Over this summer, a good friend and I have been going out for evening trail rides every Friday. These are such a treat, nothing beats the relaxation of good friends, beautiful scenery of the Saskatchewan prairies and a horse. Before we head out, we eat dinner with her adorable little family. I recently made these for one of our rides and they were a hit! Easy, and tiny enough to fit perfectly in your hand (and just small enough for not feeling guilty if you have a second helping 🙂 ) I’d imagine you could play around with the type of apples or the filling itself. All in all, these are a wonderful fall treat and would make a beautiful addition to any dessert table.
I normally don’t post photos of the assembly of food, but I had my camera on hand and since these are bit more involved, I decided to snap some along the way:
Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies
Ingredients
- DOUGH
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup cold butter cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup cold sour cream
- FILLING
- 2 cups Granny Smith Apples diced into the size of corn kernels
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tsp flour
- store-bought soft caramels cut into smaller pieces
- Sea salt
- Egg wash 1 egg lightly whisked with 1 tbsp water
- Crystal sanding sugar optional
Instructions
- DOUGH
- Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.
- Add the cubed butter to the bowl and use your fingers to work the butter into the flour until the mixture is the consistency of wet sand.
- Stir in the sour cream (this dough is very wet), and then turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface.
- Knead the dough a few times until it comes together, adding more flour, 1 teaspoon at a time, if the dough is too sticky to handle.
- Roll the dough into an 8x10-inch rectangle and dust both sides with flour before folding it into thirds as if you were folding a letter.
- Rotate the dough 90º and roll it out again into an 8x10-inch rectangle. Fold the dough again into thirds then wrap it securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes while you make the filling.
- FILLING
- In a small bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar and flour, stirring until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.
- ASSEMBLY OF THE PIES
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and unfold it onto a well-floured surface, rolling it out to a 14x14-inch square.
- Using a 3-inch circular cookie cutter or cup, cut out as many circles as possible. Re-roll the scraps and continue cutting out circles until you run out of dough, ensuring you end up with an even number of circles. (You should have approximately 20 3-inch circles.)
- Place six of the dough circles on a Silpat or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Spoon a small portion of the apple filling into the center of each circle, leaving enough of a border around the filling. Top the apple filling with a portion of the chopped caramels and a pinch of sea salt. Place a second dough circle atop each filled circle then use a fork to crimp the edges together, sealing each pie.
- Brush each pie with the egg wash, and using a sharp knife, cut two or three vents on the top of each pie. Sprinkle the pies with crystal sanding sugar (optional).
- Bake the pies for about 15 minutes at 425F, or until they're golden brown.
- Remove the pies from the oven and allow them to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Repeat the filling and baking process with the remaining dough circles.
I found this recipe on Pinterest through the wonderful blog, Just a Taste.
Hope everyone is having a great start to fall,
Carlene
Mirk
Hey, I notice you didn’t put an oven temp on there — how high should I cook these at?
bsinthekitchen
Sorry about that Mirk, 425F!