AfroVeganChick: Baked Apple Hand Pies

Move over Hostess and Little Debbie-- first and certainly not the last foray into pie-- hand pie.

Time to share the perfect Juneteenth dessert.
I have always wanted to make pastry, especially something along the lines of pie, but butter is such an essential ingredient. Most vegan substitutes rely on palm oil. I wonder why it seems to be in everything, which screams red flag. Thankfully, Miyoko's Kitchen has a scrumptious new alternative on the market (look for the official AfroVeganChick review next week). It has been a life saver. At last, certain things are possible.

Organic Royal Gala apples from Mom's Organic Market.

I certainly should have prepped the dough yesterday. It is an involved process that was a bit too taxing after walking to work, eight hours of work, a great artist lecture after work, and the hour + walk back home. So yes, to return to the kitchen and retain dead set determination to create this dessert is a thing in itself. Still, I was excited and joyous about making my first hand pies. The efforts were well worth the end result-- eating a delicious warm sweet straight out of the oven inspired by That's So Vegan's Classic Apple Hand Pies recipe, amended from another amazing blog, Oh Lady Cakes.

Baked Apple Hand Pies Ingredients and Preparation

2 1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (one package of Mikoyo's Kitchen butter), cold and cut into chunks
8 tablespoon water

2 apples, peeled and chopped into small bits
3 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie or apple pie spice
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon arrowroot powder (or 1 1/2 teaspoon flour)

Mix flour, sugar, and salt together. Add butter chunks and fork stir until crumbly. Cover and place in a freezer for 15 minutes. Take this out and distribute water one tablespoon at a time. Once dough sticks together, knead for a minute or so. Roll into a large ball. Cover again and place in the refrigerator for an hour.

Kneaded dough before being refrigerated. A little tear spilled from my eye. It was such a good moment.

In a saucepan set on low heat, combine apples, water, coconut oil, cinnamon, pumpkin or apple pie spice, sugar, and lemon juice. Once apples are tender and soft add in arrowroot powder or flour to thicken. Remove from heat. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Take out chilled dough. Roll out onto floured surface and form circles. Place a small amount of apple filling in the center and fold corner over. Fork press the corners together. Poke ventilation holes (or hearts) into top of the pies. Brush with a small bit of oil.