The crust is a flaky cream cheese crust filled with warm, spiced apples. These hand pies are dusted with cinnamon sugar before baking to golden perfection. Each bite of these apple hand pies tastes like fall!
Apple hand pies are little pockets of flaky dough filled with apple pie goodness – perfect for a personal treat! We shape the pies like apples for a fun twist on the classic apple pie. With their flaky, golden crust and delicious apple filling, these pies are simply irresistible.
Apple Hand Pies
Ingredients
#### Apple Filling:
- – 2 tablespoons butter
- – 2 large green apples peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
- – 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- – 2 tablespoons white sugar
- – Zest of 1 lemon
- – 1/4 teaspoon salt
- – 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- – Sprinkle of mace optional
- – 1 teaspoon vanilla
#### Egg Wash:
- – 1 egg
- – 1 tablespoon milk or cream
#### Topping:
- – 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar equal parts cinnamon and sugar
#### Crust:
- – 6 tablespoons cold butter cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
- – 4 ounces cold cream cheese cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
- – 1 cup all-purpose flour
- – 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
#### Cream Cheese Crust:
- Combine the butter, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until a ball forms.
- Dust the dough with flour, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour (up to 24 hours).
#### Apple Filling:
- Brown the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once golden and toasty, stir in the sugars, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla.
- Add the apple chunks to the caramel mixture. Zest the lemon and cook over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes until the apples are softened. Set aside to cool.
#### Assembly:
- Roll the dough out until it’s 1/4 inch thick and cut into 8 apple shapes or rectangles (about 3-4 inches long).
- Scoop 2 tablespoons of the apple mixture into the center of 4 dough pieces.
- Mix the egg and milk to make the egg wash. Brush the egg wash along the edge of the dough where there’s no apple filling.
- Place the remaining dough pieces on top of the filled ones. Seal the edges by pressing with a fork.
- Brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
- Cut a small slit or poke a few holes in the top of each pie.
- Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes until golden brown.