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Apple Hand Pies are everything you love about apple pie folded into a flaky, golden, hold-it-in-your-hand pocket, with a quick stovetop cinnamon apple filling and store-bought crust doing the heavy lifting, and I bake a double batch every first weekend of apple season because Maddie and Lizzie treat them like currency. If you like your apples with zero crust fuss, our baked apples are the five-ingredient shortcut.
Refrigerated pie crust means these come together in under an hour, start to finish.
Apple Hand Pies Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 31 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 46 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 14 pies
- ⚡ Calories: 281kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Buttery flaky crust around warm cinnamon brown sugar apples
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, no harder than our apple and blackberry crumble
Quick Answer
Simmer diced Granny Smith apples in butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until tender-crisp, then thicken with a cornstarch slurry. Cut refrigerated pie crust into 3 and a half inch circles, spoon filling onto half the circles, egg wash the edges, top with the remaining circles, and crimp with a fork. Cut a vent, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 23 minutes until golden.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Stovetop filling, no gamble. Cooking the apples first means the filling is already perfect before it goes in the crust, no undercooked apples or soupy centers.
- Tender-crisp is the target. Simmering just 5 to 8 minutes leaves the apples with a little bite that survives the oven.
- The cornstarch slurry locks it in. A quick slurry thickens the juices into a glossy filling that stays put when you bite in.
- Store-bought crust is the move. Refrigerated pie crust bakes up flaky and golden and saves you an hour of chilling dough.
- Egg wash does double duty. It glues the layers shut so the pies do not leak, and gives that bakery-shine golden top.
- The vent slit is not optional. One little cut lets steam escape so the pies stay crisp instead of bursting at the seams.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- All the flavor of apple pie in a handheld, lunchbox-friendly pocket.
- Refrigerated pie crust keeps them under an hour start to finish.
- The stovetop cinnamon apple filling tastes just like our baked apples wrapped in flaky pastry.
Key Ingredients
A short list of fall staples builds these hand pies.
- Granny Smith apples: Tart, firm, and the classic pie apple. They hold their shape through the simmer and the bake.
- Refrigerated pie crusts: Four rounds make 14 pies. Thaw them just until pliable for the cleanest circles.
- Light brown sugar and cinnamon: The warm, caramel-spiced coating for the apples.
- Cornstarch: A small slurry thickens the apple juices into a glossy, scoopable filling.
- Egg and decorators sugar: The egg wash seals and shines, the coarse sugar adds sparkle and crunch.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
One hand pie formula, endless fillings.
- Add a pinch of nutmeg and allspice to the filling for a spiced apple version.
- Drizzle the cooled pies with a simple powdered sugar glaze instead of the sugar topping.
- Mix a handful of fresh blackberries into the apples, a nod to our apple and blackberry crumble.
- Fry them instead of baking for an old-fashioned fair-style pie, crisp like our elephant ears.
How to Make Apple Hand Pies
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line two sheet trays with parchment paper. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, melt the butter with the brown sugar and cinnamon, stirring constantly.
- Add the diced apples, coat them in the butter mixture, and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes until tender-crisp.
- Whisk the water and cornstarch together, stream the slurry into the simmering apples while stirring, and cook 1 more minute until thickened. Take the skillet off the heat.
- Unroll the pie crusts and cut out 3 and a half inch circles. Place half the circles on the sheet trays and spoon about 2 tablespoons of filling onto the center of each.
- Brush the beaten egg and water around the edges, top each with a second crust circle, and seal the edges together with a fork.
- Cut a small vent slit in each pie, brush the tops with egg wash, and sprinkle with decorators sugar. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes until golden brown, cool 10 minutes on the tray, then finish cooling on a wire rack.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Dice the apples small. Quarter-inch pieces cook evenly and fit neatly inside a 3 and a half inch pie.
- Cool the filling slightly before assembling. Hot filling softens the crust and makes sealing harder.
- Do not overfill. Two tablespoons is the max, more and the seams burst in the oven.
- Crimp firmly with a fork all the way around, the egg wash plus fork seal keeps the filling inside.
- Always cut the vent slit so steam escapes through the top instead of the seams.
- Bake until deeply golden. Pale crust is underbaked crust, the color is the flavor.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Serve these hand pies warm or at room temperature, they are built for lunchboxes, road trips, tailgates, and bake sales.
For dessert, serve them warm with vanilla ice cream, or plate them next to our baked apples and apple and blackberry crumble for a full apple dessert spread.
On a fall brunch table they are right at home beside our apple cinnamon coffee cake and pumpkin cinnamon rolls.
Store cooled pies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or refrigerated for up to 5. Re-crisp them in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. They also freeze beautifully for up to 3 months, baked or unbaked, bake frozen unbaked pies with 3 to 4 extra minutes.
Apple Hand Pies FAQs
Granny Smith is the gold standard, tart, firm, and it holds its shape through the stovetop simmer and the bake. Honeycrisp and Braeburn also work well. Avoid soft varieties like McIntosh or Red Delicious that cook down into applesauce inside the crust.
Four defenses: do not overfill, 2 tablespoons max per pie, egg wash the edges before sealing, crimp firmly with a fork all the way around, and cut a vent slit in the top so steam escapes upward instead of blowing out the seams.
Absolutely. Any all-butter pie dough rolled to about an eighth inch thick works beautifully, you will need dough equivalent to four 9-inch crusts for 14 pies. Refrigerated crust simply saves the mixing and chilling time, which is what keeps this recipe under an hour.
Yes, two ways. Assemble the pies and refrigerate them unbaked for up to a day, then egg wash, sugar, and bake fresh. Or freeze unbaked pies solid on a tray, bag them, and bake straight from frozen with 3 to 4 extra minutes. Baked pies also freeze well for 3 months.
Cooled pies keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Re-crisp them in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes before serving, the microwave works in a pinch but softens the crust.
Yes, these convert to fried pies beautifully. Skip the egg wash and sugar, and fry them in 350 degree oil for 2 to 3 minutes per side until deep golden. Drain on a rack, then dust with cinnamon sugar or drizzle with glaze while warm.
Made these Apple Hand Pies? I would love to hear how they turned out, leave a comment and a star rating below!
Keep the fall baking going with our soft pumpkin whoopie pies.
Apple Hand Pies
Ingredients
For the apples:
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 medium Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, small diced
- 2 teaspoons water
- 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
For assembly:
- 4 refrigerated pie crusts thawed
- 1 large egg
- Splash of water
- 1 tablespoon decorators sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two sheet trays with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-low heat add the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Stirring constantly, melt the butter, and dissolve the sugar.
- Add the diced apples to the skillet and coat in the butter/sugar mixture. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5-8 minutes until the apples are tender-crisp, stirring occasionally.
- While the apples are simmering in a small bowl whisk together the water and cornstarch. Once the apples are tender-crisp, stream in the cornstarch slurry while stirring constantly. Cook for 1 more minute, stirring constantly until thickened, take off the heat.
- Unroll a pie crust and cut out 7 circles using a 3 & ½ inch round cookie cutter. Place the circles onto one of the sheet trays not touching. Cut out 7 circles from another pie crust and set aside.
- Add about 2 tablespoons of the pie filling to the center of each of the pie crusts on the sheet tray.
- In a small bowl beat together the egg and water. Brush the egg wash along the outer edge of the pie crust. Place another pie crust on top of each one and use a fork to seal the edges together.
- Cut one slit into the top of each pie for a vent hole. Brush the entire top of the pies with the egg wash. Sprinkle with decorator’s sugar. Bake for 20-23 minutes until golden brown. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
- Let them cool for 10 minutes on the sheet tray then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- You can add more spices to the filling if you like such as nutmeg, ginger and all-spice.
- You can use pie filling if you’d like, but dice it up really small.
- Make your own homemade homemade pie filling if you like.
- Easily double this recipe to make more to keep on hand or to save for later.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
- Other toppings can be used, see above for ideas.
- Other apples can be used, see above for ideas.
Nutrition
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