Good Food Every Day

Second Breakfast Apple Hand Pies Two Ways

Filling:

8 large, tart apples, peeled, cored, and diced small
1 c/200 g sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1⁄2 tsp nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
3 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp honey

Crust:

1 batch short crust pastry plus optional additions:
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
extra sugar to dust the surface of the pies


Peel and core the tart green apples of your choice. Cut the apples into a small dice. The smaller you dice them, the more filling you can pack into each pie, so don’t be shy with the knife.
Mix the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and a pinch of cloves in a large mixing bowl. Once they’re all playing nicely together, dump the apples on top. Toss them in the spice mix until every piece of apple is coated. Now drizzle the melted butter and honey on top. Toss the apples a few more times to get the tasty fat and liquid sugar on as many pieces as possible.
Let the apple flavors mingle while you make the crust.
You can just mix up one large batch of short crust pastry and stuff 1/3 with mushroom filling, 1/3 with pork pie filling, and 1/3 with apple filling. However, if you’re only making the apple pies, go ahead and sweeten the crust a little. Add 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon to the flour. Once all the dry ingredients are mixed together, add the butter and water just like in the original recipe. This gives the apple pies a hint of sweetness and a nice added aroma, but it’s not strictly necessary.
Once your filling and crust are ready, preheat your oven to 375F/190C.
You can now make your pies in two shapes. Either way, start by sprinkling flour on a clean surface and rolling the dough out to 1⁄4 inch/3 mm thickness. Don’t go much thinner or they’ll be prone to falling apart after one bite.

*To make a large, cupcake-sized hand pies, start by generously greasing a muffin tin with butter. Remember, this isn’t health food. You want the pies to slide right out with ease while also gaining a little extra crispy flavor.
Use a cookie cutter about 2 inches/5 cm bigger around than your muffin pan wells. Press the large round piece into a well. Make sure a little bit hangs over the top.
Poke a couple vent holes in the bottom then spoon apple filling up to the top of your muffin wells.
Cut out a second circle of dough just a smidge narrower than the top of your muffin wells. Lay it on top of the filling. Pinch the overhanging filling around the top crust. You’ve now successfully enclosed your pies.
Poke a few vent holes in the top of the crust. Feel free to sprinkle it with a little extra cinnamon and sugar to give it a nice crunch.
Bake the cupcake-sized hand pies at 375F/190C for 45-50 min or until golden brown.

*If you prefer the bite-sized teatime pies, simply cut out a flat disc of dough with a 2 inch/5 cm cutter. Pile a heaping tbsp of filling in the middle, fold the dough in half, and pinch the edges closed with a fork. Feel free to decorate the tops with shapes cut out from extra dough.
Bake the smaller, folded pies at 375F/190C for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
The flavor is equally good either way. Use whatever shape fits your overall meal strategy. After all, going on an adventure is no reason to be uncivilized.

*Vegan variation: The larger pie crusts don’t hold up well when oil is substituted for butter, so you’re best off sticking to the smaller, folded ones.
Replace the filling’s butter with coconut oil or vegan margarine. Increase the cinnamon by 1 tsp and add 1 tsp of salt to make up for the flavor difference. The pastry won’t bake up into as deep a golden brown, but it’ll still be perfectly tasty.