Air Fryer Hand Pies

Air fryer hand pies are such a fun portable dessert or snack and they couldn’t be easier to make! Choose your favorite fruit filling.

At a glance

What stands out: Fun and playful, and straightforward to customize!

How long it takes: about 15 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: air fryer, rolling pin, round cutter (biscuit cutter)
Servings: 6

Imagine crisp, flaky pastry surrounding a warm fruit filling in a straightforward hand-held dessert. Or maybe we should call it a snack since it’s casual. Yet you could serve these pies on a dessert plate with a scoop of ice cream for a pretty fabulous dessert.

These hand pies remind us of camping. Have you ever made fry pies in a hot camp fire, using buttered bread slices and pie filling? Squishing them together between the two halves of the cast iron fry pie maker, grabbing the long handles, and sticking them into the coals — it is a total guessing game when they’ll be done. And so hot! We always burn our mouth. But it’s fun and crazy.

You’ll be glad to know that these pies are nearly as straightforward to mix, taste way better, and you don’t have to get a campfire going. Anyone can make beautiful and rich hand pies!

About these Hand pies

• No oven required! You have to love air fryer desserts. Your air fryer turns out beautifully golden baked goods in just minutes without turning your oven on and heating up your kitchen. Anyone can make beautiful and rich hand pies!
• So straightforward! Hand pies are simple and fun to make with refrigerated pie crust and a can or jar of pie filling. Kids can have lots of fun putting these together and the end result is so satisfying.

Ingredient List

• Pie Crust: Any brand will work. Refrigerated pie crusts are the easiest but if you prefer to make your own, from-scratch pie crusts are just wonderful, too.
• Fruit Pie Filling: Choose your favorite fruit filling: cherry, apple, raspberry, peach, apricot, whatever you like. Again, from-scratch pie filling is great, too, as long as it’s thickened and sweetened. If you use something with larger pieces of fruit (apple or peach, for example), you might want to roughly chop it before filling the hand pies.
• Egg Wash: The pies are brushed with a simple egg and water mixture and topped with coarse sugar.

How it comes together

Begin by rolling out the crust to make a large circle. Use round cookie cutters, biscuit cutters, or a drinking glass to cut circles of dough, three and a half to four inches in diameter.

Put a dollop of filling in the center of half of the rounds.

Lightly moisten the edges of the pastry round and lay another round on top. Crimp the edges together with a fork.

Brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Air fry the pies until they are crisp and lightly browned.

Let them cool slightly before taking a bite — the filling gets hot!

How it comes together

• Different fillings. There are so many varieties of pie filling available or you can make your own filling. The possibilities are nearly endless. Jam or preserves can be used, too, but will make a sweeter pie.
• Cut the pastry into different shapes. Keep it simple though or they’ll be difficult to seal. A straightforward variation is to cut 5-inch circles, put the filling on one side, and fold the pastry over to make half circles or crescents.
• Add flavoring. Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger can be added to the filling. Apple pie spice mix is good added to almost any fruit filling. Brighten up the filling with orange, lemon, or lime zest. Lime goes great with cherry filling, lemon with apricot, or orange with raisin or fig.
• Make a glaze for the pies. A simple glaze of confectioner’s sugar and water is fine, or add flavoring to the glaze by adding fruit juice, vanilla, rum, or bourbon.
• Oven method: Instead of using an air fryer, bake the hand pies in your oven. This works great if you’re making more than four pies. Preheat the oven to 350°F, put pies on baking sheet, and bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Make Ahead Idea

Cut the pastry rounds, form the hand pies, and refrigerate them until ready to bake. Just before baking, brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake as directed.

Keeping leftovers

• Store: Once the pies have completely cooled, cover them in plastic wrap or foil. They’ll keep on the counter for a couple of days or in the fridge for up to four days.
• Freeze: Hand pies can be frozen for up to a month. Individually wrapped, they make great lunchbox treats. Grab one out of the freezer, put it in your lunchbox, and enjoy it for lunch. Unbaked hand pies can be frozen, too. There’s no need to thaw them; simply air fry them a few extra minutes.
• Reheat: For best results, heat leftover hand pies in your air fryer for a couple of minutes to re-warm and crisp them up again. Alternatively, reheat them in your toaster oven for five minutes at 350°F.

Leftover Love

Make hand pie sundaes! Crumble a pie into a two bowls and add a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream. If you like, drizzle your sundae with hot fudge, caramel sauce, or fresh berries. Yum!

• Yield: 6 servings
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 6 minutes
• Total: 16 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 package (14 oz.) refrigerated pie crust
• 1 can (21 oz.) pie filling, any kind
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon water
• Coarse sugar (granulated sugar is fine, too)

Method

1. Preheat air fryer to 350°F for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, roll out each pie crust to a 13 to 14 inch circle. Use a 3½ to 4-inch round biscuit cutter to cut 6 to 7 rounds out of each one (see note). Re-roll scraps to to make 1 to 2 more rounds.
3. Top half of the rounds with a tablespoon of pie filling. If using a pie filling with big pieces such as apple or peach, you’ll want to chop it up a bit first.
4. Lightly moisten the edges of the filled pie crusts with water (use your fingertip dipped in water). Place the remaining pie rounds on top of the filled ones and use a fork to press the edges together to seal.
5. In a small bowl, beat together the egg and water to make an egg wash. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops of the pies with egg wash; sprinkle with coarse sugar.
6. Arrange pies in a single layer in the preheated air fryer. You may have to cook them in batches. Air fry pies for 6 to 7 minutes until the tops are a golden brown.

Notes

A 3½ -inch cutter will yield 7 pies, a 4-inch cutter will yield 6. For half-moon pies (crescents), use a 5-inch round cutter, add the filling to one side and fold it over and seal.

From-scratch: Substitute your own pie crust recipe, enough for 2 crusts. If you prefer, make your own pie filling. You’ll need about 2 cups.

Make a glaze for the pies. A simple glaze of confectioner’s sugar and water is fine, or add flavoring to the glaze by adding fruit juice, vanilla, rum, or bourbon.

Oven Method. Preheat the oven to 350°F, put pies on baking sheet, and bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.