Apple Hand Pies and Apple Galette (a simple apple pie)

Name: Apple Hand Pies and Apple Galette
Yield: 12-14
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 ½ cups (12 oz) all-purpose flour; 2 Tbsp granulated sugar (extra for sprinkling on prepared dough); 1 tsp cinnamon; 1 cup (8 oz) cold unsalted butter, cubed; 2-4 oz cold water; (you can buy premade dough for the recipe); 4-5 cups (small to medium) diced apples (peeled or not peeled, you choose); 1 cup brown sugar; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 tsp salt; 3 tsp cinnamon; ¼ tsp nutmeg; 2 tsp ground ginger; 2 Tbsp cornstarch; 2 eggs for egg wash

February 2, 2024

It's an apple palooza in the Terra Kelly house, and by apple palooza I really mean, I made way too many apple desserts.

There was a bag of apples that needed to be eaten and so, here we are.

You the reader asked for an apple hand pie recipe, then I stepped it up a notch and thought, let's make an apple galette (which is a super simple apple pie).

That's not all, though. I still had more apples and so with the rest of the apples I made my Grandma's Homemade Apple Crisp (it's so freaking good).

Let's grab a hand pie and enjoy the recipe and book inspiration together.

Apple Hand Pies and Apple Galette Recipe available on terrakelly.com

SOME BOOK INSPIRATION:

“What’s that?” Milo from Defend My Heart (Crystal Shores Book Three) pointed to the basket of apples in Angie’s arms.

She looked down and then gave him a quizzical look. “Um, a bushel of apples.” She sat the basket on the ground and put her hands on her hips. “Isn’t that something my sexy farmer should already know?”

He stepped closer and tickled her side. “You think you’re so cute, don’t you?” She put her finger and thumb just a quarter inch apart and giggled as he tickled her some more and wrapped his arms around her waist. “What do you plan to do with all those apples?”

“Since we have an overabundance of them this year, I’ve been thinking about making a few recipes.” Angie placed the palm of her hands on his chest and slid them up to lace her fingers behind his neck. “Then I remembered those apple hand pies we discussed not too long ago.”

“Oh, I like where this is heading.” He leaned in and kissed her. “What about an apple galette, too?”

She stepped back and picked the basket of apples up. “Look at you with all the fancy names.”

“Well, it’s that or make me an apple pie.” You could tell he was holding in a laugh as he shrugged his shoulders and started to walk away.

“Make you, huh.” She smiled and turned in the opposite direction. “How about this, I’ll surprise ya?”

“You know I love surprises.”

Apple Hand Pies and Apple Galette recipe on terrakelly.com

SOME BEHIND THE SCENES:

It's no secret that apple recipes are probably one of my most favorite desserts to make. That basically means, my characters in my books will probably talk about desserts that include apples frequently.

For Milo and Angie in Defend My Heart (Crystal Shores Book Three) it just made sense to have them chat about apple pies since he owns a farm. There are actually a lot of apple trees on the farm and some years they have an overabundance of apples. Angie loves thinking about new ways to use up the delicious apples.

The hand pies are pretty simple and can easily be tailored to you. If you use a knife to form a shape or cut squares for the pies, perfect. If you decide to use cookie cutters, that's wonderful, too.

I did add about how many hand pies you may get with your recipe, but honestly, it's hard to know. It all depends on what you decide to use to form your pie. In the end, just have fun and enjoy the process.

Apple Galette and Apple Hand Pies available on terrakelly.com

MORE BEHIND THE SCENES:

It's funny, I planned to make only hand pies for this post, but then I realized it would be fun to share two options. You can make the pies and everyone can enjoy their very own treat. Or, you could throw together with all the same ingredients a super simple apple galette (also known as an apple pie).

Personally, I love making galette's because you can use any fruit or you can make them savory, and they are so freaking easy to assemble.

For both the hand pies and galette, it's important to stir up the apple mixture and then make sure you do have some liquid with the apples when you add to the dough. The trick is, you don't want too much liquid because it could make the bottom of the pie or galette soggy. There's this fine line but just use your best judgement. Adding some liquid with the apples gives the pies and galette another depth of flavor that is really wonderful.

Disclaimer: the recipe looks long but it's honestly not hard to make. Oh, and it's okay to just buy store bought pie dough already to go. You'll just need to mix up the apples which would be really easy.

Have fun with the recipe and make it your own!

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Apple Hand Pies and Apple Galette recipe on terrakelly.com

Apple Hand Pies and Apple Galette

Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users

Cuisine

American

Author:

Terra Kelly

Servings

12-14 hand pies/1 or 2 galettes

Prep Time

35-45 minutes

Cook Time

30-45 minutes

A fun recipe that can be easily be tailored to what you're craving!

Image of Apple Hand Pies and Apple Galette

Ingredients

Dough:

2 ½ cups (12 oz) all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp granulated sugar (extra for sprinkling on prepared dough)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup (8 oz) cold unsalted butter, cubed
2-4 oz cold water
(you can buy premade dough for the recipe)

Filling:

4-5 cups (small to medium) diced apples (peeled or not peeled, you choose)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Extra:

2 eggs for egg wash

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Directions

For dough: In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Then add the cubed butter and use your fingers or pastry cutter to break up the butter into the flour. You want the butter completely mixed in and the flour to be crumbly from the butter. Slowly add the water because you may not need the full four ounces. Bring dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours or overnight. (See notes for how I quickly cool the dough.)
For apple mixture: In a medium bowl, add apples, brown sugar, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cornstarch, and mix. (See notes about the extra liquid that forms in the bowl.)
To assemble apple hand pies: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Add parchment paper or Silpat on two sheet pans.
Flour the surface and roll out chilled dough until about a quarter inch thick. You can use a knife to cut squares or use your favorite cookie cutters. (I used a large heart and medium-sized circle cookie cutter.)
For each hand pie, you need to have two cutouts for the top and bottom. Stir the apple mixture before draining off some of the liquid to add to the center of the dough (you do want the liquid, just not an excessive amount). Press with your thumb or use a fork to seal the top and bottom of the hand pies together. Try not to overstuff the pies because you don't want any juices leaking out when baking.
In a small bowl, whisk the two eggs with a fork for the egg wash.
Once the hand pies are ready to bake, brush lightly with egg wash and sprinkle the top of the pies with sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven. The pies should be golden brown on top and bottom.
To assemble the galette: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Add parchment paper or Silpat on one or two sheet pans.
Two options: Either divide the dough in half to have two galettes or make one big one.
Flour the surface and roll out chilled dough until about a quarter inch thick. Place dough on a prepared sheet pan and stir the apple mixture before draining off some of the liquid to add to the center of the dough (you do want the liquid, just not an excessive amount).
Start folding the edges of the dough up to lay flat on the apples. The edges will fold into each other, but you still want to see the apples in the center of the galette. (see image up above.)
In a small bowl, whisk the two eggs with a fork for the egg wash.
Once the galette is ready to bake, brush lightly with egg wash and sprinkle the top with sugar. Bake for 40-45 minutes, depending on the oven. The galette should be golden brown on top and bottom. (Check under the folds of the dough to ensure all the layers are cooked thoroughly.)
It's time to enjoy!

Recipe Note

For the dough, if you need to chill it quickly, add it to the freezer. it's essential to leave the dough in the freezer briefly because it could become hard and make it difficult to roll out. If you freeze the dough, keep it there for only about 15-25 minutes.

For the apple mixture, the longer it sits in the bowl, the more liquid will form (which is okay). Every time you need to use the apples, stir the mixture because I noticed a lot of sugar had sunk to the bottom of the bowl.

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