Apple hand pies are the perfectly portable way to enjoy a mini apple pie!
This recipe has warm spiced apple pie filling wrapped up in a flaky crust. It’s a taste of autumn that’s easier than pie!
An Easy Hand Pie Recipe
- Hand pies are easy to make, and fun to eat warm or cold.
- They are fun to customize. Make different flavors of apple hand pies using caramel, cranberry, or any kind of fruit that strikes your fancy!
- Make this as a shortcut recipe by using store-bought crust and pie filling or make your own from scratch for a homemade version.
- Lots of ways to cook these tiny pies! Try them baked or air fried, or even use a toaster oven.
Ingredients in Apple Hand Pie
Make this from scratch or with a shortcut!
APPLES This recipe calls for apple pie filling and you can make your own or buy a can. If you do buy apple pie filling, chop up the apples before adding to the crust.
CRUST Prepared pie crust or homemade crust can be used. Just roll it out and cut it into circles.
SPICE Cinnamon or apple pie spice adds the perfect bit of warmth to this recipe. For an extra sweet dose of flavor, use cinnamon sugar instead!
Variations
- Use any pie filling for this recipe like peaches, blueberries, or even fill with strawberry rhubarb.
- Puff pastry is also an option and will result in a dessert that is more like a turnover.
- Drizzle with a quick and easy glaze made with powdered sugar and milk or water, if desired.
How to Make Hand Pies
This is the easiest recipe to make, and little ones love to help bake (and eat) tiny food that’s just their size!
- Roll out pie crusts & cut into circles.
- Add filling to the center of each circle, fold over the dough & crimp around the edges with a fork.
- Cut slits in the top and bake per the recipe below until golden brown.
These can also be baked in an air fryer in batches at 350°F for about 8-10 minutes.
Storing
Hand-held apple pies will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but the sooner you eat them, the better!
These little desserts are also very freezer-friendly. Simply wrap each pie in plastic wrap, then store in a zippered freezer bag. Whenever the hankering for fresh homemade apple pie hits, just grab one from the freezer and heat it up in the microwave, flipping after 30 seconds. For a crisper crust, heat it in the air fryer or oven.
More Pies, Please!
- Rhubarb Pie -sweet & tart
- Homemade Cherry Pie – the perfect summer treat
- Apple Pie Recipe – a classic
- Homemade Peach Pie – so heavenly
- Best Blueberry Pie – use fresh or frozen berries
Did you make these Apple Hand Pies? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Apple Hand Pies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 21 ounces apple pie filling store bought or homemade below
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon*
- 1 package pie crust (2 crusts) store bought or homemade
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Chop apple pie filling into small pieces and mix with cinnamon. Beat the egg with milk until combined.
- Roll out the pie dough to ⅛" thick and using a 4-inch circle cutter, cut out 10 circles.
- Add 1 ½ tablespoons of the apple pie filling to each circle.
- Brush egg wash around the edges and fold over the dough making a half circle. Use a fork to crimp the edges firmly together. Make two slits on the top of the pie.
- Brush with the remaining egg wash and bake for 12 minutes.
Notes
- Chop and peel 4 medium apples. Place in a shallow skillet with ⅓ cup sugar, 3 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
- Cover and cook for 4-6 minutes or until apples are tender.
- Combine 4 teaspoons cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water and add a little at a time to the simmering apples to thicken. You may not need all of the mixture.
- Cool completely before using.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
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I always use lard and butter in my crust. This is a slight variant and I am going to make hand. pies with it
Sounds great Chris!
great recipes
I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes Karen!
This is not a hand pie – this is called an empanada. Several different Latino cultures have a variation of empanadas with recipes datong hundreds of years (depending on the introduction of flour) including Mexico, Argentina, and El Salvador.
What kind of pie crust? refrigerated by biscuit section ? Would crescent dough sheet work? Please help Im not sure which to get
Hi JB, we have only tried this recipe with pie crust so I am not sure how the crescent dough sheets would work but we would love to hear how it turns out. As for the pie crust, we use Pillsbury pie crust as shown in the photo (possibly by the biscuits in your grocery store) or you can make your own as well.
With the exception of adding Sparkling Sugar after brushing the egg wash on top, I followed this recipe to a “T” and they came out DELICIOUS!!! I’ve tried other recipes, but none cut slits in the top, nor did they egg wash the inside rim before folding over. As a result, I always had hand pies that oozed out all over the place. A time-saver?? I found a 3-piece set of hand pie cut outs from Aldi one day. 4″, 5″ & 6″. You press down with the cut out on the dough on one side, then place the circle of dough on the top side, fold it together and it crimps the hand pie perfectly!!! Saves so much time.
Thank you Holly!!! This will be my go to recipe from here on :-)
That is such a fun time saver. Glad this recipe worked out so well for you, Cynthia!
Your filling recipe lists water 3x.
For making the slurry you list 2 tablespoons water – which I get.
It’s the first two quantities I don’t quite understand when to add.
In the beginning, you say to add “3 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons each butter and water” to the apples. So 5 tablespoons of water in total to cook the apples before adding the slurry?
Why not just list it like that? or is it a typo?
Thanks Erica! You are right, you will want to add 3 tablespoons of water with the apples in step 1 and then 2 tablespoons of water with the cornstarch in step 3. Hope that helps!
If you do want to make them with the caramel what is the amount of caramel to add? that sounds truly yummy!
For a caramel apple hand pie, I would just do a drizzle over the apple pie filling before baking and even a drizzle over the final baked apple hand pie before serving!
Thanks! I’ll definitely try these.
thanks for your wonderful recipes.
Hi! Holly,
I love your recipes. If I wanted to make and share these with my daughter so she can bake them 1 or 2 at a time in her air fryer, at what point do I freeze them? Can I put on the egg wash before freezing? Pretty sure that she wouldn’t take the time to do it!
We bake them fully first. Once cooled, we individually wrap them and pop them in the freezer. Then you can reheat them in the microwave or in the air fryer!
Hi Holly,
I am thinking about making this, so I was looking over your recipe. In step 1 of your apple pie filling recipe, it looks like you listed water 2x – once with 3 tbs, and other time with 2 tbs. Is that a typo? You have the 2 tbs water (to mix with cornstarch) listed in step 4, so I was thinking that maybe there was an accidental duplication.
This is correct. The first 2 tablespoons cooks with the apples to soften them and make a bit of a juice.
The second 2 tablespoons are combined with cornstarch to make a slurry and this is added to thicken the juices. You may not need all of this mixture. I hope that helps.
Is it supposed to be 1 TBS or 1 tsp cinnamon?
We used 1 tablespoon (tbsp) for this recipe!