Monday, March 25, 2013

Apple Hand Pies – Crimping is Easy

I’ve been playing around with a new pastry dough, and figured I’d use it as an excuse for a little demo on turnovers, or “hand pies” as the hipsters are calling them.

I’ll unveil the new “buttercrust” dough next week, but this particular video is not about the pastry, or the filling, it’s about the fairly basic method for folding and crimping one of these up.

As you’ll see, it’s not exactly a complicated procedure. In fact, I can’t imagine your aunt is going to be too thrilled to know that you’ll be able to now match her crimp for crimp. Once you have the outside down, what goes inside should be the least of your worries.

I went for a very soft, apple-saucy, jam-like filling, which turned out very well, but literally any of your favorite pie fillings, both sweet and savory, will work. If you do make an apple version, and want to really blow some minds, top your filling with a thin slice of sharp cheddar. It’s special. I hope you give this easy technique a try soon. Enjoy!


For 4 Apple Hand Pies:
about 1 pound pie dough, divided into 4
egg wash (1 egg beaten with 2 tsp milk)
granulated sugar as needed
For the apple filling:
2 tbsp butter, browned
2 or 3 green apples
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, or to taste
1 or 2 tsp of water if needed

55 comments:

Unknown said...

Any chance you will post the buttercrust recipe before Easter? I'd love to try it out in my strawberry mascarpone tart that I'm making for Easter.

Roberto said...

At the 4:20 min. mark you could have said, "For you viewers who are not afraid to die and prefer a little "spice of danger", you can plunge the crimped pie into hot (350F) grease (preferably lard made from big fat pigs or Crisco made from big fat vegetables) until golden brown. You then have a classic fried pie."

Billy said...

Will any apples work, or only certain ones? I'm fairly enamored with New Zealand Jazz apples!

Chef John said...

any will work for this, but crisp tart apples work best.

Unknown said...

That looks so good! Handling pie crust is just one of those things I thought I might never master. Definitely going to give this a try. I wonder if the leftover Guinness Beef stew I have in the freezer would be a good savoury filling...?

BennuBird said...

You are an evil butter dough tease and I love you for it! Can not wait until next week.

Joel said...

I was waiting for, "You are the pimp, of your crimp".

Casey said...

Hand pies! Brings tears to the eyes. Goes straight to thighs. Gotta exercise...

Byron said...

Traditional Southern filling for hand pies are reconstituted dried apples slices. Using dried fruit gives the filling a nice concentrated sweetness.

Unknown said...

Chef John, I made those today and, well, I only have one thing to tell you: OH MY GOD! just oh my God. I think you know what that means :D

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Can i use a regular blender for the dough ??

Arturo said...

Added Calvados (apple brandy) to my filling. Spruces it up!

Anders Lund said...

Made these yesterday for a couple of friends of mine and it was a big hit! Used your new dough recipe and almost followed this easy pie filling.

Thank you. This is not the last time I make Apple Hand Pies. :)

Appreciator said...

Hey there Chef John!
Love your videos to death. Wondering it's possible to omit or replace the butter in this recipe. And if so, for what?

I want to make them for my sister who just had a C-section and she simply cannot stand butter.
:)

Chef John said...

No, butter is mandatory here. I'd use another pie crust recipe!

Appreciator said...

Thanks! Made the hand pies and they're wonderful!

TeeTot said...

CHEF JOHN U R THE BEST!! MY WHOLE FAMILY IS MAKING HAND PIES & FOLLOWING FOODWISHES!! BON APETITE

S/V Blondie-Dog said...

Hey Chef!

I'll have ya' know 'dat I done made me 'sum apple hand pies and 'dat dey' be delicious served along wit' sum' Pistachio Almond icecream!

Yippers! I now be a fine pastry chef thanks to you!

Thanks!

Dessy said...

Chef John, this is great! I love all your videos. I will definitely try this one! Thank you :)

Unknown said...

Hello Chef John,

How much acv and how much ice water for the buttery pie crust, I need to know exactly so I can get it right the first time? Thanks

Chef John said...

Here is the link for the buttercrust dough. It doesn't have any acv. http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2013/03/buttercrust-pastry-dough-good-friday-or.html

Here is our basic pie crust which uses water and acv http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2010/03/easy-homemade-pie-crust-now-with-50.html

Unknown said...

I have a ton of apples and would love to make these hand pies and freeze them. Will it work, and if so how long should I cook them from frozen?

Unknown said...

I have a ton of apples...could I make these hand pies up until the egg wash stage & freeze them? If so, how long would I cook them from frozen? Thanks.

Chef John said...

I'm sure you could, but no idea how long they'd take to bake. You'll know when they are done.

Las chicas Le Creuset said...

Yesterday I tried this recipe and for sure is the best, the taste is fantastic, the dough wasn't easy to make, but maybe was for my procesor. But once I have it everything was easy.
Definitely I will repeat. Thanks a lot !!!

AnonymFunderare said...

I just tried this, and it was amazing. It was flaky and moist at the same time! I did a small pie just to myself, to test it out. But it ended up with me going around the house and forcing everyone to try a bit of the "awesome crust, its like magic", my gran made me promise to do a pie in the weekend aftwe trying the crust.

Jackie Reynolds said...

I have always been complimented on my pies and my crust. I have made these twice now and I am in disbelief! This crust is the absolute BEST! The pies are so much fun to make. It was suggested that I make smaller ones so will try that next. THANK YOU!!!

Jackie Reynolds said...

I made these again, only I made 8 instead of 4. They turned out absolutely great.
Again, Chef john, you are simply the best.
Jackie

Vickylicous said...

I made these today and they turned out great! Thanks for the awesome recipe, especially for the pie crust recipe. Gonna share them with some friends later today. Love from Germany!

Unknown said...

If I choose not to cook the apples first, does the recipe change?

Chef John said...

Yes, it will change! Cook the Apple's first.

chefcammie said...

Unfortunately, I don't have a food processor, so I can't make your buttercrust pastry dough. Do you think this filling would work well in puff pastry?

Chef John said...

You have "Chef" in your name! You don't need a FP! Just cut in the butter with a wire pastry blender, a fork, or your finger tips! But yes, filling good in anything.

Ahmad A said...

Thanks for the delicious recipe for your butter crust. I made it and it was delicious and crispy, but my dough wasn't round enough so the crimped edges were a little too thick in the middle. Therefore, it wasn't consistently crusty. But it was my first time!

Chef John said...

Yes I prefer that apple, but it could be you need to cook longer!

ibadukefan said...

Can you fry these instead of baking? What would the result be?

ibadukefan said...

I didn't wait, I fried a few. The results were about the same as baking, strangely enough.

Unknown said...

Made the buttercrust today and used it to make cherry handpies.
Tasted scrumptious!
Most difficult crust I've ever worked with. Getting the water right is a screamer. I actually ended up with abt. 10 tbs. of ice water and it was still too dry to work. It was a very low humidity day, and I realize this affected the flour
Will definitly do this again.

Unknown said...

My mind is spinning...three levels of crust security, that's genius! Why have a never heard of this all my life?! I apprenticed with my grandma in the kitchen, I've watched every conceivable cooking show, and that has never come up. That should be in kitchen hacks 101. (If you've got any other good ones, please consider creating a remix video.)

Unknown said...

Hello Chef John, first of all Happy New Year, second, but not last, :-), thank you so much for this recipe, i'm not really good at cooking, but you made it so simple that….. it came out great :-) I just made a little mistake because i rolled the dough a little too thin cause i had made too much filling, but anyway, my turnovers were still delicious. Thanks again, and keep up the great work.

Unknown said...

Hello Chef John, it's me again, i have one question. As you say, crimping is easy, to be honest when i finish working on my turnover it's really pretty, even more beautiful than yours :-) (please don't be jealous) but then…. something nasty happens in the oven, and when i take it out there's no crimping anymore. :-( Do you have any idea what do i do wrong? Can it be the type of flour? I live in Italy, and here the all purpose can have a protein content that ranges from 8,5 to 10,5. What % of proteins do you suggest? By the way, even without the crimping, they are delicious, thanks

Chef John said...

It's not the flour, it's you! ;)

You probably need to make larger, deeper crimps so they stay visible after baking.

Unknown said...

We'll see. :-) Thank you again

Jennifer A said...

why oh why don't you post a real recipe? I can't watch videos in my kitchen and need to print a recipe. It's quite frustrating to try and extrapolate a written recipe from a video. Help a girl out Chef John!!

Unknown said...

I have made these more than 20 times. EVERYONE loves them. I've also used the dough to make empanadas and other meat pies. Never once has the dough not come out perfectly. Having the little chunks of butter is key, having everything cold is key, the ice water is key, and more than anything, not overmixing it but ending up with a crumbly mix that comes together when gathered up. Over processing and over handling of the day will kill it. Just follow the videos or recipes exactly and you'll end up with a product exactly as Chef Johns. By the way, every recipe that I've made of Chef Johns has come out exactly perfect every time. He is the absolute best and my go-to Chef for answers and recipes.

Unknown said...

Love your videos! There's something so great and easy to follow about them. Also you're hilarious! I just made and froze 40 (yes 40!!!!) Hand pies made with your crust and filled with cheese and pepperoni to make little pizza pockets. Thanks!!

BeautyRaceHorse said...

Dear Chef John, YOU ROCK MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thoroughly enjoy watching all your videos. You make "the impossible" seem "possible." God bless and I will be watching for new stuff. Again, Many, many thanks!

Unknown said...

Hi Chef John! I made these today and my crust wasn't right. I used your recipe but it came out crumbly. I poured it and squeezed it together but they kept falling apart. It eventually came together but then when I rolled them out, they were breaking up around the sides. What did I do wrong?

Chef John said...

it was simply too dry! Measurements are never going to be exact with doughs, so you need to be able to add a few more drops of water, until it stays together. Good luck!

Joey McDaniel said...

These turned out wonderfully, thank you!

Unknown said...

Hello Chef John,

My husband and I are in love with your food vids. He made these hand pies last week. Sooo goood! We want to can the filling and sent to loved ones for Christmas. Any idea if the filling is cannable? Thanks.

Susan Dean said...

As expected, another amazing recipe by Chef John. You never let me down. Although, mine were not perfect looking, they tasted amazing.

Unknown said...

This is not a comment so much as a question, but is it possible to double the recipe? And if so, how?

Unknown said...

I have made these a couple of times using my favirite pie crust recipe (jyst about the same as yours) and they are beautiful and delicious!