Welcome to Happylifeblogspot! A food blog with drool worthy recipes
Whether you’re looking to use up that leftover Halloween candy that’s hanging around or brainstorming an epic Thanksgiving spread that will knock everyone’s socks off, Butterfinger Cheesecake fits the bill perfectly. Cheesecake is such an amazing dessert on its own but when you toss in crispy, […]
How do you make dessert even better? Make it into an adorable hand-held mini size! Maple Pecan Tarts are a darling little spinoff of your family’s favorite classic Pecan Pie. Pecan Pie is a holiday staple at our Thanksgiving table (along with squash and apple […]
I really, really, REALLY wanted to go apple picking this year! But it seemed like every weekend we were either traveling, or sick, or it was raining. BOO! Oh Fall I had such high expectations for you this year!! So I set my sights on some Fall baking instead. Apple Hands Pies are an easy to make dessert that’s sure to delight. These nostalgic little hand pies are sweet, comforting, and simply adorable. The tender, flaky pie crust is easy to work with and filled with delicious cinnamon-apple filling. And next year they’ll be made with hand picked apples from myself (promise!), but this time around we used the next best thing, locally grown NY State apples!
Here’s all you’ll need: cream cheese, butter, flour, salt, allspice, apples, sugar, cinnamon, egg, and water.
First in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and 1 cup of butter until smooth. You can nuke it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up a bit if you need to. Just keep in mind, we want it to be soft, not melted. The addition of cream cheese makes this pie crust absolutely melt in your mouth fabulous!! So I’m not gonna lie, Apple Hand Pies are a little bit of work. But it’s all easy, I promise. And it’s totally worth it!
Next gradually add in the salt and the flour. Toss the salt in first and then using a hand blender, mix the flour in 1/2 cup at a time until well blended. The dough will be a bit sticky. Divide it in half, then shape each half into a ball and flatten slightly into a disc shape. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour to firm.
Once your dough is almost ready to use, start slicing up those apples. We don’t want to prep them too early otherwise they’ll get all brown and mushy. Peel and chop the apples and add them to a large bowl. Top with allspice, cinnamon and 1/3 cup of sugar and toss to coat. Be sure to use a good baking apple and not an eating apple. Yes, there’s a difference. Baking apples tend to be on the softer side while eating apples are more crisp and firm. Look for varieties like Granny Smith, Crispin, Cortland, 20 Ounce, Fortune, Idared, Northern Spy or Rome.
Next remove the dough from the fridge and divide each section into 12 portions. This recipe makes a pretty big batch, 2 dozen Apple Hand Pies to be exact. But trust me when I say you’ll be eating these babies two at a time. Shape each portion into a ball. Then on a lightly floured surface roll each ball into a round, 4-inch mini pie crust. Look how cute the minis are!! Or if you’re a perfectionist, roll the entire ball of dough out into one big pie crust and then cut it into circles using a 4-inch biscuit cutter. Either way will work just fine. I promise they’ll all get eaten!
Place a tablespoon of chopped apples on one side of the mini pie crust. Dot with butter. Basically that means we’re just adding a couple of teeny tiny pieces of butter on top of the apple mixture, because everything’s better with a little butter. Next in a small bowl, combine the egg yolk with 2 tablespoons of water to form an egg wash. Brush one edge of the pastry with the egg wash. The egg wash basically acts as a “glue” to hold everything together. Set aside any remaining egg wash. We’re not quite done with it yet!
To finish fold over half of the pie crust to cover the apples and press down to seal. Crimp down the edges with a fork. Place the finished apple hand pies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Most of you already know that I use parchment in just about ANY baking recipe, but it’s really essential here to prevent these little mini pies from sticking to the pan. Trust it. Live it. Love it.
In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Brush the pie tops with the remaining egg wash and quickly sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Lastly cut three itty bitty slits into the top of the apple hand pies so they have some room to breathe.
Bake in a 425 degree preheated oven for 11-14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. Serve warm, or cold, or with caramel sauce for dipping. Apple Hand Pies will disappear quickly no matter how you serve ’em! Looking for more Fall baking ideas? Try our Over the Top Apple Pie Cheesecake!
We’d love to hear from you! Leave us your comments and love down below!
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Zucchini bread is great and all but aren’t Zucchini Cupcakes even cuter?!? I mean it just doesn’t get any better than these adorable hand held little bundles of joy. In fact, I’m already planning on growing zucchini in my garden next year just for this recipe! […]
My Brother and Sis in law gifted me the cutest little pie pan. It’s got a big ole pumpkin in the middle with the cute little saying “Pumpkin spice & everything nice”. They obviously know that I love me some pumpkin EVERYTHING!!! As soon as […]
I am SO ready to get my Fall on! Cool weather, pumpkin spice everything, and apple cider……sign me up!! Only the first day of Fall has come and gone and we are still waiting on that chilly weather here in Buffalo. Now normally us Buffalonians wouldn’t dare complain about nice weather because we all know that blizzard season is right around the corner, but I’m talking about 90…degree….days….in…September!!! Now that’s just not right! C’mon summer just end already and make room for Fall. I totally wanted to go apple picking this year, but like in Fall weather, not in a heatwave! So I wimped out and just bought some instead….BUT….they were from a legit farm so I’m counting it (somebody picked them just not me!)
Everyone knows that if you want THE best apple cider in Western NY, you’ll need to head to Cherry Bank Farms in Sanborn! So of course they were the obvious choice for apples as well. They have the cutest little country store where you can purchase all sorts of baked goods, freshly picked apples, local honey, maple syrup and all sorts of other goodies. It’s cash only so make sure you stop at the ATM.
My top picks are the cookies….all of them! These are homemade chocolate chips and were filled with huge chocolate chunks inside!! SO yummy!! And of course you HAVE to take home some cider. Now that’s just a given. If you are ever lucky enough to be there on a day when they have grape juice just buy it all! No for real.
The farm fresh goodies are fabulous enough on their own, but we decided to take them up a notch and bake them into this spectacular apple pie cheesecake! Mission accomplished!
Here’s all that you’ll need; apples, cream cheese, pecans, sugar, eggs, butter, lemon juice, graham crackers, cinnamon, vanilla, whipped cream and caramel ice cream topping.
Add the graham crackers to a food processor and process until you have fine crumbs. I used about 9-10 whole graham crackers to get one cup of crumbs. Set aside.
Now do the same thing with the pecans. Chop them up into nice little pieces.
In a large bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, chopped pecans, 3 tablespoons of white sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Stir it all together until well combined.
Next pour in the butter. Mmmm!!! Butter!
Stir until all of the butter is combined evenly into the crumb mixture.
Press crumb mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 9 inch springform pan. Springforms work best for cheesecake because when it’s done baking, you can just remove the sides. Best invention ever! Bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degrees preheated oven. Remove pan from oven and cool until we’re finished with the filling.
Add cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar to a large bowl. Mix with a hand blender until smooth.
Add eggs, one at a time, and beat on a low speed until incorporated. This will make our apple pie cheesecake so creamy! Mix in the vanilla extract.
Here’s what your graham cracker crust will look like when it’s done baking. This crust is EVERYTHING!! It really is the perfect cheesecake crust.
Pour cream cheese mixture over top of the crust.
In a medium bowl, combine apples, lemon juice, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.
Toss the apple mixture to combine. Go ahead and try one of those cinnamon sugary apples! Someone’s gotta be in charge of quality control!
Carefully spoon the apples over the cheesecake filling. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes or until the middle is almost set. I tend to go on the longer side for cheesecakes just to make sure they’re nice and firm all the way through. Once the timer goes off, I turn off the oven, leave the cheesecake inside and just crack open the oven door slightly. If you allow the cheesecake to cool slowly like this, it helps to prevent cracks down the middle. Over The Top Apple Pie Cheesecake is a very forgiving recipe though, since the top is smothered in apples!
Run a knife around the edges and remove from springform pan. Allow it to cool completely before you try cutting into it. I know, it’s hard, but you gotta try! Those perfectly cut cheesecake slices will thank you later.
It looks SO good already but wait, there’s more! Add some caramel drizzle, a few crushed pecans, and a dollop of whipped cream and I promise you won’t regret it!!! I can’t think of a better way to use up some of those Fall apples!!! It’s definitely a favorite in our family! Got lots of freshly picked apples to use? Try our your hand at our Apple Hand Pies!
We’d love to hear from you! Leave us your comments and love down below!
Shop this recipe!
Hi There! I’m Lisa. I’m a lover of all things crafty, creative, DIY, and delicious!!! Oh yeah and puppies too! I love cooking and baking for my friends and family but especially WITH my friends and family. I show my greatest affection through food. If I cook or bake for you, it means I really like you!
