Apple hand pies.
So, tell me I’m not the only one out there that thinks that name suggests some weird cross between the famous American Pie scene, a sexual act and just good old fashion pie.
Anyone…?
I mean, I get it. They fit in your hand. You eat them with your hand, unlike regular pie. But, it just feels wrong as it rolls off my tongue.
Anyway.
Let’s talk about these glorious little, albeit weirdly named things.
Here’s the deal in a nutshell….they’re the perfect lazy man’s pie. They’re quick, you can pretty much fill them with whatever you want and you don’t have to fuss with a crust.
Sound good?
I mentioned Ulysses’ unexpected 4 day trip the other day, so being the good wife that I am, I thought I’d make him something I know he loves when he came home. Besides pumpkin pie, apple pie is pretty much the only dessert he even cares about. 10 pounds of chocolate could land in his lap and he’d pay it no attention (I’m not sure how I overlooked this obvious flaw when agreeing to marry him) but he will house an entire apple pie in about a day.
So, I figured without any pie crusts (or the desire to make my own) but with plenty of apples on hand, I’d try to create my own little apple treat for him.
The puff pastry is as easy as thawing, rolling out and cutting circles with the rim of a glass (or a round cookie cutter if you have one, I do not).
The apple mixture is as easy as finely chopping and throwing every “fall” spice you have in a sauce pan. Your house will pretty much smell like the best Yankee candle you can imagine and you didn’t even need to pay $385646098 for it!
Brush a little egg on top and they come out deliciously golden brown from the combination of that and the butter in the puff pastry. Perfect little bites of wannabe apple pie.
I pulled them out of the oven, even texted him a picture (hoping it might entice him to come home from work earlier…no such luck) and patted myself on the back for being such a thoughtful wife.
He came home, we ate dinner and then we sat down on the couch with 2 of these and some vanilla ice cream and you know what he said?
“They’re ok, they don’t really taste like pie though”
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
They’re HAND pies! They’re not REAL pie. They’re made of puff pastry, not pie crust. Of course they don’t taste like REAL pie. They’re a shortcut. A shortcut you WERE SUPPOSED TO LIKE.
Guess who’s eaten all the damn hand pies since?
*Note, there’s nothing wrong with these pies (what the heck could be wrong with puff pastry, apples, spices and sugar?) in fact, I thought they were pretty darn good especially for their effort! Ulysses is apparently just a pie snob.
- 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
- 1 apple, diced
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2½ tablespoons water
- 1 egg, beaten
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.
- Roll puff pastry sheet out with rolling pin until it’s almost half the original thickness.
- Cut out circles with the rim of a glass or cookie cutter.
- In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water and whisk together. Set aside.
- In a small sauce pan over medium heat, combine remaining ingredients and cook for 2-3 minutes until apples start to soften.
- Add cornstarch mixture and continue cooking until liquid cooks off. Remove from heat, set aside.
- Spoon about a tablespoon of the apple mixture onto the puff pastry circles.
- Fold the puff pastry over creating a half circle and pinch the sides together. Place on baking sheet.
- Brush each folded circle with the egg wash.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Haha! I feel the same way – I only recently have heard of them referred to as hand pies from my Southern gal pal and it just sounds wrong. But man, are they good and yours look delish!
haha well it was sweet of you to think of your hubby. They look awesome btw! Happy Friday!
duuuuuuuude not cool. i would’ve thrown a couple hand pies in his face and been like “do they taste like PIE NOW YOU UNGRATEFUL #$%#$^…” jk. You don’t want to waste delicious looking hand pies on him
you have more to yourself now! Honestly, I think the filling is delicious. I love anything apple pie filling with cinnamon and nutmeg..it’s so good. I can picture the scent right now. I’m going to run to starbucks and get myself a caramel apple spice drink now..
I’d love to come home to my house smelling like apple pie. Hmmm… don’t think the hubs is going to get crafty in the kitchen any time soon though.
Happy Friday
Lol, My Husband says the same thing. When I make cake cookies, he’s like they don’t taste like cookies, they taste like cake. Duh! What do you expect? There cake cookies! Weirdo! But your hand pies look amazing! I love apples and apple pie is on my top three desserts!! Yum!!
If these are the epitome of precious, I don’t know what is.
Looks like an awesome use for puff pastry…I have been lovin’ the Puff lately!
Yay! My fiancé is a total pie snob, I need a good recipe that doesn’t make a whole pie or we’d polish off the whole things, I’ll let you know if this passes the snob test in my house
I have an apple recipe coming up next week that uses filo. My guess is that hercules could get behind some filo.
I want a hand pie. I want a hand pie all night long.
So delicately simple – I’m thinking they’d be great with some apple cinnamon Chobani…
These kinda remind me of those apple turnovers from Pepperidge Farm – I don’t know if they even make them anymore, but it was my favorite dessert as a child. Your hand pies (now you’ve got me blushing as I type it) look so comforting and delicious!
These remind me of the apple pies from mcdonalds I used to LOVEEEE. Seriously I got one like once a week for a while back then eek! These look a bit more appetizing these days.
Oh men, they are so literal. Well, they sure seem tasty to me! Puff pastry is so much fun.
HMMMMM I wonder … instead of puff pastry … already pie crusts … I think I’m gonna have to try it both ways and see how it comes out … now see what you’ve done … you’ve made want to go into that kitchen of mine …
Awww! That was so sweet of you. Don’t worry, it’s the pie snob that missed out, I’m sure! There couldn’t possibly be anything wrong with puff pastry, apples, sugar and spices. These look like an awesome (fairly) quick treat
Sometimes husbands just don’t get it! I would LOVE these after a long day. BTW- laughing at the beginning of this post and the name of these little desserts
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The pies look so good. I could probably eat half a dozen of those in one sitting.
Yum! I love any kind of apple dessert and those look so good!
Ulysses’ loss is our gain. More for all of us!
He had an issue with PUFF PASTRY? Puff pastry and apples are the best things to happen to my taste buds since brown butter. OMG I just realized heaven is going to smell like brown butter, puff pastry, and apples baking.
Cute and Yummy Apple Hand Pies. This sounds great for kids with little hands.
Haha Luke ALWAYS says things like that, like would it kill them to just be extra grateful for the effort?! Being the perfect housewife is bloody hard work and not the most exciting job in the world!
I think your apple hand pies (yes it does sound a little rude!! Lol) look fabulous!
The things we do for love! They look marvelous!
WHAT THE AWESOMENESS?!
Any version of appe pie is good with me – looks yummy!
HAHA ! ! Ingrate . . . he should have just “Thank You, Dear!” and left it at that. I was a professional baker with apple pie up there as one of my specialties. BUT I would definitely not turn down one of these sweet treats.
I love easy baking recipes….because I hate baking. But I have to bring in some baked goods for an event next week, so guess what everyone’s getting! Why make dough when you have puffed pastry goodness waiting in the freezer section?! Thanks for the inspiration!
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