Apple of My Eye: Mini Eye Apple Hand Pies for National Apple Pie Day

Today is National Apple Pie Day, so I thought it would be fun to make some apple hand pies to celebrate. Similar in vibe to the hand pies I made a while back.

And to make things more interesting, I made them into eye shapes, to play off of ‘apple of my eye’. The jury is still out on how crazy this makes me. But either way, they taste delicious. Which is really all that matters right?

So, I’ll stop blabbing and just get right to it. Here’s how to make mini eye apple hand pies for National Apple Pie Day…

Ingredients

-store-bought pie crust
-3 lbs apples (I used a mix of granny smith and pink lady)
-4 tbsp unsalted butter
-1/2 cup light brown sugar
-1/4 tsp cinnamon
-1/4 tsp salt
-2 tsp lemon juice
-1 tsp corn starch
-1 egg white
-1 tbsp water
-granulated sugar
-honey

Youll also need:

8 quart stock pot or cast iron pot // baking sheet // heat-safe spatula // prep bowls // pastry brush

Instructions:

1. In a prep bowl, combine the lemon juice and corn starch. Set aside.

2. Peel and dice your apples into small (about 1/2″) cubes. Set aside.

3. In another prep bowl, combine the egg white and water and whisk to combine. Set aside.

4. Over medium-low heat, melt the butter in the pot. Add the butter, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine.

5. Add the diced apples to the pot. Stir them occasionally and watch for doneness. You’ll want them to be fork tender, but not mushy. This step will take about 15 minutes.

6. Once the apples are ready, reduce the heat to low. Stir up the corn starch mixture and slowly add it to the apples. Cook the mixture, while stirring, for about a minute.

7. Once the juices from the apples have thickened slightly, remove the pot from the heat and let the mixture cool.

8. Meanwhile, create your pie shapes. For these apple-of-my-pie eyes, I cut out two eye shapes and a circle shape for each pie. I created one eye shape and then traced it for the remaining eye-shaped pieces. For the circle pieces, I traced a tiny plate. Once all my shapes were cut out, I then filled the eye shapes with the apples. To close them, I pressed the bottom edge with my finger and the top edge with a fork to make eyelashes. I then poked a small hole in the middle for venting (which will later be covered with the circle shape).

9. Use the pastry brush to lightly brush all of the pie shapes, including the circles, with the egg wash. While the egg wash is still wet, sprinkle with granulated sugar.

10. Now it’s time to bake. The circle shapes will be baked first. These will be quick, so keep an EYE (ha ha) on them. These will take about 5 minutes. Then bake the hand pies. These should take about 15 minutes. Once they are completely cooled, use a dab of honey to stick the circles onto the pies, covering the vent.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or by itself.

Recipe creation by Linda Jednaszewski
Concept, photography, and styling by Brittni Mehlhoff

Apple pie is one of my favorites. But if it’s not your thing, you can always try this limited-ingredient blueberry filling instead. Just as good.