Apple Hand Pies

🧂 Ingredients

• 340 g all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 230 g unsalted butter

  cold and cubed
• 140 g ice cold water
• 3 small tart apples

  peeled, cored, chopped into small chunks
• 30 g brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg

  beaten
• 3 tablespoons sugar crystals or coarse sugar

Instructions

• 1 Mix dry ingredients: In a mixing bowl, stir together flour and salt.
• 2 Cut the butter into the flour: Add in cold cubed butter and toss to coat in
  flour. Press the butter in between your thumb and fingers to break them into
  smaller pieces, tossing to coat in flour occasionally. Work quickly and continue
  breaking the butter down into about pea-sized pieces.
• 3 Hydrate the dough: Make a well in the middle of the flour. Pour in ice water and
  mix with your hand to combine until it forms a shaggy dough. 
• 4 Press, fold, and shape the dough: Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic
  wrap on the counter. Use your hands to press the dough together. Fold the dough
  over onto itself 2-3 times to create layers of butter but don't overwork the
  dough. Don't knead the dough.
• 5 Wrap and chill the dough: Use a bench scraper to cut the dough into two halves.
  Press and shape each half into a flattened disc shape. Wrap both discs with
  plastic wrap. Press down on the dough to compact it against the plastic wrap.
  Chill dough in the fridge for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.
• 6 Cook apple filling: In a medium pot, stir together apple chunks, brown sugar,
  cinnamon, cornstarch, and vanilla extract. Cook on medium-high heat until the
  juices start to bubble. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes until the apples
  are tender. Set aside to cool completely before using.
• 7 Prep: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
• 8 Roll out the dough: On a floured surface, place down one disc of dough. Whack
  the dough firmly with a rolling pin to soften it without warming it up. Roll it
  out until about ⅛" thick. Use a 4" round cutter to cut out circles. Transfer the
  dough rounds to your lined baking sheet. Re-roll the scraps no more than once.
  Repeat with the second disc of dough.
• 9 Cut out shapes: Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out shapes in half of the
  dough rounds or use a knife to slice a few lines to allow steam to escape when
  baking.
• 10 Assemble hand pies: Spoon a generous mound of apple filling onto the middle of
  each "bottom" round, leaving about ½"-¾" of the edge empty. Gently stretch a
  matching "top" round and place it on top of each bottom round. Press a floured
  fork around the edges of each hand pie to seal. 
• 11 Chill and preheat: Chill the whole baking sheet of hand pies in the fridge while
  you preheat the oven to 350°F.
• 12 Brush with egg wash: Right before baking, brush each hand pie with a thin layer
  of beaten egg. Sprinkle with sugar crystals or coarse sugar for extra crunch.
• 13 Bake: Bake hand pies for 40-45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and
  the juices inside are bubbling. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving
  warm or let cool completely.

Nutrition Info