These homemade Apple Hand Pies are made with a flaky pie crust and a cinnamon apple pie filling, and they are glazed with a cinnamon icing. These easy Apple Hand Pies are baked in the oven until golden brown and bubbly.
Apple pie is one of those desserts I’ll never tire of. It’s a classic dessert that doubles as comfort food, no matter the time of year.
These flaky apple hand pies remind me a lot of the mini glazed apple pies you can find in the snack section of the grocery store. Back in the day, these little pies were always sold at the general store in the mountains where our family vacationed, and we never spent a week up there without stopping in for one.
While those store bought versions will forever hold a place in my heart, these homemade apple hand pies are truly a better version. The crust is flakier, the filling is tastier, and the glaze is a little less sugary sweet.
To me, they are perfect.
What Makes These The Best Apple Hand Pies?
- Homemade Pie Crust: I am a firm believer that the crust makes or breaks a pie. Even if you think you’re not a crust person, a bland or undone crust will make even the best pie filling taste sub-par. Making a pie crust from scratch is easy, and it makes all of the difference in the world.
- Apple Filling: The filling is a mixture of honeycrisp apples, sugar, and spices. I prefer to use a sweeter apple, like honeycrisp, fuji, or gala, but you can certainly use a tart apple, like granny smith.
- Cinnamon Glaze: Of course you can serve these with ice cream or whipped cream, but in true hand pie fashion, I wanted to give it a little extra something something and I opted for a cinnamon glaze that is to die for.
- Easy: Yes, you make your own pie dough. Yes, you make the filling. However, making these apple hand pies from scratch is surprisingly easy. It takes a bit of time, but the process itself is very simple (and you don’t even have to peel the apples—I mean, come on, can it get any easier?!)
Ingredients:
Homemade Pie Dough:
- All Purpose Flour
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter
- Ice Water
Apple Filling:
- Chopped Apples: As mentioned earlier, I prefer to use a sweet apple for apple pies, but you can use your favorite apple.
- Granulated Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Cloves
- Vanilla Extract
- Lemon Zest: This is optional, however lemon (and any citrus) brightens the overall flavor of the filling. It’s the little something extra that you can’t quite put your finger on, but it makes all the difference.
- All Purpose Flour
- Unsalted butter
- Egg + Water: This is used to make the egg wash, which is what gives the crust a nice golden color while baking.
- Raw Sugar: This is to sprinkle on top of the pies as they bake. This is optional.
Cinnamon Glaze:
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Powdered Sugar
- Ground Cinnamon
- Almond Extract
- Vanilla Extract
Okay, so let’s talk about how to make these Super Flaky Apple Hand Pies!
Crust: To begin, let’s make the pie crust. You mix flour and salt together. Next, you add in the cubed pieces of butter and work the butter into the flour mixture until the whole mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Next, you add in the ice water. Add just a little at a time, because you don’t want the dough to be overly wet. Once it comes together, pat the dough into two balls, then flatten each into a disc (it just makes it easier to roll out), and refrigerate in plastic wrap for at least 30 minutes.
Filling: Mix chopped apples, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, lemon zest, and flour together. Let the mixture sit while you roll out the crust.
Assembly: On a well floured surface, roll out the pie doughs into two large circles, about 1/8”-1/4” thick. Use a circular dough cutter (use one that is about 3.5 – 4 inches in diameter. Anything smaller can make it really tricky to add filling. Cut out as many circles as possible, then roll the scraps into a circle, and cut out more circles. This makes about 12 hand pies so you need 24 circles. Spoon in filling—a couple of Tbsp per pie—top with butter, then add the top pie crust. Use egg wash to brush the outsides of the pie (this helps the pie crusts to stick together), then crimp with a fork. Cut slits for ventilation, then brush the tops with egg wash. Sprinkle on sugar. Bake.
Topping: Once the pies are golden brown and the filling is sizzling inside, let them cool while you make the glaze. Whisk together heavy cream, powdered sugar, cinnamon, almond extract and vanilla extract. Spoon the glaze on top of each pie, and let it set. Serve!
Can I Use Store Bought Pie Dough?
- Yes, you can. I suggest making your own pie dough because it tastes better and the pies will have a flakier buttery crust, but you certainly can use store bought.
Can I Freeze These?
- Sure! Once they’re cooled off, freeze them on a parchment-lined baking tray for a couple of hours. Then, put them in a freezer safe container and freeze until ready to use. Thaw in the fridge.
How Do I Store Apple Hand Pies?
- I would definitely store these in the fridge to help them last longer. If you prefer to eat your pie warm or at room temperature, you can warm them up in the microwave or let them come to room temperature on your counter.
How Do I Make These Ahead Of Time?
One of my favorite things about hand pies is that they can be made a day or two in advance. With these mini apple hand pies, there are a few ways to make them ahead of time.
Option 1: Make the crust ahead of time. You can make pie dough 2-3 days in advance and let it sit in the fridge until you’re ready to use. So you can make the dough ahead of time and then the day you want to serve these, make the filling, bake, and top with the glaze.
Option 2: Follow the recipe exactly and store in the fridge until you’re ready to serve (I suggest only 1-2 days in advance).
Option 3: Follow the recipe exactly, but do not add the glaze. Store in the fridge until you’re ready to serve (again, only 1-2 days in advance). Warm them up in the oven, top with the glaze, then serve.
Final Quick and Easy Baking Tips:
- Pie Crust: Make the dough ahead of time and store in the fridge until you’re ready to use.
- Filling: I use a mixture of cinnamon and cloves, but you can add in allspice, nutmeg, and ginger, if you’d like.
- Egg Wash: Don’t forget to add the egg wash! It’s what helps seal the pie together (before crimping) and it adds that golden brown color while it bakes.
- Pie Shape: Don’t have a biscuit cutter? No problem! Just cut into squares, like you would a puff pastry apple turnover or a pop-tart.
- -Additionally, you could cut down on the filling and fold each pie crust over (again, think like a turnover) and crimp the edges. They would be smaller hand pies, but you could get about 24 hand pies if you did it this way (think like these Strawberry Hand Pies).
- Glaze: You don’t have to make these glazed apple pies, however, the glaze is really, really good.
After making these cutie pies, might I suggest trying this Apple and Cheese Pie? I know, it might sound weird, but you can’t actually taste the cheese—it just adds this ridiculously salty, creamy aspect to the pie that is so, so good. If that’s not your thing, this Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie is about as decadent as it gets.
Whether you’re making for Thanksgiving, the 4th of July, or just because, happy baking!
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsps salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 8-10 Tbsp ice water
- 2 cups chopped apples, with or without peel (I used honeycrisp apples)
- 2-3 Tbsp granulated sugar (if you prefer a sweeter filling, use 3 Tbsp)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 2-3 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 egg + 1 Tbsp water or milk (for egg wash)
- raw sugar, for sprinkling
- 2-3 Tbsp heavy whipping cream (milk is fine as well)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp almond extract (if you don’t have almond extract, you can subtitute vanilla)
- 1/8 tsp vanilla ectract
- In a large bowl, mix all purpose flour and salt together. Using a pastry cutter, a fork, or a standing mixer (on low), cut the butter into the flour mixture, working it into the dough until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (the butter should be about pea-sized at this stage).
- Next, mix in the ice water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until the dough just comes together.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and shape the dough into two balls. Then, flatten each into a disc (this makes it easier to roll out into a circle after it chills).
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes before using.
- Mix chopped apples, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla extract, lemon zest, and flour together.
- Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (or two smaller baking sheets with parchment paper). Set aside.
- On a well floured surface, roll each pie dough out into a large circle, about 1/8”-1/4” thick. Using a 3.5” circular cookie cutter (or biscuit cutter), cut out as many circles as you can. If needed, roll out the scraps of dough and cut out more circles. This recipe makes about 12 hand pies, so you need to cut out 24 circles.
- Place 12 pie dough circles on your baking sheets, leaving a bit room in between each.
- Divide filling evenly between the 12 pie doughs (it’ll be about 2 Tbsp in each).
- Place 1-2 small cubes of butter on the filling.
- Brush the edges of each pie dough with a little egg wash (this will help the top pie crust adhere to the bottom crust).
- Place the remaining 12 pie dough circles on top of the filling. Using a fork, crimp the edges of the pies together.
- With a sharp knife, cut slits in the top of each pie (this helps the pie ventilate as it bakes).
- Brush the tops and sides with egg wash. Sprinkle with raw sugar, if desired.
- Bake for about 28-30 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the filling is bubbling.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes.
- Whisk powdered sugar, almond extract, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and heavy cream together. If the glaze feels too thin, add in a little more powdered sugar. If the glaze is too thick, add a little more heavy cream.
- Spoon the glaze on top of each warm pie, and allow the glaze to set before serving.
- Serve the pies warm, room temperature, or cold.
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