This Healthy Hand Held Apple Pie Recipe will remind you of a Copy Cat McDonald's Apple Hand Pie Recipe . These delicious cinnamon apple pies are going to satisfy that craving for something sweet while being a whole lot healthier! They are baked instead of fried, we use fresh apples instead of apple pie filling, we make our own homemade vegan pie dough, and even made ours without added sugar by using Purecane Sugar Substitute. Big thanks to purecane for sponsoring this recipe!
What Are Apple Hand Pies?
These healthy apple hand pies are basically an apple pie made for on-the-go! They are handheld; perfect for parties or traveling! If you've ever had one of the mini apple pies from McDonald's, these will remind you of those tasty little apple cinnamon treats. But, because they are vegan, gluten-free friendly, baked (not fried), and use more wholesome ingredients - they're a lot healthier. Everyone will love these delicious healthy apple hand pies and no one will believe how easy they are to make!
Healthy Apple Hand Pie Ingredients
- Vegan Apple Pie Dough: To make the vegan apple pie dough for these mini McDonald's style healthy apple pies, you will need some non-dairy milk, maple syrup, melted vegan butter or coconut oil, baking powder, and all purpose flour.
- To make gluten-free mini apple pies, use gluten-free all purpose flour. We recommend using King Arthur Measure for Measure. To make the dough more elastic, add two tablespoons of non-dairy yogurt to the dough. If you are not gluten-free, use regular all purpose flour for the dough.
- If you are not vegan or dairy-free, feel free to use regular milk and butter.
- Apples: You may use any apples you desire in this recipe, but personally, we prefer using honey crisp apples. Be sure to slice them as thinly as you can.
- Cinnamon: Cinnamon makes these truly taste just like McDonald's Apple Pies!
- Sugar: Use organic cane sugar or purecane sugar substitute to sweeten these hand held apple pies.
- Butter: Melted vegan butter or coconut oil is used to give these mini apple pies a lovely and flakey golden texture and rich taste! If you are not vegan or dairy-free, feel free to use regular butter.
How To Make Homemade Apple Hand Pies
Step 1: After you've preheated the oven. Form the dough by mixing the almond milk, melted vegan butter, maple syrup, baking powder, and flour together. Once a dough forms, use a rolling pin to roll it out onto a floured surface.
Step 2: Cut the dough into ¼ inch thick rectangles and place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with melted vegan butter.
Step 3: Top each apple hand pie with thinly sliced apples, sprinkle with sugar, and cinnamon.
Step 4: Cut the scraps of dough that are leftover into strips and place them neatly over each hand pie. Brush the top with butter and then bake in the oven until the healthy apple pies are golden.
Step 5: Drizzle the top of the healthy apple pies with icing or enjoy them as they are. They are best served warm!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, absolutely! You can skip the homemade dough in this recipe and pick up some store-bought pizza or pastry dough at the grocery store. Just be sure to read the ingredients label to ensure they meet your dietary needs.
We recommend storing these healthy apple pies in the fridge for 2-3 days and reheating in the toaster oven or microwave before serving. They really are best served warm!
Yes! My open-faced healthy apple pie recipe can be found in my cookbook!
Hand Held Apple Pies
Equipment
- baking sheet
- Rolling Pin
- Large Mixing Bowl
- knife
- pastry brush
- parchment paper
Ingredients
Healthy Hand Held Apple Pies Dough
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or oat milk at room temperature
- ¼ cup melted vegan butter or melted coconut oil
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 ½ cup regular or gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon plain unsweetened non-dairy yogurt only needed if using gluten-free flour
Healthy Apple Pies Filling
- 2 medium sized honey crisp apples sliced thin
- ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon melted vegan butter or melted coconut oil
- 4 tablespoon regular cane sugar or 2 tablespoon purecane sugar substitute
Apple Pie Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar or purecane powdered sugar substitute
- 1 tablespoon almond or oat milk plus more for thinning
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon melted vegan butter
Instructions
How To Make Healthy Hand Held Apple Pies
- Begin by preheating the oven to 375. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, prepare the apple hand pie dough by first mixing the room temperature almond or oat milk with the melted vegan butter or coconut oil. Then, add the maple syrup, vanilla, and baking powder. Mix until it is fully combined and then add the flour. Mix until a thick dough is formed. If you are using gluten-free flour in your dough, add the non-dairy yogurt now. If you are using regular all purpose flour, proceed to the next step.
- Once the dough is formed, place it onto a floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a thin slab (about ¼ inch thick).
- Cut the dough into about 12 rectangles. You will have scraps of dough leftover, set these aside. Place the rectangles onto the lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of each hand pie with melted vegan butter.
- Top each rectangle with 3 or 4 thinly sliced apple slices (as thin as you can get them). Sprinkle about a teaspoon of cane sugar or ½ teaspoon of purecane sugar substitute on top of the apples. Then, sprinkle generously with cinnamon.
- Take your scraps of dough and roll them into a ball. Place them back onto the floured surface and roll them out into a square shape (about ¼ inch thick). Then, use your knife to cut the dough into ½ inch thick strips and place them neatly on top of each hand pie. Use the images above for reference.
- Brush the top of each hand pie with a little more melted vegan butter and then bake them in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden.
- While the healthy apple hand pies are baking, option to make the frosting by mixing the powdered sugar, almond milk, vanilla, and melted vegan butter together. If the icing is too thick to drizzle, add another tablespoon of almond milk.
- To give the healthy apple hand pies more color, broil them for 1 minute at the end. Serve warm. Option to drizzle with icing before serving. Icing is not factored into the nutritional content.
Nutrition
The recipes on Peanut Butter and Jilly can easily be adapted to fit a vegan lifestyle, a gluten-free lifestyle, or both depending on the ingredients you use. Please review the ingredients lists carefully and refer to our recommendations in the Notes of the recipe card to make this recipe compatible with your needs. Nutrition information provided is an estimate, and will vary based on specific brands of ingredients used and cooking methods.
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