Brown butter and brandy are tossed with crisp apples for a sophisticated fall treat in these Brown Butter Brandy Apple Hand Pies!

My favorite kind of dessert is one that I can enjoy for breakfast the next day.

Take for instance, these apple hand pies. Now if you have ever taken a gander at my Instagram page you may noticed the recurring theme on my feed this month so far has been apples, and it's getting out of control.

Last year it was all about pumpkin spice...this year it's all about apples.

In fact, as I am writing, I feel another apple inspired recipe coming on and if it weren't nearly midnight, I would for sure head into the kitchen and whip up another batch of these delicious hand pies, or some other recipe that involved apples...and caramel. I'm craving caramel now too. So, look out for that recipe coming next. I digress though- which I have a tendency to do.

Back to these hand pies.

Have you ever had a craving for brown butter and brandy? You will now.

I love how these hand pies photographed (all credit goes to the fruit). Now, I'm never one to pat myself on the back, but the dark moody, tones against the vibrant red apples are so beautiful. It's so enchanting and instantly reminds me of Snow White. I'm not sure why exactly my pies remind me of poisoned apples - that's not a good thing at all...but you get my drift. 😉

Also note, I've recently gotten into Once Upon A Time again after taking a long hiatus, and now I'm planning ahead for the weekend fully intending to catch up on missed seasons.

Again, I digress...

This happens to be my first time baking with brown butter. I've heard so much about it, but when things get overly trendy, I have a tendency to avoid it. I'm such a food rebel.

However, I was watching the Food Network and caught a brown butter recipe which served as the inspiration behind this recipe.

With a bushel of apples left on hand, I decided to cloak them in brown butter and a splash of brandy. Then I wrapped the filling in squares of French pastry dough; I sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar and baked until the fruit was oozing from the puffed crust which had turned a beautiful golden hue. Finally, I completed my pies with a simple icing.

Utter perfection graced our palette.

You will love these, and I certainly hope you give them a try this season.

Brown Butter Brandy Apple Hand Pies

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.9 from 12 reviews

Author: Living the Gourmet
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 8 1x

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Units Scale

4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons Autumn Spice Mix
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon brandy, cognac or calvados
1 sheet puff pastry
1/4 cup cinnamon sugar
1 beaten egg, diluted with a tablespoon of water
1 cup icing sugar
2-3 tablespoons cream

Instructions

In a large bowl, toss together apples, spice mix, and brandy. Let sit and set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt butter until it bubbles to a golden color, about 7-8 minutes. DO NOT BURN! Pour over the brandied apples and toss.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a well floured surface roll out puff pastry. Using a pizza wheel, cut 8 even squares.
Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash. Add a heaping tablespoon of the brown butter brandied apples on one half of the pastry square. Fold the other half of tough over and pinch the edges with a fork. Brush each hand pie with the egg wash and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar. With a sharp knife, poke two holes on the top of each pie and place in the oven.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the fruit filing oozes and the crust is golden.
Let the hand pies cool slightly before transferring them to a wire rack.
In the meantime, whisk together icing sugar and cream. Drizzle over each of the hand pies and allow enough time for the icing to set before serving.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Category: Dessert
Method: Bake
Cuisine: American

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Happy Baking!