TOFFEE APPLE HAND PIES

These yummy little things here have caused a bit of a conundrum, in that I didn’t know what they were. Well, I knew what they were, but I basically had to set up a plebiscite to decide what they were called.

It all goes back to last weekend when I went to this organic grocery store just around the corner from my house and got this toffee apple cake from their café. Well it was dry like a desert but the flavours were reeeeally good and cinnamony and very autumny. So I thought I’d bake something equally as autumny because it’s quite in fashion at the moment (heh), minus the I’m-eating-clay feel. And I went down the pastry route for some nice buttery flakiness. The buttery pastry nature of them would make me call them pasties, but as several interviewees pointed out, pasties are savoury and savoury only. Also they are kind of just like apple turnovers, however turnovers are triangular and these look much cuter right? So my very good friend Google came to help and it turns out these are a thing in America. These are called pies even though the pies I know look more like a wheel-shaped block of pig. But they are called pies the other side of the pond and they’re so little and cute and you eat them with your hands so there you go, hand pies. A Bonfire-night-meets-Halloween treat, I’m that international. For all my international fans (?) to enjoy.

TOFFEE APPLE HAND PIES

330g (2 ½ cups) plain flour

120g (½ cup) margarine, cold

120g (½ cup) vegetable fat, cold

1 tablespoon caster sugar

½ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons water, ice cold

Filling:

4 apples, chopped

100g (¾ cup) sultanas

3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon margarine

1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon

60g (¼ cup) sugar

1 tablespoon plain flour

8 vegan toffee caramels, chopped

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar and salt. Add the margarine and vegetable fat and cut them into the flour mixture using a fork until it gets all crumbly. Place the bowl in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Take it out and add the ice cold water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough sticks together. Knead for a minute then form it into a ball, wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for at least 1 hour. 

In the meantime prepare the filling by placing the chopped apples, sultanas, water, margarine, cinnamon and sugar in a pan over low heat. Cook until the apples are soft, stirring occasionally. Stir in the flour to absorb the excess liquid then remove from heat.

Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two cookie trays with parchment paper. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface and cut out as many circles as you can (I got 10). Spoon about a tablespoon of the filling onto half of each circle and add some chopped toffee, leaving a small border so that you can then fold the dough in half. Seal the edges pressing them down with a fork. Slightly cut the top of each pie for ventilation and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Cool on a rack then murder them like I did with the one in the picture above. Muhaha.