There's A Better Way To Cut Apples For Delicious Hand Pies

Experienced bakers who make apple pies on the regular rely on the shape of the pie pan, crust adornments, and even the cut of the fruit to create a beautiful dessert. These baking hints, particularly the tip about the right cut for the apples, are principles that you can use to your advantage when you make hand pies. Because hand pies don't require lots of sliced apples to fill them up, try cutting them horizontally rather than vertically. In other words, instead of wedges, you'll have apple slices with a little star-shaped seed section in the middle. Once the apples are sliced, scoop out the seeds in the center with a melon cutter. You'll end up with apple slices that look a bit like apple donuts. Each apple should produce about four round, flat apple slices. You'll get the best results if you cut the apple into thin slices.

Here's why this cut works. In full-sized pies and certain other apple recipes, the most beautiful pastries arise from thinly sliced, half-moon-shaped apple wedges. When stacked in the pie, they don't leave gaps between the crust and the apples. Instead, the sliced apples fit snuggly next to the crust, making a more shapely-looking pie. The flat, round apple slices for the hand pies make for a superior apple pie filling for the same reason. They fit right into the crust, and there is no gap between the crust and the apples. Basically, cutting the apples this way allows you to sidestep a common pie crust mistake many home bakers make.

While it's not necessary to peel apples for hand pies, it is important that you choose the right kind of apples. If you do not, you'll end up with mushy, kind of mealy apples. The apples you choose will ideally retain both their texture and their shape. However, texture can also be a matter of preference for hand pie bakers, with some liking the texture and mealiness of apples that are better suited for an apple crisp recipe rather than apple pie. Go with your preference.

With that said, much of the time, home gourmands select the tart, green Granny Smith apple for their pie fillings. These hold their shape and texture exceptionally well. However, there might be a drawback. Many bakers choose a variety of apples to put into their pie, relying on the different flavors and textures.

If you like less tart pies, then not having an assortment of apples in your pie might present a drawback from a flavor standpoint. Avoiding this may mean foregoing the Granny Smiths and trying something like a Braeburn, Honeycrisp, or Jonagold. If you don't mind a slightly mealy texture, Golden Delicious or Fujis also make good choices because they're so tasty. Fujis are also a mix of sweet and tart, making them a good compromise if you really want both the tartness of the Granny Smith and sweetness of a Braeburn, for example.

The beauty of hand pies is that you don't have to shape full-sized pie crusts, nor do you need pie pans to enjoy a slice of pie. For simplicity's sake, you can use a packaged, ready-made pie crust to save time and effort if you'd like. One crust from the package should be enough to create pie crusts for the four slices you'll get from one apple.

Roll the pie crust flat with your rolling pin. Use a round cookie cutter or a biscuit cutter to cut eight round pieces of crusts. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then place four pie crusts on the paper, coating each with a thin layer of beaten egg. Place cinnamon-and-butter-coated apple slices in the center of each piece of raw crust. Fill the centers, where the apple seeds were, with the remainder of the butter-and-cinnamon mixture. Add these to the other four cut crust rings to create the tops of the pies.

Once you've added the apple rings to the bottom crust, create the top crust by placing the remainder of the crusts on top of each pile. Enclose the sides with your fingers, smashing the tines of a fork around the edges makes for a fancier crust. Slice an "X" on the top crust so the contents of the pie will cook better. Cover with more beaten egg, and then sprinkle with sugar. You can bake these for 15 to 20 minutes.