Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies

Made with flaky pie crust and chunks of caramel, Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies are an adorable, mouthwatering version of the favorite holiday dessert.

Probably my favorite thing about hand pies is that they’re supposed to be rustic. You don’t get that pressure to make sure the rim of the crust is perfectly pinched, or make a fancy design with the top crust. Instead, you get the freedom to mold the pies by hand, to make imperfect seams and homemade shapes. It’s the perfect scenario for those who love to bake, but don’t care to get fancy with it.

Know what else is perfect? The filling in these Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies. The tart apples are finely diced to allow them to soften appropriately during the abbreviated cooking time. They’re tossed with traditional apple pie seasonings, and then they just sit for a while as the flavors develop. The crust itself doesn’t need to be anything special — I just use a prepackaged kind — because, in addition to the apples, the little pies are stuffed with chunks of caramel and flakes of salt. That right there would be enough, but to take them really over the top, the pies are drizzled with a rich caramel sauce that offers the perfect finished touch.

Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies

Ingredients

2 Granny Smith apples
1 tbs flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp lemon juice
6 store-bought caramels
2 rolls store-bought pie crust (or use homemade)
sea salt
1 egg, whisked together with 1 tbs water
salted caramel sauce

Instructions

Dice apples into fine pieces, about 1/8-1/4 inch square. Combine, in a large bowl, the apples, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Mix well and set aside. Dice the caramels into pieces about the same size as the apples; set aside. Unroll the pie crust and use a rolling pin to make it a little thinner. Use a 3-inch cookie cutter or a similar size drinking glass to cut circles from the dough. Cut as many circles as you can; gather and re-roll the scraps of dough until you can’t make any more circles. Aim for an even number.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spoon a small amount of apple filling into the center of half the circles. You want a good amount of apple, but not so much that a circle of dough won’t fit over the top. To the apple filling, add a few chunks of caramel and a small pinch of sea salt. Cover each mound of filling with a second circle of dough and use a fork to seal the edges. Brush each pie with the egg + water mixture and use a sharp knife to make a couple slits on the top of each pie.

Transfer pies to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until pies are golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool for five minutes before drizzling warm caramel sauce over each. If desired, add an additional pinch of sea salt.

Serve at room temperature or warm with vanilla ice cream.

Tools I Used

• Peeler
• Pastry mat
• Rolling pin
• Circle cookie cutter
• Pastry brush
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheet
• Cooling rack

Notes

I ended up with extra apple filling that I put on a sheet of puff pastry and baked. It was a hit, too.

You can make your own caramel sauce, but I used a jar I bought to garnish these cupcakes.

Don’t forget to check out Caramel-Stuffed Maple Brown Sugar Cookies and Salted Caramel Cookie Bars.

Pin the recipe for Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies for later!

(this post contains affiliate links; to learn more, see my disclosure policy)