With colder days ahead, these little apple and blackberry hand pies are a perfect snack to enjoy! Gently spiced, fruity filling wrapped in a crisp, flaky and buttery pastry. Easy, fuss-free recipe, great to make any day of the week!
What is a hand pie?
If you never heard of, or made a hand pie, you are up for a treat! The clue is in the name, it's a pie that fits in your hand!
They are small, individual pies with sweet or savoury filling, wrapped in pastry. Today, I will be sharing a sweet version of this super-easy treat, which makes it a perfect 'grab and go' dessert!
Hand pies can be served warm or cold, they don't require any fancy equipment to make, and you don't even need any plates or utensils to serve them!
You can watch this Reel on my Instagram to see how easy it is to make these!
Gently spiced filling of apples and blackberries
Since my spiced apple and blackberry cupcakes, I really have been enjoying this flavour combo so much, I decided to have another recipe featuring it.
The mix of apples with cinnamon and juicy blackberries is just full of warming, aromatic and fragrant flavours, which we all love at this time of the year.
Simple ingredients
What makes this recipe super easy and convenient is the fact that it only requires 7 basic ingredients. You probably already have most of them in your kitchen cupboards!
To keep it super simple, these pies are made with ready-made shortcrust pastry, which is great, especially if you don't have time to make your own.
When it comes to apples, I would recommend to use cooking apples variety. As explained in my previous post, these apples are more acidic and tarter in taste. Once cooked, they have soft and jammy texture, perfect to be used as a filling.
For the blackberries, you can use fresh or frozen ones. If using frozen, there is no need to thaw them before.
Tips for cutting the pastry
When using the shop-bought, ready rolled pastry, it's important to follow the instructions provided on the packet.
Make sure to remove your pastry sheets from the fridge and bring them to room temperature. I normally take mine out about 30 minutes before.
Unroll the pastry sheets gently, leaving them on the baking sheet/ paper provided. Use a round pastry cutter (10 cm in diameter works perfect here), or an upside down ramekin or a glass with similar diameter to cut your circles.
Remember to save any off-cuts of the remaining pastry for the decoration (leafes and stalks of the apples). If pastry becomes too soft to work with, simply return it to the fridge for 10- 15 minutes.
Once you've shaped your pies into apples and brushed them with some egg wash, make sure to allow the to chill for at least 30 minutes- 1 hour. I like to leave mine in the fridge overnight.
How do I know when my pies are ready?
Bake them for about 20- 25 minutes until pastry is golden brown. You know they're ready when the juices from the filling are bubbling and oozing out through the steam hole (handy tip- use a straw to poke a steam hole on top of pies).
Sprinkle the pies with some caster sugar and serve with a dollop of cream or custard.
Can this recipe be made ahead?
Yes it can! You can prepare your spiced apple and blackberry pies up to a step 5. At this point you can store them in the fridge for up to 24 hours, or you can freeze them.
If freezing, wrap each hand pie in some kitchen wrap, then place in the zip lock bag or air-tight container. Just like my spiced apple and pumpkin hand pies, they can be frozen for up to 3 months. If baking from frozen, add an extra 5-10 minutes to the baking time.
As always, a massive thank you for tuning into today's post! Remember that you can also follow me on my social media channels: Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.
Feel free to leave me a comment and a rating, if you tried this, or any other of my recipes. I would love to hear from you!
📖 Recipe
Spiced apple and blackberry hand pies
Equipment
- large baking sheet
- 10 cm round pastry cutter
- pastry brush
Ingredients
- 2 medium cooking apples peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces
- 50 g golden caster sugar
- 150 g blackberries fresh or frozen
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 320g shortcrust pastry sheets
- 1 small egg beaten
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
Instructions
- Place the apples in a small saucepan, add golden caster sugar and 2 tablespoon of water. Cover with lid and cook for about 6-8 minutes until the apples are soft. Tip the cooked apples into a shallow dish, spread out to cool a bit.
- In a small bowl, mix together the cornflour, honey and cinnamon until you have a smooth paste. Add blackberries into cooled apple chunks and drizzle with cinnamon and honey paste. Mix it all together gently.
- Unroll the pastry sheets, then using the 10 cm pastry cutter (or a ramekin or a glass of similar diameter), cut out 12 circles. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the fruit filling onto half of the pastry circles, leaving about 1 cm border. Brush some of the egg wash around the edges and place the plain pastry disc on top to encase the filling. Using your fingers, create a small dent in the top and the bottom to form an apple shape.
- Seal the edges of the pies all the way around, using the prongs of a fork. Brush each pie with egg wash. Use any pastry off-cuts to cut out little leafs and stalks, then stick them on with some more of the egg wash. Poke a steam hole in top of each pie with a skewer.
- Transfer the pies into a baking sheet and chill in the fridge for about an hour, or overnight. The pies can also be frozen up to 3 months at this point.
- Heat the oven to 200 C (180 C fan). Bake the pies for 20 minutes, or until golden and the filling is bubbling through the steam holes. If cooking from frozen, allow extra 5-10 minutes to bake.
- Sprinkle the pies with the caster sugar and serve with a dollop of cream or custard.
Please note that all my recipes are developed and tested in metric grams. I recommend that you use digital scales for a more accurate results. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Notes
- if you don't have 10 cm round pastry cutter, you can use an upside down ramekin or a glass with similar diameter
- If making ahead: follow the recipe up to step 5. The pies can be stored in the fridge for up 24 hours, or frozen for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
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Marit says
Made these with blueberries instead, most supermarkets here in the Netherlands doesn’t sell blackberries this time of year. Still very good! Also very easy and fun to make
Toni says
These were so good! Thanks for the recipe!
Anna says
Pleasure all mine. Glad you enjoyed them Toni!
Kayla DiMaggio says
These hand pies are such a fun dessert! I loved the taste of the spiced apples and the blackberries together!
Anna says
Hi Kayla, thanks so much for this positive review, I'm glad you enjoyed these pies!
kerri says
These are gorgeous! I love the apple and blackberry flavor profile. I will never say no to a hand pie!!
Jamie says
These look exquisite and just the kinds of treats I love in the fall! It made my house smell absolutely delicious and they were a huge hit with my family. I definitely recommend trying them. Thank you!
Anna says
Thank you so much for this positive review Jamie! I'm so happy to read that you and your family enjoyed these hand pies!
Nicole says
Confession: I've never baked with blackberries before. This recipe might just have to be my inaugural run, especially since apples are in season, too. Love the shortcut with using store-bought crust. I personally love store bought pastry cause it makes it so much easier to feed friends and family. Also, can we talk about how cute the shape of these are?! Love everything about this!
Anna says
Aww thanks so much Nicole, if you never baked with blackberries, you must! They turn into this lovey, jammy texture, perfect with apples!
Sam says
Ok these apple hand pies look amazing! I am so excited fall is here for all the fall baking I am about to do. Starting with this one. Can't wait!
Anna says
Yay! I'm so happy to hear that Sam, let me know how did you get on!
Jacqueline Debono says
I love how you’ve given your pies an apple shape, so cute! I really want to do the same. I’ve loved apple and blackberry pie since I was a kid but have never made it as hand pies. On my to make list!
Anna says
Thank you Jacqueline, it's such an easy and fun recipe, let me know if you make them!
Alex says
The steam holes result in a cool effect. Very nice! Blackberries are something I need to bake with. I should give these a try!
Anna says
I love baking with blackberries, they create this delicious, jammy texture, which is utterly delicious! Hope you will try some time soon!
Erin says
What a great idea to use pastry sheets! That must save a ton of time. While I love hand pies, I don’t love making crust so that solves me problem. Love these photos, by the way! So gorgeous.
Anna says
Thanks Erin! Yup, using the ready-rolled pastry saves soo much time and hassle! Super happy that you like the recipe and the photos!
jenny says
These apple hand pies look so good and delicious. I can't resist them, have to make them asap! Thanks so much for sharing such a beautiful recipe.
Anna says
You're welcome Jenny, it is such an easy and delicious recipe, perfect to make and enjoy on a rainy day!
Amy Liu Dong says
This look so good and a tasty snacks to make for my loved ones today. Yum!
Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Anna says
Pleasure all mine Amy, I hope you will get around to make these soon!
Shelley says
These are just so absolutely gorgeous, Anna! Adorable little apple shapes! Thanks for all the terrific tips along the way, especially about working with the pastry - to ensure mine turn out exactly as perfect as yours!
Anna says
Pleasure all mine Shelley! I hope you will enjoy these little hand pies as much as I did!