Delightfully flaky and golden, these apple cranberry hand pies use a tangy sourdough puff pastry filled with warm, spiced apple and cranberry filling. Portable and festive, they’re perfect for potlucks, barbecues, or any time you want an easy-to-share dessert with homemade charm.
If you enjoy sourdough desserts, you may also like a sourdough cranberry cake or a sourdough apple crisp.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
Fun to share – These individually portioned sourdough puff pastry hand pies are perfect for sharing and show off flaky layers and a fruity filling.
Versatile – If cranberries aren’t available, cherries, strawberries, or peaches make excellent substitutes. You can also use a thick fruit jam for a quick alternative.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Salt – just a pinch.
- Ice-cold water – for the puff pastry, plus a little extra to make the filling slurry.
- Sourdough discard – from a 100% hydration starter, about 24 hours old works well.
- Butter – cold, cubed; salted or unsalted. Cold butter gives the best lamination.
- Cranberries – fresh or frozen. You can substitute other berries or stone fruit if preferred.
- Green apple – keep the skin on when dicing to add pectin and texture to the filling.
- Sugar – white sugar to sweeten the filling, plus extra for sprinkling before baking.
- Orange – zest from one orange for bright citrus flavor that pairs beautifully with apple and cranberry.
- Cornstarch – to thicken the fruit filling until jammy.
How to Make Sourdough Apple Cranberry Hand Pies
Begin by making the sourdough puff pastry. The process is straightforward: combine flour and salt, toss cold cubed butter into the flour so it becomes coated, then add the sourdough discard mixed with ice water a little at a time until a rough dough forms. Wrap the dough and chill—details and tips are included in the recipe card below.
While the pastry chills, prepare the apple and cranberry filling.
Prepare the Apple Cranberry Filling
Combine cranberries, diced green apple, sugar, and orange zest in a small saucepan. Heat over medium for about 10 minutes until the fruit begins to soften.
Mix the cornstarch with water to make a slurry, then add it to the pan. Stir well and simmer on medium-low for about 20 minutes, or until the mixture becomes thick and jammy.
Remove from heat and let the filling cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until needed.
Roll Out the Pastry
Take the chilled pastry from the fridge and let it rest 10 minutes so it’s easier to roll. Lightly flour your work surface and roll the dough into a rectangle. Perform a letter fold, rotate 180 degrees, and repeat. Do 4–6 folds to create laminated layers, then wrap and chill the dough for about 30 minutes.
When ready to assemble, roll the dough to roughly 1/2″ (about 30cm x 42cm or 12″ x 16.5″). Cut rounds—two per pie—and re-roll scraps as needed.
Place about a tablespoon of chilled filling on half of the rounds. Brush the edges of the remaining rounds with egg wash, then top and press gently to seal. Crimp the edges with a fork for a tidy finish.
Transfer the filled hand pies to a tray and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F). Before baking, brush each pie with egg wash and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the pastries are puffed, golden, and flaky. Cool slightly on a rack before serving.
How to Store + Freeze
Raw puff pastry – After completing the letter folds and shaping the dough into a pre-rolling rectangle, unbaked pastry keeps in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours.
Before baking – Assembled, unbaked hand pies can be refrigerated for up to 12 hours. Wait to egg wash and sugar until just before baking.
After baking – Store baked hand pies in an airtight container for up to three days. Separate layers with paper towel to prevent moisture from softening the pastry. Reheat briefly in a hot oven to crisp them up.
Freezing – Unbaked, filled hand pies freeze well for up to two months. Thaw slightly before adding egg wash and baking as directed.
Sourdough Apple Cranberry Hand Pies
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Equipment
- Kitchen scale
- Rolling pin
Ingredients
Sourdough Puff Pastry
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 5 g salt
- 40 g ice-cold water
- 100 g sourdough discard
- 225 g cold, cubed butter
Apple Cranberry Filling
- 100 g cranberries
- 120 g green apple, cored and diced
- 120 g sugar
- Zest of 1 orange
- 20 g water
- 5 g cornstarch
Topping
- 1 egg, beaten with a little water for egg wash
- 30 g raw sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
Prepare Puff Pastry
- Cube the butter and keep it very cold. Combine flour and salt. Mix the cold butter into the flour so cubes are coated, not rubbed in.
- Whisk the ice-cold water into the sourdough discard. Add this mixture gradually to the flour and butter, bringing it together into a rough, cohesive dough without overworking.
- Shape into a rough rectangle, wrap, and chill for at least 8 hours.
Prepare Apple Cranberry Filling
- Combine cranberries, diced apple, sugar, and orange zest in a saucepan. Cook over medium for about 10 minutes.
- Stir together water and cornstarch, add to the pan, and simmer on medium-low for about 20 minutes until jammy. Cool and refrigerate.
Roll Out the Pastry
- Let the chilled dough rest 10 minutes, then roll into a rectangle. Perform letter folds, rotating and repeating 4–6 times to laminate. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll the chilled dough to about 1/2″ thick. Cut rounds, placing a tablespoon of filling on half the rounds. Brush edges of the other rounds with egg wash and top.
- Seal gently with fingers and crimp with a fork. Chill assembled pies for 10 minutes while preheating oven to 220°C (430°F).
- Brush with egg wash, sprinkle sugar, and bake for about 30 minutes until golden and flaky.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation.
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