I was a skeptic of the air-fryer for a while. It seemed like an unnecessary appliance that is big and bulky on the counter. But, this pandemic has changed a lot of things, and one of them is a new love for the air fryer. I hadn’t tried to use the air-fryer until this time and have found some pretty great uses for it. So, I wanted to push the limits. I wanted to try baking to see how it would turn out.

This is one of the best things to come out of the air fryer. Because I’m baking pastry, it almost feels as though its my Easy-Bake oven reincarnated for me as an adult. In other words, its fun to play with.

I want to share the simple recipe with you here. I shaped them like turnovers or empanadas but you can shape them anyway you like. The are hand held and will probably be my breakfast treat tomorrow morning.

Enjoy!

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Basic steps:

Cook the apples with butter, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla
Roll out the pie dough
Fill the pie dough and egg wash
Bake for about 20 minutes in the air fryer

Air-Fryer Mini Apple Hand-Pies

Ingredients (makes 4 hand-pies):

1 pre-made pie crust dough (homemade short crust pastry recipe here)
2 ½ large granny smith apples, or 4 small ones, peeled and diced
30g (2 Tbsp.) unsalted butter
30g (2 Tbsp.) sugar
small pinch salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
1 egg + 1 tsp water for egg wash
Raw sugar for topping

Directions:

Make the filling by combining apples, butter and sugar into a pan. Cook on a high heat and stir for a couple minutes or until apples just begin to get soft.
Then, turn off heat and add cinnamon and vanilla. Stir to combine. Cool the filling in the fridge until at least room temperature, about 30 minutes.
While the filling is chilling, roll out your pastry dough in between two pieces or parchment. Get it pretty thin, about ⅛” inch. I like a circle.
Fill with 2-3 Tbsp. of the apple filling in the center but just one side.
Brush with egg wash on the edges . Then, fold over the dough and press tightly. Use a fork to push edges together. Then, cut any excess dough with a knife to make it even and rounded.
Brush the top with more egg wash and then sprinkle some raw sugar on top. Make a slit on top. (Can freeze at this point and bake later).
Bake in the air fryer for 20-25 minutes at 350F. Or, bake in the oven at 400 F for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. (See below for step by step with pictures)