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These apple hand pies, also known as apple turnovers, look too perfect to be homemade! Any of your favorite pie fillings, both sweet and savory, will work. I hope you give this easy technique a try soon.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 large green apples – peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon water, or more if needed (Optional)
- 1 pound prepared pie dough, cut into 4 pieces
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons milk
- 1 teaspoon white sugar, or as needed
Directions
Step 1
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; let butter brown to a light golden color and smell toasted, about 1 minute. Stir apples into hot butter; sprinkle with 1/4 cup white sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Cook and stir apple mixture until apples are softened, about 5 minutes. Mix in cinnamon and water; continue cooking until apples are soft and sticky, 1 to 2 more minutes. Spread apple filling onto a plate to cool.
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Step 3
Form a dough piece into a ball, place on a floured work surface, and roll into a circle about 8 inches in diameter.
Step 4
Spoon 1/3 to 1/2 cup apple filling in the center.
Step 5
Fold dough over filling, leaving about 1 inch of dough on the bottom side visible below the top side. Gently press dough closed around filling, using your fingertips.
Step 6
Fold the overhanging bottom part of dough up over the top edge, working your way around the crust, and pinch the overhang tightly to the top part of the crust.
Step 7
Crimp the edge tightly closed, pinching a little bit of dough with the thumb and forefinger of one hand and using your index finger on the other hand to push a small notch into the pinched dough. Continue pinching and notching all the way around until crust is tightly crimped together. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Transfer pies onto prepared baking sheet.
Step 8
Whisk egg with milk in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. Brush top of each hand pie with egg mixture and sprinkle with about 1/4 teaspoon white sugar. Cut 3 small vent holes in the top of each pie.
Step 9
Bake in the preheated oven until pies are golden brown and filling is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Tips
Here’s a recipe for buttercrust pastry dough that would work perfectly for these hand pies.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings Per Recipe 4 | |
| Calories 728 | |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Total Fat42g | 54% |
| Saturated Fat13g | 64% |
| Cholesterol62mg | 21% |
| Sodium754mg | 33% |
| Total Carbohydrate82g | 30% |
| Dietary Fiber6g | 23% |
| Total Sugars31g | |
| Protein9g | |
| Vitamin C5mg | 27% |
| Calcium38mg | 3% |
| Iron4mg | 19% |
| Potassium215mg | 5% |
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient.If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.
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source by allrecipe
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This recipe is amazing! I chose not to peel the apples in order to retain the nutrients. In the end, I suspect the filling would have been softer had I peeled them; however, I did not care for its extra effort. The next time I make this, I will add 3/4 t. ground nutmeg when adding the cinnamon for flavor.
Do yourself a favor and make the buttercrust pie dough used in Chef John’s video for a mouth-watering, super-flaky crust. For that recipe, go to foodwishes.com and type ‘buttercrust pastry dough’ in the search box. Click on the first link. Voila!
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Make sure you make those vents good- 2 of my pies exploded haha That filling is delicious!!
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Awesome recipe. The dough was amazing to work with and the pies came out not only beautiful but tasty!
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These are wonderful! I used 8 small freshly picked apples which yielded 3 cups of diced apples. I doubled all the other ingredients. I was able to make 4 hand pies each having 1/3 cup of cooked apples. I used Kroger brand ‘unroll and bake pie dough’ in the fridge section to save time! My kids made these and loved them. My kids used my 8.5″ round cookie cutter to cut out dough. My husband keeps asking me to make them again! Very good! Great fall dessert!
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I loved this recipe. Not only was it so easy it was really yummy. I went apple picking at a farm and make some to give away to friends. They were really cute wrapped up in parchment paper with a little ribbon tie!
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Delicious! I used macintosh apples instead (5 small/medium size) and made 8 turnovers with double the patry dough.
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Wonderful recipe made as stated. However I have changed the recipe to Fuji apples NO sugar or water added. The apples cook down making its own juice. But don’t cook them thoroughly. This recipe is great made into a regular Apple pie. Apple’s can be substituted with firm pears.
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I will never make another apple pie the standard way. This recipe has changed my way of baking. Thank you sooo much, my family fight over these delicious hand tarts and pies, I wish I could give it more stars!!
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I decided to give this recipe a try after seeing it in the June/July 2014 Allrecipes magazine. I thought using the star shaped cookie cutters was a really clever idea. I used one box of the Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts, which made about 11 pies, using a 3 inch star shaped cookie cutter. I was able to cut out 8 stars on each sheet, then balled up the dough and rolled it out again. The filling is absolutely delicious! The little hand pies turned out great and were super easy to make. My kids loved them and I like how using the cookie cutters makes a nice dessert portion size. Definitely would make again!
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Excellent! Cooking the apples is a great idea and speeds up the cooking time. Plus I was able to adjust the sugar and spices as the apples was cooking in the skillet.
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Loved these hand pies! I used my Gravenstein apples and they turned out absolutely delicious! I will definitely make these again. Much appreciation Chef John!
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Chef John Another Fabulous recipe!! So simple! I did make your pie crust recipe! Delicious!No changes needed! Perfect!!!
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This was great! My parents loved it. I messed up at first and put the mixture in a little hot, warning let it completely cool down! The dough will rip and the liquid will seep out. I also didn’t pinch the edges good enough. Then I made more and they came out great. I also added blueberries into the second batch with the apples which was really nice too.
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Thank you so much for this recipe! I had some store-bought pie dough that I had to use up as we had no electricity for a day due to an earthquake. The only fruit I had in the house was one nectarine, but I remembered that green tomatoes could be used when you don’t have enough apples, so I used one large nectarine and two small green tomatoes for the filling. The only other thing I changed was to substitute vanilla for some of the cinnamon. My gas oven runs a little hot so they turned out a little brown, but so delicious! I will definitely be making this again!
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Great recipe. Delicious. I more or less doubled this recipe and it turned out great. I don’t make a lot of pies so the video made me a lot more comfortable giving this a try. Not only are they yummy but they’re tantalizingly beautiful as well. Now I’m ready to expand to other fruits. Go for it. But make plenty as they will be gone in no time.
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Used puff pastry sheets, filling was A++. My brother raved they were the best turnovers he ever had. Used a simple confectionary sugar/milk/vanilla glaze. Awesome!
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i just tried this recipe tonight and these are so delicious! even though mine turned out ugly, they are still super yummy 🙂 i used a package of Jiffy pie crust instead of prepared pie dough, because that’s what i had, and cut my apples too big for their pockets i think. i made 8 instead of 4 since i don’t have a big enough work space to roll out dough on.
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Liked the fact that the amount of filling was perfect for me. Flavor was really good, for me it was a little too sweet next time I will cut the white sugar in half. Definitely a recipe I will use again! Thanks for the recipe.
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Very good!
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Excellent recipe! My ten year old said that this is now her favourite dessert. The only change I made was to use a pre made dough for the crust.
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What a simple yet delicious apple pie filling! I used 2 JonaGold apples, and used only 4 TBS of brown sugar. Also, I removed the apples after 5 mins (I like a bit of texture in my apple pies) and reduced the leftover syrup, which I then returned to the apples. I only had Crescent Roll dough, so I made turnovers with those – I added some walnuts as well. Everybody loved them! I really appreciate how you can adjust the sweetness with this recipe so the apples come out perfect – not too tart, not too sweet. This might be my go-to apple pie recipe from now on 🙂
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great recipe! Everyone in our family loved it.
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I doubled the recipe & used Pillsbury Pie Dough to make a pie to take to dinner with friends. It scored!!! I do want to make the hand held tarts for another time.
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I usually make apple pie, today it was time for something different. The whole family loved the turnovers.
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It took a while longer for the apples to get soft than what was in the instructions and the pies browned more quickly 10-15 minutes was more than enough. Aside from cooking times this recipe was the best I’ve ever had (don’t tell my mother). Made it this morning for a shop full of mechanics (man can they eat) and was asked if they could be adopted…. id say thats a pretty good sign. In fact I have already added it as a permanent addition to my cookbook. Fantastic recipe. Will definitely use again.
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Wonderful!! I made the suggested pie crust in the video and it phenomenal! I used three rather small apples. Next time, if I use small apples, I will add one more small apple to my pie filling. My only suggestion is to not make too many because you will be tempted to eat all of them. Definitely a keeper!
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Really good and super easy!
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Very easy and delicious. I made my apple filling the night before and left it in the fridge so the flavor could really seep into the apples. I also popped my turnovers back in the fridge on the baking sheet after assembling to chill the dough to get more fluff.
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Delicious!
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They were great! I drizzled a bit of Hersheys caramel sauce over the apples, we did not regret it. =]
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I know people will hate me for this, so my apologies in advance, but I wanted to make cherry turnovers (without frying) and had no idea how to do it. I used a prepackaged crust I had to get rid of and canned cherries (blech, I know), but for the record baking method was spot on. Cut dough into quarters, rolled out, and finished as directed for above pies. Husband loved. Can’t wait to try it with fresh apples.
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I absolutely love this recipe. I dont like granny smith apples so I used 1 gala and 1 fuji. This combination was perfect for me.
The rest of this recipe was followed to the letter. My crust was a scratch recipe from Betty Crocker. This will be my only recipe for apple pies. Thanks chef john. -
I made the Chef John pastry, and added some Cranberries and Saskatoon berries to the filling to give it a little color and punch to the recipe
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Love the recipe and chef John. Thank you!
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Filling was wonderful. It is rich with flavor with sweet and savory.
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This is yummy! I made the filling to use up a leftover pie crust that I had.
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The boys inhaled them 🙂
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The filling in these was fantastic. I am a new cook, so mine were really ugly, but the family still loves them. I can’t wait to try again!
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OMG. Followed this recipe to the letter, and if you haven’t already, you have to try Chef John’s butter crust recipe. My wife couldn’t stop eating them. Added fresh blueberries, floured to help prevent bursting, which helped to thicken the juices. Will try adding pecans to the butter crust next time.
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Loved this recipe! I’ve made it a few times now, with rave reviews from all. The only changes I made were to triple the ingredients (more pies!!!) and using half Granny Smith and half mackintosh apples. The macs turn out much soggier, but I find
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fantastic, it was exactly what I was looking for
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I made it exactly as the recipe called for and it’s amazing. My pastry recipe makes enough for 5 instead of 4 pies. I probably will add one more apple next time as depending on the size of apple you use its almost not enough filling.
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Love these little pies. My first try I didn’t put enough filling, but once I began really stuffing the pies they were perfect. I make them in different sizes… Small round ones for lunch boxes. See picture on my cover.
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Yum! Very nice recipe and tasty. I shared with friends and they love it as well as my husband and myself. I am working on making it again and not sharing this time. I will freeze some for later (if we (me) don’t eat it all first). Vanilla ice cream goes wonderful with it, but not needed. Just and extra treat. Thank you for sharing this recipe! Making it again tomorrow. I did cheat and used a big can of apple pie filling. Worked out great! Thank you for posting this recipe.
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I pretty much followed this recipe how it was written, with the exception that I added more apples and therefore had to add a little more of the sugar, butter and cinnamon to taste. I also used the trader joes pie crust, yummy! I will definitely be making this again as it was a big hit with my family. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
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No changes, a little cinnamon sugar on top would be nice. Thanks. Mom use to make these for us.
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I received this recipe today and decided to make these hand pies as I had some pastry that needed to be used up. I found this recipe was easy to follow. I used 3 Granny Smith apples as mine were not large. Still got 4 hand pies. I loved the ratio of tarty and sweet with this recipe. I kept to the recipe with the exception that I also added 1/2 tsp nutmeg and a few shakes of cardamom…I love that spice! I found I did not need to add any water as there was enough juice in the apples. I prefer to keep the apples chunky so did not cook them down too much. We all enjoyed these scrumptious little hand pies. In fact I may just double or triple this recipe for apple filling for my pies too! I will definitely try Chef John’s butter crust recipe next time!
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So easy, so delicious, and now a go to for the summer!!!!
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This was very good. I have made it twice and the family loved them. The video was very helpful.
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These are always a hit and make for a really easy dessert especially if you make the filling well ahead of time. I never worry about the type of apples and just use what we have on hand but usually will use at least 3 apples. I use the premodern pie dough and simple cut the roll in half, then put the filling on one half and fold over the other…no need to make a dough ball and worry about rolling out, etc.
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I used my own crust but the filling was fantastic. My son has asked me to make these again!
** I had left over filling and Filled tart shells with an apple crisp topping and these were a family favorite !**
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Great recipe i used a different filling and the possibiletes are endless!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Really easy and delicious! I didn’t have Granny Smith apples, but I had a load of gala apples that were going to go bad so I used them instead. No complaints from anyone here so don’t think this made a big difference but I will try using the Granny Smith next time to compare.
Thanks, chef John!,
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This recipe was completed in less time than it takes me to make a pie the traditional way. I ended up with perfect little hand pies, which did not last long. I’ll be making them again this weekend! Thanks Chef John!
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Very easy and nice to have a instead of a full pie.
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I have made the several times. I love them. I use the recipe as is on my first try and they were really good. Most of the time I just throw together my own apple pie mixture and use it in the hand pies. The crust that ChefJohn uses for this is amazing. I love it so much and I’ll never use anything else..
One thing different I do is make eight smaller pies because that’s a lot of pie for us to eat. They are still great. And I like it that we can still have apple pie for dessert every once in a while without making an entire pie and wondering what to do with the rest of it. -
With the buttercrust dough it was supered
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I made this using honey crisp and golden delicious.Stayed true to the recipe but I added 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg.
The honey crisp stayed firm during the cooking and the golden broke down a little more which I thought was perfect.
I used puff pastry sheets which cut into 4 and was able to make 16 pies with enough for a small bowl of filling on the dinner table.
I baked at 400 degrees for 25 minutes and the results were awesome.
No more store bought pies for lunch, this is it.
Thanks…. -
Loved this easy, simple recipe – excited to make more with different fillings.
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Excellent and will make again!
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Excellent recipe and very easy to make a wonderful dessert! I made little changes: substituted brown sugar for the white and omitted the 2 Tsps brown sugar it calls for. Also I didn’t sprinkle sugar on top of the egg wash. These are a definite keeper, thank you Chef John!
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Very good pies indeed! I have made these several times now, and I’ve used all kinds of different apples. I like the Honeycrisp and Jonathan apples the best, but I’ve also liked the Pink Lady Apple version very much. Even McIntosh apples, which I always seem to have on hand for eating raw, make a fine pie. You just need to adjust for the amount of liquid the various apple types exude while cooking. Add a little tapioca to firm up the filling if necessary.
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Changes made:
1)Used 3 small red apples.
2)instead of white sugar,used the same amount of vanilla sugar,
3) used 2 1/2 T brown sugar
4) Added 1 tsp nutmeg to the cinnamon
5) Used 2 1/2 T salted butter so omitted salt
6) a few Tsp of water
7)Used a 20cm springform pan and made lattices
8)Did not add milk to the eggwash
9)Put in oven for 35-40 mins, last 10 mins on 180C.
10) Also did NOT sprinkle anything on top..RESULT:
Aromatic pie. Enough for 2 people.Not too sweet or sour, its just perfect. Thanks for the recipe! -
I had no apples so I used pears and added a dash of nutmeg to compliment them.
This was delicious! -
They were pretty awesome! Thanks Chef
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I made this for my 13 year old, older brother who always mocked my baking skills and he loved them, they were so good.
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These were AMAZING!!! I used boxed pie crust because I’m lazy. BUT the filling was soooooo good. When I took them out of the oven, I let them cool for about 15 minutes and then dipped them in a glaze and let that drip off while on a rack to cool. I took some to my parents and they loved them!!!
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This filling was delicious, thank you for sharing. I would have posted a picture but, the pie crust and I had a brawl and I lost. They were still very much edible, however.
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Whoa! So much cinnamon! So much sugar! It was way too sweet and I couldn’t even taste the apples, so I tossed it and started again so as not to waste the pie crust. I’m going to go with half the white sugar and a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon, which is 1/6 what the recipe calls for.
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I used Pillsbury Pie Crusts and was pleased with the results!
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Had some apples and pie dough I needed to get rid of and have had good experience with several of Chef John?s recipes, so decided to try. I used pre-made Pillsbury pie crusts and some slightly soft green apples that wouldn?t be eaten. Only change I made was to use lemon juice rather than water to deglaze, I just like the tartness it adds. I went a little firmer with my apples in the cook, and they were a big hit with the husband and kids, so will make again sometime! Thanks for the recipe and the video was super helpful for getting a nice tight seal on the pies, virtually no seepage!
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Delish. Made these apple turnovers for the 4th time and enjoyed them every time. No changes at all. Everyone wanted this recipe. Thanks Chef John
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So GOOD! i also used Chef John’s pie crust recipe on Food Wishes. easy to assemble and make. Lots of cinnamon flavour.
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I use the pastry dough I normally make for my pies… my husbands grandmother’s recipe! I also already had some pie filling made up and just used the instructions, which turned out wonderfully!! 🙂 My husband asked me to make some hand pies… so this is what I came up with and he was super happy! 🙂
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A great recipe when you are looking for something simple and easy. I did cut back a bit on the cinnamon and sugar, but that was a personal choice as I like my apple pie a little on the tart side.
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A very simple, yet delicious recipe. I even made the pastry dough that was easy but perfect. It was not over-sweet and you still get the beautiful apple flavor. Definitely making these again. Thank You~!
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I have never had one of John?s recipe fail me. This was great,
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Easy and delicious!
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Incredible. Chef John has the best recipes!! I didn’t cook my apples down quite as much as he (personal preference) but the filling is fabulous, and all that butter just increases the yumminess 1000x!
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I made these for the first time with savory filling- I used the rest of my thanksgiving leftovers. I really have to say this is delicious to the extent that I found a new thanksgiving tradition this year. Thanks for this great recipe!
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My grandchildren absolutely LOVED these hand pies ! I did make them a little smaller than the recipe suggested because my little ones don’t need them so big. But when there were only a few left over they began to try and compromise with each other as to who was going to have the last ones.
I am making them again and hiding some for myself !! -
Delicious. We made it in the oven as well as in pie irons over the fire. It worked great both ways.
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used have the sugar and used have whole wheat half white flour.
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Easy to make, great flavor. This is a carmelly apple pie.
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This is a wonderful crust, crisp and flaky. I did the apple filling and next time I will do a sweet potato filling . Excellent, just excellent!
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These hand pies are out of this world delicious. I made them for company and everyone loved them, from children to elders. Use with Chef John’s Easy Homemade Pie Crust for best results.
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Delicious recipe and by far better than anything at a restaurant. I?ve made it twice now. I will say that I will personally use 3 apples instead of two so I can enjoy a thicker filling. I just like mine more fruity and less fruit syrup. There is so much room for experimentation in this recipe. The first time I made it as-is, and my husband raved about them. This second time I added some almond extract and nutmeg to the apple mix. Also delicious! I think I?ll try some pecans mixed in at some point or some apricots or maybe some raisins. It?s just too fun to not experiment with this recipe! I give the original recipe 5 stars because it?s great, but I also give it 5 stars because it?s simple enough of a recipe to modify for fun.
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Amazing! no words!
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Love this recipe!!! Can I used canned fruit or pie filling if I run out of cooked apples?
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It needs flavor. With just sugars and cinnamon is missing the different flavors that highlight the apples.
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I was all set to make the pies when the Pillsbury dough sheet I was going to use was not any good and I was left with the cooked apples. So, I made individual apple cobblers with pecans and using the one cup ingredient method. My family loved it.
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i made them smaller, and yes i would make them again!
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Super simple and delicious. Did not need all the sugar, though – I used one teaspoon of brown sugar and sweeter apples and it was phenomenal. I have a son with IBS where sugar is a trigger and he was able to eat with no ill effects!
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I used Granny Smith apples.
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Very simple to make. I have to use Splenda, but even substitute sugar was fine for this recipe.
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These are great! I did make my own crust.
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I?m 14 and I could follow this recipe
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I just found this recipe about a week ago! My husband and I are in heaven with these! Love the original recipe as is but I’ve also made them with the addition of craisins which we love even more. Thanks, Chef John!
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I made these along with Chef John’s pastry dough. My family loved them. I plan to make them again soon.
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Excellent! Made the apple, now making with canned blueberry. So yummy with vanilla bean ice cream.
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