Fried Apple Hand Pies
Ingredients
- 2 ½ call purpose flour
plus more for rolling out/shaping
- 2 tbspgranulated sugar
- 1 tspsalt
- 2 tspbaking powder
- ¼ cunsalted butter
softened
- ¼ cshortening
butter flavor regular
- ½ cmilk
see recipe notes
- ½ cheavy cream
see recipe notes
- 2 cvegetable oil for frying
see recipe notes
- 4 cchopped apples
about 4 apples peeled, cored and chopped
- 1 tbspunsalted butter
- 2 tspground cinnamon
- ½ tspground nutmeg
- ¼ cgranulated sugar
- 1 tbspwater
- ½ tspsalt
- 1 tbspall purpose flour
reserved
- 2 ½ cpowdered sugar
- ¼ cmilk
more or less depending on how thin you want the glaze to be
- 1 tspvanilla extract
Directions
Apple pie filling
- 1
Peel about 4 medium-sized apples (I love this apple peeler, affiliate link). Chop into small chunks.
- 2
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add the butter, apples, cinnamon nutmeg, sugar, water and salt. Simmer until the apples are softened, about 10-15 minutes.
- 3
Add the flour and cook down a little more until a thick filling is formed.
- 4
Allow the filling to cool to room temperature until ready to use in the hand pies (you can cool quickly in the freezer or fridge if needed). The filling will also last a day or two in the fridge or about 3 months in the freezer.
Hand pie dough
- 1
Mix together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl.
- 2
Add the butter and shortening to the bowl. Cut in with a pastry cutter (affiliate link) until it looks like a fine crumb.
- 3
To a liquid measuring cup, mix the milk and heavy cream together. Add an egg and mix until combined.
- 4
Add the liquid mixture to crumbled butter/flour mixture, a little at a time. Use a fork to fluff the mixture and combine together until it forms a dough. The dough will be a little sticky. Don’t worry!
- 5
Liberally flour (about ½ cup or more of flour) a piece of parchment paper or workspace. Pour the dough out onto the counter and knead a few times until the dough comes together and is not overly sticky.
- 6
Pat into a thick rectangle and wrap in parchment paper. Stick in the fridge for at least an hour to chill (you can leave it in the fridge up to 24 hours if you wish).
Hand pie assembly
- 1
Take the chilled dough from the fridge. Liberally flour a counter and roll the dough out on the counter to about ⅛ an inch thick.
- 2
Press out circles of dough with a large, circular cookie cutter or small bowl. I like to use a bowl around 5 inches wide, so the pie is of a decent size. Continue pressing out circles until you have 12 circles of dough. If you have extra pieces of dough, you can press them together and form a circle with your fingers.
- 3
To each circle, add about 1-2 Tablespoons of apple pie filling, right in the center of the circle.
- 4
Wet your finger and lightly rub your wet finger around half of the pie dough. Fold the other half of the dough over (to form a semi-circle) and seal by lightly pressing a fork down on the edges to crimp them closed.
- 5
Continue with the rest of the dough circles until you have about 12 apple pies.
- 6
In a small bowl, whisk together the glaze: powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth and set aside.
Frying
- 1
Heat about 3 cups of vegetable oil in a large saucepan* over medium heat until hot (drop a little piece of dough in the oil and watch it to see if it’s ready. If it darkens and browns immediately, turn the heat down. If it stays light, up the heat a little. You want a medium brown color.
- 2
Place about 3 apple pies at a time in the pan and fry for 3-4 minutes. Flip over to the other side and fry for an additional 2-3 minutes. If you notice your pies browning too quickly, reduce the temperature and flip over.
- 3
Cool on a cooling rack.
- 4
When they are cool enough for you to touch them, dip them in the glaze mixture, covering the entire pie. Put them back on the cooling rack for the icing to solidify.
- 5
Eat warm, with a scoop of ice cream if desired. Enjoy!
Fried Apple Hand Pies
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About this Recipe
Embrace the crisp, comforting flavors of apple picking season with these incredible homemade fried apple hand pies. Flaky, soft, and bursting with sweet apple goodness, they're the perfect treat to enjoy this September, rivalling any local orchard's best. You'll find yourself making these delicious hand pies year after year.
What sets these fried apple hand pies apart is their unbelievably tender and flaky crust. This signature texture is achieved by carefully blending both butter and shortening, creating a pastry that’s simply irresistible and perfectly encases the warmly spiced apple filling. It’s a technique that elevates these from simple treats to truly special desserts.
Each bite of these apple hand pies delivers a delightful contrast: a golden-fried pastry yielding to a warm, sweet, and subtly spiced apple filling. You’ll experience the comforting taste of cinnamon and nutmeg harmonizing with the natural sweetness of apples, all wrapped in a pastry that is both satisfyingly flaky and soft. These are the kind of treats that make home baking feel truly special and are fun for the whole family to create and enjoy, with each generous serving offering 365 calories of pure delight.
While classic, these fried apple hand pies are wonderfully adaptable. Feel free to experiment with different apple varieties—using a mix of sweet and tart apples can add complexity to the filling. You can also adjust the spice levels to your preference, perhaps adding a pinch of allspice or ginger alongside the cinnamon and nutmeg. For a different twist, you could even add a tiny bit of lemon zest to brighten the apple filling.
These delightful hand pies are an ideal treat for celebrating apple picking season, fall gatherings, or simply as a cozy afternoon snack. Serve them warm, perhaps with a simple dusting of powdered sugar, or drizzled generously with the vanilla glaze.