounds on calmly floured work floor. Utilizing a #20 portion scoop or 1/4 cup dry measuring cup, add scant 1/4-cup cooled filling to heart of every dough spherical, mounding in heart and leaving clear 1/2-inch border round edges.
Severe Eats / Debbie Wee
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Prime pies with remaining dough rounds, and use your fingers to softly bend and cup them round filling. (If dough is stiff and begins to crack, let stand for a couple of minutes to heat and soften earlier than continuing. If dough rounds turn into too mushy, refrigerate till agency once more.) Use your fingers to press high and backside dough edges collectively to seal, then crimp with a floured fork. Use a small pastry wheel or sharp paring knife to trim and discard 1/4 inch of ragged edges of pastry from every pie.
Severe Eats / Debbie Wee
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Switch assembled pies to parchment-lined baking sheet, cowl loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a minimum of half-hour or as much as 1 day.Â
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half-hour earlier than you’re able to bake, alter oven rack to lower-middle place and preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). When oven reaches temperature, brush chilled hand pies with egg wash, then sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
Severe Eats / Debbie Wee
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Bake till hand pies are golden brown, 22 to half-hour. Switch baking sheet to wire rack and let hand pies cool on sheet for a minimum of quarter-hour. Serve heat or at room temperature.
Severe Eats / Debbie Wee
Particular Tools
12-inch skillet, rimmed baking sheet, parchment paper, rolling pin, ruler, 4-inch circle cutter, pastry wheel, pastry brush, wire rack
Notes
Contemporary, unfiltered apple cider (normally discovered within the refrigerated produce part on the grocery retailer) lends additional apple taste to this recipe, however you may substitute 100% apple juice if you happen to can’t discover it.
A mixture of tart Granny Smith and candy Golden Scrumptious apples convey a steadiness of flavors and optimum texture for the pie filling, however you need to use all Golden Scrumptious or swap in Gala or Braeburn as acceptable substitutes for the Golden Scrumptious.
In case you don’t have a 4-inch circle cutter, use a paring knife to chop round an overturned 4-inch diameter small bowl or different spherical container to chop out the dough rounds.
A heaping #20 portion scoop or barely under-filled ¼-cup dry measuring cup each work effectively for including the filling to the pies, conserving it in a neat mound within the heart earlier than including the highest pastry.
Make-Forward and Storage
The apple filling might be made via step 3 and refrigerated for as much as 3 days in an hermetic container earlier than assembling the hand pies. Chiling it forward of time makes the filling firmer and the pies simpler to form.
The assembled hand pies, made via step 9, might be frozen on the baking sheet till stable, a minimum of 8 hours, then transferred to a zipper-lock bag or different hermetic container and frozen for as much as 3 months. You’ll be able to bake them as directed straight from frozen, without having to increase the baking time.
Leftover baked hand pies might be saved lined at room temperature for as much as 3 days.