Apple Hand Pies

Have you ever had desserts that were just two sweet? Almost two sweet to eat? If you think back to your golden years–let’s say, the ages of five to ten–there was almost no such thing as ‘too sweet’. Cotton candy, bubble gum, chocolate bars, sour gummies, jelly beans and the like could be eaten with wild abandon without a care in the world. There may have been a a blaring sugar high followed by a roaring tummy ache, but who even remembers those things? Now, most of us have perhaps developed palettes that cannot handle too much sugar. We are the same way when it comes to certain foods, especially dishes that feature fruit. The best part of the dish is the fruit, so make sure everyone knows it. Fall’s apples are great right now, and they will continue to pop up all over the place through the season. Leave out just a bit of the extra sugar, and they will show you who’s the boss.

Sugar in most desserts is malleable. You can adjust it to your tastes, especially when it comes to desserts. Depending on the recipe, you can also experiment with honey, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, etc. to see if you like how they satisfy your sweet tooth. In this case, we just barely have 1/4 cup of combined sweeteners (powdered sugar, granulated white sugar, maple syrup and brown sugar) in the entire recipe. You can really taste the apples, which is the best part. Sweet apples combined with the usual spice suspects combined with a super flakey cream cheese pastry, and it’s like Penn & Teller are pointing their magic wands all over your mouth’s taste buds. Perhaps we speak in hyperbole too often. You be the judge.