Starting with a delicious all-butter crust without shortening, and finished with an extra flavor burst from the cinnamon streusel hiding inside, these hand pies are on a whole other level!
Mix up a flaky crust: check out my full Pie Dough Recipe Post to learn everything you need to know to whip up a batch of beautifully flaky all-butter homemade pie dough!
TO MAKE THE CINNAMON AND SUGAR:
Stir together: stir together cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
TO MAKE THE FILLING:
Mix dries: stir together all the dry ingredients for the filling in a small bowl.
Melt butter: melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small pan over medium heat.
Cook apples until tender: add the dry mixture, lemon juice, and apples to the melted butter and stir until combined. Continue to cook on medium until apples start to soften, about 12 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. When ready, the apples will have released some of their juices, which will have formed a thick, tacky caramel.
Cool while preparing dough: once softened, transfer apples to a bowl and place in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to cool before assembling your pies (if the filling is too hot, it'll melt the butter in your pie dough and your layers won't be as flaky). To aid in cooling, stir the apples briefly about half-way through the cooling time.
TO MAKE THE STREUSEL:
Preheat and prep: when your crust is ready to roll out and while your fillin' is chillin', preheat your oven to 400°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Stir together dries: use a fork to stir together all the dry ingredients for the streusel in a small bowl.
Mix in butter: add melted butter to dries and use a fork to blend until crumbs form and there are no more dry patches in the mixture. If your mixture is a little dry, you can add extra melted butter a teaspoon at a time, or simply squeeze the crumbs together using your hands, then break apart into large chunks. Set aside.
TO ASSEMBLE THE PIES:
Roll out your dough: working with half your pie dough at a time (leaving the second half in the fridge), lightly flour your work surface and roll your dough out to a little less than ⅛" thick. Airing on the side of thinner is better In terms of taste, so you want to go as thin as possible while still being able to easily pick up and work with the pieces. (If dough is too firm to roll, let it sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes to soften before rolling it out or use the "beat it" method to make the butter pliable).
Cut into rectangles: cut dough into 3" x 4" rectangles, re-rolling scraps as needed.*1 Repeat roll and cut process with the second ½ of your dough.
Combine apples and streusel: when you're ready to start filling you pies, stir together the streusel and cooled apple filling.
Add filling: place half of your rectangles, spaced at least 2" apart, on the lined baking sheet (ideally you want to place them where they'll stay to bake). Add about 2 tablespoons of filling on top of each rectangle on the baking sheet and pat it down. Be sure to keep all your filling in the center of your rectangles with at least a ¼" border of dough clean around the edge. (Note: you may have a little extra filling leftover depending on how thinly you rolled your dough).
Vent the top pieces: make several cuts in each of the other halves of your pie dough pieces that will become your tops (this will work as a vent to keep your pies from bursting open as they release steam in the oven). A paring knife works well for this, and I find these three patterns produced the prettiest results:
Top and seal: using a pastry brush or just your fingers, very lightly moisten the borders of one filled rectangle. Place a top dough piece over the bottom, and lightly press the edges together. Using a fork, seal a ¼" wide border all around the edge of the pie.
Top with cinnamon and sugar: very lightly brush the surface of the sealed pies with water and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Bake until flaked: bake hand pies for 22-26 minutes until tops and bottoms are a deep golden brown (if filling is visible, it should be bubbling too!).
Cool and enjoy! Allow pies to cool for at least 10 minutes to allow the layers to crisp up a bit, and then grab a warm pie and enjoy the buttery, flaky deliciousness with everyone in the house!
Notes
*1(Don't) Work It: You'll want to re-roll your dough as little as possible and when you gather your scraps, try to only work them as much as needed to get them rollable again. The more your work/re-roll the dough, the less flaky our layers will be.)
Baking from frozen: you can freeze these pies fully filled and assembled for up to a month. To bake, place them on a baking sheet straight out of the freezer, brush with water and quickly add cinnamon + sugar (the water sets quickly on the cold pies). Then bake according to the instructions above and just know you may need an extra few minutes on the bake time depending on your dough's thickness.
Storage: store leftover hand pies at room temperature for up to 3 days. Please note, they will lose some of their crispness over time, so they’re best enjoyed fresh whenever possible.
It’d mean so much to me if you could please give the recipe card a ⭐ rating on the site and leave a comment to help others find this sweet recipe! Xo, Jocelyn @ Mint+Mallow