Mini Apple Pies
Mini apple pies are sweet handheld desserts you can make any time to enjoy festive fall and holiday flavors. These cute apple hand pies are a perfect addition to any holiday celebration!
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These adorable mini apple pies are everything you love about the classic dessert, just in a perfectly portioned, handheld version that both my sons say is so cute.
Because to them, little things are, “AWWW so cute!”
And for pies, they are pretty cute and sweet and perfect for parties, holiday tables, or just when you don’t feel like sharing because the same sons that call your pies cute also want to eat your pies.
Now I don’t have to share since they can each have their own!
Aside from being perfectly individually portioned so everyone gets their own to enjoy, they are also flaky, buttery, cinnamon spiced, and honestly kind of irresistible.
Ingredients and Kitchen Supplies
Here’s what you need for mini apple pies:
- Apples – You want to use Granny Smith, Cortland, or other crisp, tart apples for mini apple pies. You want to steer away from red delicious and other apples with a more mealy texture as they will not hold up as well as a filling.
- Brown Sugar – You can use whatever variety of brown sugar you like.
- Seasonings – You’ll need ground cinnamon and apple pie spice. You can purchase this or quickly make it using a few spices using our apple pie spice recipe here.
- Lemon Juice – This helps to keep the apples from browning.
- Corn Starch and Water – You use this to make a thickening slurry for the apple pie filling.
- Pie Crusts – You can make your own homemade pie crust recipe or get premade crusts found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.
- Egg and Water – You will need this to create an egg wash.
- Granulated Sugar – Optional. You can sprinkle on top of each pie if you like after adding the egg wash.
You don’t need any fancy equipment, but you will want to pull out your:
How to Make Mini Apple Pies
1. Prepare your apple pie filling.
For a more detailed explanation, you can find more information on making apple pie filling here.
To start, wash and peel your apples.
You can use a corer or a knife to cut the apples into wedges.
For mini apple pies, we also cut these into quarters, making bite-sized pieces.
Add the apples, lemon juice, spices, and brown sugar to a medium skillet set over medium heat.
Stirring frequently, saute the apples for about 5 minutes or until they start to soften and release their juices.
Mix equal parts water and cornstarch (2 tablespoons of each) together in a small bowl.
Pour it into the apples and mix to combine and then remove from heat.
Allow the apples to cool slightly before starting to create the mini pies.
2. Create the mini apple pies.
Start preheating your oven to 400 degrees now.
On a flat surface, roll out your pie dough or unroll your premade crust.
If you are using refridgerated crust, you will want to let it warm a little to make it a bit easier to unroll.
Use a large round cookie cutter, a fun shaped large cookie cutter like I did for these Pumpkin Hand Pies, or a knife and guide (like a mug or cup) to cut out uniform shapes from your pie crusts.
You will want two equal sized shapes per mini pie.
Two store bought pie crusts yield about 6 pies that are about 3 to 4 inches across.
Lay the bottom portion of the pie crust on the cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray and scoop about 1/4 cup of apple pie filling into the center, flattening it a bit.
Fill each bottom with about equal amounts of apple pie filling.
Before placing the tops on, use your rolling pin to roll out the tops just a little bit and a pastry brush to lightly dampen the edges of the bottom round with water.
They need a bit of extra width to cover the apples fully.
Place the tops over the filled bottoms and use a fork to press them together, creating a seal all the way around each of the mini apple pies.
Use a fork to poke holes in the top crust or use a knife to cut small slits.
Finally, whisk together an egg and water and brush the mixture on top of each pie.
Add a sprinkle of granulated sugar to the top of each pie.
3. Bake the mini pies.
Place the tray in the preheated oven and bake for 13 to 15 or until the apple pies have a turned golden brown and started to bubble out the center.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving as a snack, dessert, or with your favorite toppings.
Serving
Mini apple pies can be eaten with your hands if you like.
You may want to let them cool down a bit first since biting into one fresh out of the oven is like biting into a steaming Hot Pocket.
You can also serve them like a regular slice of apple pie with ice cream, whipped cream, or candied nuts on top.
They make for an easy afternoon snack for the kids when they get home from school or doing fall activities too.
If you like, warm them up a bit in the microwave or oven before serving.
Storing
To store, tightly wrap the pies in cling wrap or place cooled pies in an air tight container.
They should stay fresh in the fridge for about 3 to 5 days.
Freezing Instructions
You could also freeze both unbaked and baked and cooled pies for 3 to 6 months.
To freeze an unbaked pie assemble the pies up as directed, sealing and crimping the edges and poking holes in the top of the crust.
Don’t brush the pies with egg wash.
Then wrap each unbaked pie tightly with plastic wrap and put them in a freezer safe storage bag before freezing them.
Before baking the unbaked, frozen pies, allow them to thaw in the fridge overnight.
Bake them as you normally would once they thaw.
To freeze baked mini apple pies, bake them according to the directions.
Then let them cool completely.
Wrap the cooled pies in tightly in plastic wrap and put the wrapped pies in a freezer safe bag.
Thaw the baked frozen pies before serving.
Heating them is optional but recommend prior to serving thawed frozen pies.
Tips and Tricks
- Warm stored pies in the oven or microwave for a few minutes or seconds, respectively. This helps to give them a fresh from the oven taste.
- Ovens can vary in how hot they get. You may need to adjust the bake time if it is cooking too fast or not fully baked when the timer goes off.
- Want to make these as easy possible? Use storebought pie filling but give it a rough chop before you fill the pies.
- You can skip the egg wash if you want, but it does give the pies a golden-brown sheen.
- A homemade crust has a richer, more buttery flavor compared to store bought, but store bought is often easier to work with.
Other Apple Dessert Recipes
Looking for other apple desserts? Try these:
- Baked Stuffed Apples
- Easy Apple Crumble Recipe
- Instant Pot Stuffed apples
- Apple Cider Donuts (with Cake Mix)
- Easy Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls
- Apple Cider Bundt Cake
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Equipment
- 1 corer
- 1 peeler
Ingredients
- 4-5 small apples (about 6 bigger apples)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 tablespoons water
- 1 double pie crust (the kind from the refrigerated section of the grocery store or a homemade recipe for 2 pie crusts)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water (for an egg wash)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Wash, peel, and core the apples.
- Slice the wedges into 3 to 4 pieces.
- Add the apples, spices, lemon juice, and brown sugar to a medium skillet set over medium heat.
- Cook for about 5 minutes or until the apples begin to soften and release their juices.
- Whisk together 2 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of corn starch in a small bowl and mix into the apples.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before assembling the pies.
- Roll out your pie crusts on a flat surface.
- Using a mug or cup as a guide, cut 12 rounds out of the pie crust. You will need to smoosh the scraps together and roll them out again, but you should get about 12 total rounds. You could also use cookie cutters to make fun shapes or to make even circles if you have round ones.
- Lay 6 or half of the pie crust rounds on a prepared cookie sheet. Spraying with non-stick spray can help prevent it from sticking.
- Scoop about a 1/4 cup of apple pie filling into the center of each pie. If this seems to much, you can take some out or if it is too little, you can add more. You will likely have extra apple pie filling left when done. In either case, you want to leave some room around the edges so you can seal them.
- For the tops, roll each out slightly to make it a bit wider.
- Use a pastry brush to lightly dampen the edges of the bottom apple pies.
- Place the slightly larger pie crust round over top of each filled bottom. You should be able to push the top and bottom pie crust together.
- Use a fork to press the edges together to create a seal.
- Once you seal all the mini pies, use a knife to cut one to two slices in the top of each to vent the steam or use a fork to cut a few holes in the center.
- Before baking, whisk an egg and 1 tablespoon of water to create a wash.
- Using pastry brush, brush the end wash over the tops and sprinkle with sugar as desired.
- Place them in the oven and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until they turn golden brown.
- Allow them to cool for a few minutes before serving.
