It’s National Pi Day, and to celebrate – I made French apple hand pies! For those who are unfamiliar, French apple pie is a combination of apples and raisins, with a glaze on top. These tiny pies can be eaten in about four bites – it’s like pie without the guilt!
The crust:
- 2 2/3 cups of all purpose flour
- 2 sticks of very cold butter, cut up into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup ice water
The filling:
- 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into small chunks
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
- 1 egg white, beaten
The glaze:
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
- Put flour, butter, and salt in a food processor with a metal blade pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water until the dough begins to clump together. Form into 2 balls, wrap each in plastic wrap, working dough into flat discs. Refrigerate for an hour.
- In a medium sauce pan, combine apples, raisins, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt over medium low heat, stirring occasionally until the apples begin to soften. Remove from heat, and stir in flour. Set aside and let cool.
- Preheat oven to 425º. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to an 1/8″ thick. With a 3″ cookie cutter, cut out circles. Scoop out a tablespoon of filling in the center of a disk, top with a second circle. Pinch the edges together, fold over and press down with the tines of a fork. Pierce the top with a fork to let steam release. Repeat with the rest of the circles, rolling the scraps to make more circles.
- Place hand pies on a parchment lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk the confectioner’s sugar and milk until smooth. Drizzle over the pies.
