These brown butter apple hand pies are wonderful for the Fall season. Our heirloom apple trees did pretty good this year with plenty of apples for baking and cooking. We made a big batch again and shared! It’s a recipe we shared back in 2012.

white on rice couple apples
Brown Butter Apple Hand Pies in basket

Video: brown butter apple hand pies

Best Apple Varieties for Apple Hand Pies

We’ve had this best apple variety discussion in length with friends, family and colleagues. Answers are all across the board and everyone definitely has their favorite. But we’ve tested apple pies, our popular apple galette and hand pies with so many different varieties and there’s really not much of a difference. They’re all great. The only real difference we’ve tasted are green granny smith apples that generally have a more tart and tangy filling. We rarely used expensive apples because those are saved for eating fresh. Any store bought apple will do great. Or if you have an apple tree, then you’re super lucky!

fresh apples

Apple Hand Pie Filling and Spices

We love cooking the apples slightly in the spices. It gives a more tender filling once everything is finished baking. As for the spices, add what ever you like. Start with our combination of spices in the recipe box. Taste the cooked apple chunks. And if you want more flavor, add more cinnamon, clove or allspice before you fill the hand pies. A pinch of salt will often make the spices pop a little more too.

Brown Butter Apple Hand Pies in basket

Brown Butter Apple Hand Pies

Yield: 18 Hand Pies
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Chill Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
The crust is our house favorite. Flaky, buttery, easy to handle.  The pie dough can be made a day or two ahead of time and kept in the fridge. Or freeze the dough and thaw out in the fridge the night before. 
You can always use store bough pie dough, or your favorite pie dough. For this recipe you'll need enough dough that would line at least two 9" pie pans.
The directions are for a half moon shape (childhood memories and all) but one could always slap two circles together to make a round hand pie, or else cut the dough into squares and make triangles or square pies. Let your imagination go wild.
You don't have to brown the butter. You can just melt it and the hand pies will still be tasty. Up to you if you want that extra nutty/toastiness of the browned butter or not.
5 from 9 votes
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Ingredients

Pie Dough Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups (315 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (227 g) cold butter (2 sticks) cut into 1/2-inch (12mm) pieces
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) sugar
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) kosher salt (if using table salt, use a little less)
  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) cold water

Filling Ingredients

  • 4 medium apples (@ 1 1/2 lbs./680g total)
  • 1/4 cup (57 g) butter (1/2 stick)
  • 1/2 cup (110 g) packed brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 ml) ground clove
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
  • 2 Tablespoons (15 g) flour
  • 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) water
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lemon juice

For Egg Wash

  • 1 Egg , for egg wash
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) Water (15ml) for egg wash

Equipment

Instructions 

For Homemade Pie Dough

  • In a bowl, pinch together the 2 1/2 cups (315g) flour, 1 cup (227g) cold butter pieces, 2 teaspoons (10ml) sugar, and 1 teaspoon (5ml) kosher salt with your fingertips until most of the big chunks of butter are flattened or broken up and there are no remaining dry flour sections.
    Butter pinched into flour
  • Incorporate the enough of the 1/2 cup (120ml) cold water (you might not need it all) into the flour until the mixture binds together and forms a rough ball. Knead the ball just until the dough begins to become roughly smoothish ball. Don’t overwork the dough or else it will become tough. 
    Rough ball of pie dough
  • Divide the dough ball in half and then flatten each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes (can be chilled overnight or frozen for future use).
    Pie dough wrapped in plastic wrap

Make Apple Hand Pies

  • Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C. Line a couple sheet pans with parchment paper.
    Lining Parchment on baking sheet pan
  • Peel, core, and cut the apples into approximately 1/2" (1.25cm) pieces.
    Cutting apples
  • In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the 1/4 cup (57g) of butter. Butter will initially foam up and then settle down. Continue cooking, swirling the pan occasionally, until the solids begin to separate and brown, and the liquids turns a light brown color. It should have a nutty, toasty aroma (if you don't want a browned butter, just melt the butter and continue – the hand pies will still be tasty).
    Butter melting in pan
  • Add apples and sauté apples until the they start to soften a bit, about 3 minutes depending on the apple chunk sizes and apple variety.
  • When apples are starting to soften, stir in the 1/2 cup (110g) brown sugar, 2 teaspoons (10ml) cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon (1.25ml) clove, and about 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) of salt.
    Sugar and spices added to apple
  • In a small bowl, whisk together 2 Tablespoons (15g) flour, 2 Tablespoons (30ml) water, and 1 Tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice.
    Whisking flour and water together
  • Add the flour/water slurry to the cooked apple mixture and stir until everything is combined.
    Adding slurry to apples
  • Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until it the juice thickens to a gravy-like texture. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
    Thickened sauce
  • Working with one dough disk at a time, keeping the other chilling in the fridge until you are finished assembling the hand pies with the first dough disk. Roll out to 1/8" (3mm) thick on a lightly floured surface (dust surface & dough with flour as needed to keep from sticking).
    Rolling out dough
  • Using a 4" (10cm) ring cutter or similar, cut out circles, re-rolling scraps (if they start to get warm, refrigerate 15-20 minutes then roll out again).
    Cutting circle out of dough
  • Gently roll out dough circles to be about 5-6 inches (13-15cm) in width.
    Rolling dough circles bigger
  • Pile about 1/4 cup (60ml) of apple mixture in the center of the circle. Fold the dough over the apple filling and press the edges to seal and form the initial hand pie shape.
    Apple added to dough
  • Press the edges with a fork to seal tighter and give a decorative edge. Repeat to make all the hand pies, placing them on the prepared sheet pans at least 1-inch (2.5cm) apart (for best crust texture, when you have one sheet pan filled, place it in the fridge to keep chilled until you are ready to place everything in the oven – a chilled pie dough will bake best).
    Sealing edges with a fork
  • For egg wash, whisk together 1 egg and 1 Tablespoon (15ml) water. Brush tops of hand pies with egg wash, and score with a knife or pierce a few holes with a fork.
    Brushing with egg wash
  • Bake at 375°F/190°C for about 30 minutes or until golden. After finished baking, allow to cool for 15 minutes and serve.
    Baked apple hand pies

Video

Nutrition Information per Serving

Calories: 226kcal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 34mg, Sodium: 298mg, Potassium: 77mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 11g, Vitamin A: 417IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 17mg, Iron: 1mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 226

Serving Suggestions

We love adding some whipped cream on top or serving the hand pies with some ice cream. It’s an extra treat to have something creamy and cold with enjoying these brown butter hand pies.

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