Hand over the pie please

Hand over the pie please...punny right? These rustic apple hand pies are the result of my itch to randomly bake something at 11:00 a.m. yesterday morning. 

I had a couple granny smith apples sitting around so I knew I wanted to incorporate them into something. As I've mentioned before I'm kind of a lazy baker. I hate having to go to the store to buy only a few ingredients so I usually only make recipes I already have everything for, or I just adapt the recipe to fit what I have on hand. 

I used my grandmother's crust recipe and then some cinnamon apples to whip these guys up!

My attempts add "food styling." Not quite sure how my efforts turned out.

My grandmother taught me how to make her pie crust when I was probably about 7 years old. I vividly remember the night she was babysitting me and taught me the recipe. She told me how this was my dad's favorite thing. She always thought he loved her pies, but later found out it was really the crust he loved. She started making just the crust and would roll it up with some cinnamon sugar to make little bites of pie crust!

The best way to combine the dough is with a pastry cutter, but if you don't have a pastry cutter you can do it the way my g-ma taught me. You use two dinner knives and cut through the mixture until a dough starts to form. Then use your hands to continue to combine it.

The recipe calls for 4-5 tablespoons of water, it's a pretty dry dough, but just add until you feel it is the right consistency and starts to come together.

I used about a 4 1/2 inch cookie cutter but anything that is round and about that size will work to cut out the crust. 

I could eat that whole bowl of cinnamon apples before they even make it inside the crust. When we make our apple pie on Thanksgiving we make sure to cut up enough apples to have some leftover for snacking on!

Fold 'em over and pinch 'em up! (the crust ripped a little bit, no worries, that's why we call them "rustic")

Rustic Apple Hand Pies
makes 8 pies 

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (can use all whole wheat or all, all-purpose I just like the combo)
1/2 cup shortening or 8 tablespoons
1/4 teaspoon salt
4-5 tablespoons of cold water

For the filling:
1 large granny smith apple, chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons sugar, extra for dusting
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 egg, whisked for the egg wash

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Combine crust ingredients, starting off with only a couple tablespoons of water. Add more as you go. Using a pastry cutter or knives, cut through the shortening to combine. Once you have a dough consistency dump it out onto a floured surface. Roll pretty thin, about 1/8-1/4 inch thick.

Using a cookie cutter or something circular about 4 1/2 inches in diameter cut through the dough. Place on a greased cookie sheet.

Chop apples and add cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice. Only about a tablespoon of filling will fit in each pie. Fold the crust in half and using a fork pinch the edges together. Fork the top or cut a few slits in the dough to allow steam to release when baking. 

Brush the tops with an egg wash, sprinkle with a little bit of sugar, and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Enjoy these for a yummy afternoon snack or an easy way to fix your itch to bake, like myself! I'd have to experiment, but I'm sure any fruit would be delicious in these! 

Annie