With summer solstice just a few days ago, I figured I would make a twist on a classic dessert. These hand held pies are oozing with salted caramel and packed with gooey cinnamon apples. Its like eating a caramel apple, with a flaky pie crust – how can you go wrong?! This pastry is a half puff pastry and half pie crust, it has that buttery taste with the added moisture from the sour cream. I actually made 2 batches of these bite sized treats today. One gluten-free and the other not so gluten-free. I knew that my mom would never have let me live it down if I had made these and not come up with a gluten-free option – she’s a sucker for salted caramel. If you’re making the gluten-free option I used a rice flour, potato starch, tapioca stach and a xanthan gum mix, you’ll never know the difference – and neither will anyone else! This recipe is surprisingly easy, and incredibly tasty! The tart apples pair oh-so well with the sweet salted caramel, the perfect combination for a warm summers night treat!
What You’ll Need
- Baking Sheet
- Silpat or Parchment Paper
- Large Bowl
- Medium Bowl
- Small Bowl
- Wire Cooling Rack
- 2 cups all-purpose flour *gluten-free option - see notes below
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter - cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup cold sour cream
- 2 cups small diced & peeled Granny Smith apples *see notes below
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour *gluten-free option - see notes below
- 8 soft caramels - roughly chopped
- Coarse Sea Salt
- Egg wash *see notes below
- Sanding Sugar - optional
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder together.
- Add the cubed butter and with your hands, work into the flour mixture until its the consistency of wet sand.
- Stir in the sour cream, the dough will be very wet.
- On a well floured surface knead the dough until it all comes together.
- Roll your dough with a rolling pin into a rough 8 x 10 rectangle and fold into thirds - like folding a letter.
- Rotate your dough 90 degrees and roll out again to a rough 8 x 10 rectangle, fold into thirds once more and tightly wrap in saran wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- While your dough is chilling combine the apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar, and flour in a medium bowl - stir until all combined and set aside.
- Once your dough is chilled preheat your oven to 425 degrees, line your baking sheet with your silpat or parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove dough from fridge and on a well floured surface roll out to a rough 14 x 14 square.
- Using a 3 inch cookie cutter or cup, cut out as many circles as you can, keeping the number of circles even.
- Re roll the scraps and continue to cut out until you run out of dough.
- Place 6 of the circles on your silpat and spoon a portion of the apple filling into the middle of the circle - leaving a small border around the outside.
- Place some of the chopped caramel on top of the apple filling and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Place another circle on top each of the 6 bottoms and seal pies together by crimping with a fork.
- Brush the pies with your egg wash and with a sharp knife cut 2 - 3 air vent into the top of the pie.
- Sprinkle the pies with your sanding sugar - optional.
- Bake in the oven for 15-17 minutes or until they are golden brown.
- Remove pies from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
- *Notes:
- If you want to make these gluten free instead of 2 cups of the all-purpose flour, use 1 1/2 cups rice flour, 1/3 cup tapioca starch, 1/3 cup potato starch, 1 tsp xanthan gum OR 2 cups gluten-free all purpose flour and 1 tsp xanthan gum. I used a gluten-free all purpose mix for the filling as it was too little of an amount to convert.
- You will want your apples to be cut no larger than a kernel of corn to be sure they are fully cooked in the 15-17 minutes baking time.
- To make your egg wash, lightly beat one egg with 1 tbsp of water.
These handpies are the best thing that I have eaten that is gluten free. The pastry is light and flaky….and the filling heavenly!