Cranberry Apple Hand Pies

Cranberry Apple Hand Pies are perfect for family get-togethers, holidays, or even when you want a sweet and savory treat on the go.

Imagine a warm golden brown puff pastry filled with savory cranberry sauce, gooey brie cheese, and crisp apples; sounds perfect, right?

These are the perfect treats to bring to a Christmas potluck. They’re easy to transport, and you can even put them in a Christmas tin if you’d like to be a little more festive.

There is no doubt that you will quickly fall in love with this simple Cranberry Apple Hand Pie recipe.

Cranberry Apple Hand Pies Recipe

These cranberry hand pies have a flaky crust and are the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

They’re a wonderful way of using leftover cranberry sauce! One of my favorite parts of the holidays is getting to create new easy recipes with all of our leftovers. You could also make these savory hand pies with your leftover turkey.

For this recipe, we are using cranberry sauce but feel free to experiment by using homemade cherry pie filling, apple filling or any other regular pie filling if you’re looking to make them a little sweeter.

Do you love sweet treats? Try out my Air Fryer Biscuit Donuts or my Homemade Luscious Dark Chocolate Brownies. These Chewy Pumpkin Blondies will also cure a craving for sweets!

Ingredients you will need

Puff pastry: your puff pastry is what will hold all of the delicious fillings into your pie. While you can make your own puff pastry, I like to go the simple route and buy store-bought puff pastry from the grocery store.

If you like, you can also use a homemade pie crust.

Leftover cranberry sauce: the star of the show! The leftover cranberry sauce is the main component of your filling. I use my Orange Cranberry Sauce when I make these.

Brie cheese: I like to add brie cheese to my filling because it makes it creamy and absolutely delicious. Plus, cranberry and brie go perfectly together.

Egg: your egg wash is essential to the recipe. This is what allows your pie to become golden brown and crispy. There isn’t a specific kind of egg to use, and you can purchase any type of egg you’d like. 

Apple: I used a fuji apple, but you can use any kind of apple you like. Some others I recommend are gala, honey crisp, and granny smith apples.

Flakey salt: flakey salt is always a must in my book! It adds to the savoriness of the hand pies and helps even out the sweetness.

If you love easy apple recipes, you’ll want to give these Air Fryer Apple Chips or this Rustic Apple Tart a try next!

Can I use canned cranberry sauce?

I don’t recommend using canned cranberry sauce here because it’s not thick enough and will become runny when heated in the oven. Chunky, homemade cranberry sauce works best for this recipe.

How to Make Cranberry Hand Pies

1. Prepare the puff pastry: roll out your puff pastry on a lightly floured surface (I got 6 large hand pies from 2 sheets), cut into 12, 4×5 inch rectangles, brush the edges of half the pastry squares with an egg wash (one egg, lightly whisked).

2. Fill the pastries: fill the centers with 1-2 pieces of thinly sliced brie, 1-2 pieces of thinly sliced apple, and 2 tablespoons of cranberry sauce, place the other half of your puff pastry rectangle overtop each, press down around the edges with your fingers to seal, crimp them with a fork, using a pastry brush, lightly coat top of each hand pie generously with the remaining egg wash, sprinkle with flakey salt, then poke a few holes in the top with a fork (to let steam escape). You can also use a sharp knife to make small slits.

3. Bake the hand pies: on a parchment-lined baking sheet, bake at 400°F for 20-25 minutes or until they are browned to your liking. I like mine extra crispy! Let the hand pies cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before serving.

Serve these hand pies with this cranberry sangria for the perfect festive appetizer!

Should I leave the rind on?

This is up to you. You can either leave it on or you can remove it. I recommend keeping it on for this recipe so that it helps keep the cheese from spreading too much and popping out the sides. When your hand pies are baking, the filling will expand, which causes it to start coming out of the sides.

Can I make my cranberry pies ahead of time? 

Absolutely! If you’re short on time and need to speed things up, you can definitely go ahead and make these in advance. 

After Thanksgiving, I usually have some leftover cranberry sauce, so I go ahead and prepare a few homemade hand pies so that we have them throughout the week. They’re just as delicious a few days later and can be heated up in the oven or air fryer.

How to store leftover Hand Pies

Refrigerator: I recommend storing any leftover hand pies in an airtight container or a ziplock bag for about 2-3 days.

I love warming up my hand pies and adding a scoop of ice cream to turn them into a sweet treat for dessert.

Freezer: I wouldn’t recommend you freeze your flaky hand pies if you have already baked them, as they don’t taste the best when you warm them up. 

Brie cheese does not hold up well in the freezer. However, you can freeze the cranberry sauce to have on hand when you’re ready to make them!

How to reheat leftover hand pies?

The best way to reheat your leftover pies is to cover them with foil and then throw them in the oven for a few minutes at 350 to regain their crispiness. You can also do this in the air fryer!

I would keep an eye on them, though; cooking time may vary when heating them up. You can warm them up in the microwave, but they will be a little soft.

While you can enjoy them at room temperature, I prefer them warm and crispy!

How do I keep my Cranberry Hand Pies from becoming soggy?

You can do a couple of things to keep your hand pies from becoming soggy. The first is to use an egg wash, and the other is to make sure that your cranberry sauce is cold before putting it on your puff pastry.

Recipe Tips

• I recommend using 4 sheets of puff pastry to make 12 hand pies so you don’t have any leftover apple or cheese.
• Using puff pastry that comes floured is my personal preference. I find it easier to work with.
• Don’t use too much filling! A tablespoon of filling or two is just enough.
• Try adding vanilla ice cream and turn these savory hand pies into dessert!
• Top your hand pies with coarse sugar or brown sugar instead of flakey salt to make them sweeter.
• Play around with different fillings like apple pie filling or peach filling.
• Make brie and strawberry hand pies with strawberry preserves.

If you’re looking for a sweet version of these hand pies to make for dessert, you can give these Peach Hand Pies a try!

More easy apple recipes

• Air Fryer Apple Crisp
• Quinoa Apple Salad
• Air Fryer Baked Apples
• Baked Brie And Apple Flatbread Pizza

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