It is almost Halloween and that means all things fun and spooky and these Caramel Apple Jack-o’-Lantern hand pies fit right in. They are so much fun to make and of course, even more fun to eat. Your family and friends are going to love these! They are a little labor intense but you can totally take shortcuts using a couple of store bought ingredients or making things ahead of time just like I did.
What you need to make Caramel Apple Jack-o’-Lantern Pies
Caramel Sauce:
Sugar,butter, heavy cream and salt.
Pie crust:
Flour, butter, sugar, cold water
For the Apple Filling:
Granny Smith apples, cornstarch, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt
Egg wash and additional sugar to sprinkle at the end.
Helpful tips and tricks:
The best tip is to make the caramel sauce and the pie crust ahead of time, just keep them both in the refrigerator (make sure the caramel sauce is not longer hot) until you are ready to make the pies.
I cut out all the pumpkin shapes and carved out the jack-o-lantern faces as I was assembling the pies but there’s not right or wrong way to do it. Just whatever works better for you. If you feel like the dough is no longer chilled place it back in the refrigerator for a couple of minutes.
It is normal if some caramel sauce oozes out of the pies. Make sure the pies have enough egg wash and are tightly sealed and most of the filling will stay in.
Caramel Apple Pies/ Jack-o-Lantern
Ingredients
- -For the Caramel Sauce-
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 tablespoon of butter, divide into tablespoons
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- -For the Pie Crust-
- 2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 sticks butter (cold and cut in small pieces)
- iced water
- -For the apple filling-
- 1 to 1 1/2 lb granny smith apples (about 2 medium)
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch nutmeg
- 1 egg + 1 tbsp water for egg wash
- sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Make the caramel sauce: In a sauce pan, add the sugar and turn the heat to medium low. Using a wooden spoon stir the sugar several times. The sugar will clump up and eventually melt turning into a light amber color. Be careful not to burn it or the caramel will be bitter.
- Lower the heat and add the butter, be careful as it will bubble up! stir constantly until is all melted.
- Return the heat to medium and cook for 5 more minutes. Slowly add the heavy cream and stir constantly until all the heavy cream has been incorporated. Let it cook for one more minute. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Make the Pie crust: In a food processor add the flour, sugar, salt, and pulse a few times until combined.
- Add the butter and pulse a few time until the butter is in small bits the size of peas.
- With the food processor running add the cold water a tablespoon at a time until the dough starts to come together.
- Transfer to a floured surface and form into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least .30 min.
- Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Peel the apples and remove the core. Dice the apples into about 1/4″ pieces and transfer to a bowl.
- Add the cornstarch, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix until the apples all completely cover with the spice mix. Set aside.
- On a floured surface, roll the dough out and cut out the pumpkin shape (I used a 3.82x4x1″) Transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
- Add about 1/2 tablespoon of the caramel sauce to one pumpkin cut out and top with 1 tablespoon of the apple filling. Brush the edges around the filling with the egg wash. Using a paring knife, .cut out the jack-o-lantern face on a second pumpkin cutout and place it on top. Press down around the edge with a fork to seal the hand pie.
- Transfer to a prepared baking sheet and repeat with the rest of the cut outs.
- Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. You should end up with 8-10 hand pies.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let the hand pies cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before removing.
- Enjoy!
