caramel apple hand pies.

Just in time for the fall, these pies are a great alternative to a slice of old-fashioned apple pie.

And it’s a GREEN recipe too!  That’s right – no plate or fork required.  You totally save the environment while you enjoy it

The crust includes sour cream and lemon juice, making it moist and flavorful.

I’ll admit it – I often don’t make pies because I always have a hard time with the crust.  Is it just me or are crusts frustratingly crumbly and difficult to roll out…then I become neurotic about over-working them.

Well this dough rolls out fairly easily – no crumbly pie crust to mess with!

Here’s another twist – add sea salt caramel sauce to the apple pie filling.

Oh snap.

Plop more caramel sauce on top of the pie filling before you bake them up and, wham!…you’re on your way to a new tradition.

Caramel Apple Hand Pies

(makes 16-20 pies)

What You’ll Need:

For the crust:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup sour cream
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup ice water

For the filling:

2 pounds of granny smith apples
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Sea Salt Caramel Sauce:

3/4 cup cream

1/3 stick butter

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons water

One egg yolk beaten with 2 tablespoons water (for egg wash)

Instructions:

For the crust:

In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add the butter to the well and cut in the butter until the mixture becomes crumbly.  Separately, combine sour cream, lemon juice and water.  Add to flour/butter mixture, combining gently.  Please don’t overmix the dough or the crust will become tough.  Form into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

Divide the refrigerated dough in half. On a floured work surface, roll half the dough to 1/8-inch thickness.  Using a round cutter, cut approximately 8 circles and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  Repeat with the other half of the dough.  In all you will likely make 16-20 “discs”.

For the caramel sauce:

Measure out the cream and butter and set aside. Place sugar and water in a medium-sized saucepan. Swirl around until all the sugar is wet, adding more water if needed.

Place over medium heat.   Swirl to caramelize evenly and cook until it is amber in color. Remove from heat and pour in the cream. Caution!…it will bubble up.  Whisk until combined.

Add the butter and sea salt and let cool.

For the filling:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Peel and chop the apples into small pieces. Mix them with the flour, sugar and pinch of salt and vanilla.  Add 1/3 cup caramel sauce and toss to coat.*

Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator, and let stand at room temperature until just pliable, 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon about 1-2 tablespoons of the filling onto one half of each circle of dough. Top filling with about a teaspoon of caramel sauce.  Brush a little cold water around the circumference of the dough, and fold it in half so the other side comes down over the filling, creating a semicircle. Seal the hand pie, and make a decorative edge by pressing the edges of the dough together with the back of a fork.

Cut a small slit in each pie and lightly brush with the egg yolk wash. Place in the oven and bake until the hand pies are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove the pies from the oven, and let stand to cool slightly before serving.

*A note about the filling.  A number of readers have indicated they had extra filling so you may want to reduce the ingredients by a third, or put the extra filling to use on top of yogurt or ice cream.

TOTAL:  $7.90 or $.40-$.49 per serving.

Nutrition:

251 calories per serving

13 grams of fat

32 carbs

3 grams protein

2 grams fiber