21 Best Puff Pastry Desserts

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These puff pastry apple hand pies are the perfect recipe for fall! The buttery flaky puff pastry combined with cinnamony warm apple pie is a match made in heaven! They are so easy to make and come together with just a few simple ingredients.

Apple recipes feel like the beginning of the fall season. It is like the pre game of pumpkin fall recipes. From apple cakes to apple doughnuts, I want all the apple desserts come August!

What I love so much about these little apple hand pies is how stinking easy they are to make! Have friends coming over in an hour? Hosting a fall movie night later? Don’t have anything to bring to Thanksgiving? No problemo, this recipe comes together in under an hour!

What makes these hand pies so quick and easy to make? Puff pastry sheets! I love to keep puff pastry dough in my freezer around the holidays. It makes for a flaky crust without all of the hard work of making it homemade.

Pie is always a good idea, especially during the holidays! We tend to fill our Thanksgiving menu and spread of Christmas desserts with lots of seasonal pies, like pumpkin and cranberry-orange. But there are other occasions that are worthy of pie, too. Like a summer cookout where key lime pie and strawberry pie make for stunning warm-weather desserts. Then again, you don’t need a reason to make a homemade pie. Just stick Ree Drummond’s perfect pie crust in the freezer and you can make any one of these pie recipes whenever the craving strikes! For instance, you may want to make Ladd’s favorite chocolate pie for your Sunday supper. Or, whip up the pecan pie bars for your annual church potluck.

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Close your eyes for a moment and imagine, if you will, a pie. Not just any pie, but one with a rustic kind of crust, made from rye flour, and filled with goat cheese and honey. Sounds like something you’d see on one of the classier baking shows, or even in the pages of your favorite magazine, right? This pie is just that good, with a gently sweetened filling yielding the same kind of tang that comes with a great cheesecake, balancing beautifully with the nuttier notes of a rye crust. So, where’s the recipe, you’re wondering. And if one doesn’t already exist, shouldn’t someone write it up?

Someone did, and that someone was the Romans, back in the 14th century. Those brushed up on their food history already know — this was the first pie recipe ever documented. According to the keepers of the English language, the word “pie” was already fairly popular at the time. Fast-forward a few millennia, and you’ll find that very little has changed. Pie is timeless, ageless, matchless, and fully global. Empires may come and go, but in these uncertain times, it’s good to know that pie is — most likely! — forever.

French Blueberry Cream Pie from Betty’s Pies.
Courtesy of Goldbelly

In some countries, pies are typically savory, rather than sweet; in other countries, they don’t play favorites and go for both. America’s contribution to ancient tradition has, for much of our modern history, been tightly linked to our collective passion for eating dessert. Some states are merely enthusiastic, some downright fanatical, while others, not content to coast on our global reputation as a nation of pie lovers, are innovators, coming up with ideas so exciting that in six centuries or so, historians might very well still be talking about them. These are the best pies in every state.

Nebraska

Thanksgiving Day isn’t exactly known for balmy weather, not around Omaha anyway, but that hasn’t stopped local hosts-in-the-know from making the switch from your traditional holiday desserts to something perhaps even better — seasonally themed ice cream pies. Then again, it does help that the source of temptation is one of the better ice cream shops to grace the Midwest in recent years; Coneflower Creamery is owned by two pastry chefs with years of industry experience, so they’ve made a pie or two. These pies are far from ordinary, and once you make the switch from regular sweet potato to theirs — roasted sweet potato ice cream in a brown butter crust, topped with bourbon caramel and a puffy cloud of torched meringue — you might never go back. Vegan gingerbread ice cream pie, in a gluten-free oat crumble crust, is like something Paul Hollywood would roll his eyes at — that is, until he tries a bite.

Alabama

Anyone doing a post-mortem on American dessert culture would definitely want to study the South’s firm belief in the healing powers of sweet potato pie. In Birmingham, at Frank & Pardis Stitt’s popular restaurants (the pandemic-paused Highlands Bar & Grill chief among them), pastry boss Dolester Miles won the 2018 James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef, in large part thanks to her pies. Her secret? One of them, anyway, is roasting the potatoes before breaking them down, a rustic touch that gives the pie a deeper flavor. Typically served with bourbon whipped cream, it’s one of the finest desserts in the country.

Utah

The most unusual pies on this list come from a state that never saw a filling it couldn’t love. Generations of Utahns have been stopping for slices of pickle pie at Sunglow Motel & Cafe in Bicknell. Sweet pickles, finely chopped and mixed with spices, lemon extract, margarine, and cream — spicy and tangy all at once, you’ve probably never had anything quite like it, even if the spice profile is similar to pumpkin and sweet potato pies. Except it’s a pickle pie. And it’s kind of green. The recipe goes back to the Great Depression, when local pie queen Cula Ekker was growing up, making do with what the family had. And what they had in abundance, it seems, were pickles. You’ve come all this way, don’t stop eating pie now, not yet. Another iconic Utah favorite (in more traditional flavors) is sold at the Gifford House, a historic homestead located inside the park. These pies are a sweet tribute to the Mormon families who once tended to orchards in the scenic valley, which they settled in the 1880s and named, rather accurately, Fruita.

Lemon Icebox Pie

Icebox pies are meant to be served chilled so they’re great for making ahead. It also means they’re great for sneaking a slice straight out of the fridge.

Get the Lemon Icebox Pie recipe.

Maryland

Named for the German immigrants who famously baked them for years, Berger cookies are as Baltimore as crab gut and movies with Divine in them. Think New York black and white cookie, but without the white part, just the fudge (lots of fudge, more fudge than cookie sometimes). Simple and simply delicious, the Berger cookie is at the heart of every Baltimore Bomb pie, the top seller at Dangerously Delicious Pies, founded by local musician Rodney Henry way back in the late 1990s. The generously frosted cookies get crumbled into a sweet vanilla chess filling, with terrific results.

Buy it: Dangerously Delicious Baltimore Bomb Pie

New Hampshire

There are a lot of New England farmers in Jim Richardson’s family tree, going all the way back to the pre-revolutionary era. Sometimes, at Richardson’s Farm in rural Boscawen, you’re not entirely sure you’ve made it all the way to the present. Still, it is common knowledge, among those who have bothered to make the journey, that the apple pies here are some of the best around. To get one, you’ll just have to slow down a little, pick up the phone, and have a chat, most likely Sue, who is married to Jim. You will then have to pick up your pie in person, and you will pay for it in cash. For your troubles, there’s equally good ice cream on offer, in classic New England flavors like Grape Nut pudding and peppermint stick. Fairly close by, right on the outskirts of Concord, Apple Hill Farm not only grows some fascinating varietals, often referred to as heirlooms, or antiques; they also make great pies.

Montana

The thing about huckleberries is, you can’t really tame them. Many have tried to domesticate the regional answer to wild blueberries, native to the wilds of the Northwest, without success. To pick them, you have to do battle with the elements (and the bears), and you have to know which berries are for eating and which will make you sick and/or kill you. Then, after all that, unless you use or freeze them pretty quickly, they’ll spoil. All that required heavy lifting doesn’t seem to keep Montanans from collecting and eating and — most importantly — baking a ton of huckleberries into pies, each year. You’ll find them everywhere, from Loula’s Cafe in Whitefish, to the touristy but fun Huckleberry Patch in Hungry Horse, a popular stop on the way to Glacier National Park. One of the state’s star bakers works wonders with still more local produce — the tiny pies from Elle’s Belle’s Bakery in Bozeman come out of the oven busting with flavor from hand-picked blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

Buy it: Elle’s Belles Bakery Starry Triple Berry Mini Pies

South Dakota

If you’re German, which plenty of people are in the Dakotas, the part of the day where you knock off for a refresher, and ideally a bit of gossip, was always just referred to as “kaffee und kuchen.” The first word you know, the second translates as cake, except cake in German can mean a lot of different things, and here, it means a pie-cake-tart hybrid pastry filled with custard and whatever fruit is in season. The passion for kuchen remains strong around here, enough to see it voted the South Dakota state dessert a decade or so ago. There are kuchen festivals, too, with parades. Also, in the tiny town of Scotland, you have Roger and Lori Pietz at Pietz’s Kuchen Kitchen, where they turn out scores of simple, simply delicious kuchen year-round, delivering to stores large and small all across the state. Not into fruit fillings? Go for the chocolate chip.

Virginia

Dating back to colonial times and still a staple in small towns throughout the Old Dominion, the peanut pie is about as uniquely local as you can get around here, dessert-wise. Too bad, then, that many people find the classic recipe to be a stodgy affair, one possible reason why you don’t see it on every dessert menu in the region, something that for a long time bugged baker Brian Noyes, whose cult favorite Red Truck Bakery in Marshall is widely regarded as one of the best in the state. Starting out with the best Virginia peanuts, the Red Truck version gives the old girl a beautiful upgrade, incorporating crumbles of chocolate cake, coconut, and bit of hot honey, which balances nicely with locally produced hickory syrup. You’ve probably never had a pie quite like this.

Buy it: Red Truck Bakery Virginia Peanut Pie

Cherry Crumb Pie

Frozen tart cherries make this simple pie a year-round treat. They taste just as delicious as fresh tart cherries and they’re easier to find!

Get Ree’s Cherry Crumb Pie recipe.

Dreamy Apple Pie

It doesn’t get more comforting than a slice of apple pie! Warm from the oven, it’ll make your kitchen smell so divine!

Get Ree’s Dreamy Apple Pie recipe.

Delaware

There was a time, back in the 1800s, when the First State was also first in peaches. Nowadays, there are other places more closely linked to one of America’s finest fruits, but real ones know that Delaware peaches — let’s be honest, Mid-Atlantic peaches in general — remain some of the absolute best that money can buy, during their too-brief annual season. Peach pie is Delaware’s state dessert, which gives you an idea of how seriously people take it around here, but where to get it? Everywhere, really, but Keith Irwin and crew put the same care into the pies as the rest of their bakes at Old World Breads in Lewes. Flavors here are seasonal, so for now, you’ll need to treat yourself to pecan, or apple, or pumpkin — not exactly a hardship.

Oklahoma

Speaking of fried hand pies, which are absolutely pies (let’s not fight about it), we’re not sure anybody does them better than Oklahoma, where, at Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies in Davis, you can have a three-course meal of fried pies: savory, maybe a bacon egg and cheese, perhaps a tart-sweet apricot, and then a cream pie for dessert. (The chocolate pies, packed with rich custard, are rather unbelievable.) There are locations around the state, but the Davis original has had the most time — over a century, now — to practice. Most people stop here on a drive between Dallas to Oklahoma City. If the latter is your destination, make sure to save room for whatever is in the case at Pie Junkie. Then again, if you’ve just come from there, you already knew that.

North Dakota

Quiche, at least the way it’s typically made in the United States, is most definitely a pie, and anyone who says it’s not is probably a gigantic Gallophobe, just putting that out there. When stopping at the sweetly French-ish Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe in downtown Fargo, we like to think of the savory tart as the pie we eat before we get to eat more pie, of which there is plenty, from tangy strawberry rhubarb to even tangier lemon meringue, all made with a relatively delicate hand, particularly when compared to some of the more traditional, middle-of-the-country pies on this list. North Dakota native Nichole Hensen opened up shop in 2003 after a rather circuitous journey out of North Dakota, up to Alaska, and then home via the Culinary Institute of America. The rest is Fargo pastry history.

Texas

Starting out in a charming, 1930s bungalow in Dallas’ burgeoning Bishop Arts District, Megan Wilkes and Mary Gauntt’s Emporium Pies has become something of a smash hit, with shops all over the area. Ten apples at a time go into their deep dish apple, rich with housemade caramel and topped with cinnamon-laced streuse. You will address the considerable result, if you please, as Lord of the Apple Pies. Everything really is bigger in Texas. And what’s more Texas than pecan pie? Have one shipped from the oldest surviving bakery in Texas — Eilenberger’s in Palestine started out in the late 1800s.

Buy it: Emporium Pies Deep Dish Apple Pie

Kansas

From sweet chess pies studded with tart rhubarb to a harvest-times cranberry apple infused with orange zest and buried under walnut crumble topping, The Upper Crust in Overland Park is all about pushing the boundaries just enough so you barely notice you’re trying something a bit different. The strategy has made them one of the most popular makers in all of Kansas City; highlights include pucker-up gooseberry pies, gooey-delicious, cinnamon-scented oatmeal pies you could eat for breakfast, and chocolate chip cookies in tart form, because why not? Sisters Jan Knobel and Elaine Van Buskirk bring serious cred to the locally popular theory that Kansas makes some of the best pies in the country.

Over in little Dover, out on the plains just near Topeka, Norma Grubb once brought the regional pie culture all sorts of national recognition. Grubb passed a decade or so ago, but the quirky little Sommerset Cafe, located inside the historic community hall, still makes pies the way Norma used to, or at the very least, good enough that servers have been known to encourage you to order dessert before you start your meal, in case they sell out while you’re busy eating fried chicken.

Chocolate Chess Pie

This twist on a Southern classic is rich, chocolaty, and beautifully decorated with a powdered sugar design. It’s easier than you might think to create. All you need is a 10-inch round doily!

Get the Chocolate Chess Pie recipe.

SHOP PIE PANS

Peach Galette

You don’t have to worry about making things perfect when it comes to a galette. It’s supposed to be rustic and as Ree says, it’s “basically a flat pie!”

Get the Peach Galette recipe.

Pennsylvania

Is shoo fly a desperation-style pie, birthed out of necessity? Or were Pennsylvania Dutch bakers just really into simplicity? Sometimes explained as a coffee cake with a very wet bottom, which obviously means you can eat it for breakfast, shoo fly pie is, from gooey molasses base to generous crumble top, not really missing anything at all. At Lancaster County favorite McClure’s Bakery, from-scratch chocolate shoo-fly pies are made with an old family recipe. This is a pie that would be most welcome on any Amish or Mennonite table, and yours, too — they ship nationwide. Ditto the popular pies at Miller’s Bakery, featured quite prominently at their sister smorgasbord, the best of Lancaster’s many buffet restaurants.

Buy it: McClure’s Shoofly Pie

Illinois

Ever dip a French fry into your chocolate Frosty at Wendy’s? Maybe you’ve had the pleasure of a fresh-from-the-fryer yeast donut, topped with a really good chocolate ganache? If so, you already know why Stephanie Izard felt compelled to create a chocolate French fry pie, the hot seller at Sugargoat, Izard’s recently opened bakery, in Chicago’s West Loop. The crust is made with loads of crunchy, salty fries, the filling is a rich, malty chocolate cream, and on top you get more fries — think potato sticks — covered in still more chocolate. You don’t have to trek here to try one, either — they’ll happily ship.

Buy it: Sugargoat Chocolate French Fry Pie

Same goes for Justice of the Pies, Maya-Camille Broussard’s smash-hit, Chicago-based pie business. Her salted caramel peach pies aren’t just exceedingly good; buying one supports Broussard’s considerable efforts to improve lives in her hometown.

Buy it: Justice of the Pies Salted Caramel Peach Pie

Iowa

Mrs. Anita Van Gundy of Des Moines took home the top prize of $150 this year, in one of the more important contests at Iowa’s State Fair, where expert crafters carve butter sculptures. The contest was about pie, a very specific, very Iowa kind of pie, the custard-filled, dried fruit-studded sour cream raisin, which comes topped in either a little or a lot of meringue, depending on whose making yours. The best are typically found under cake savers on kitchen counters across the state, but lacking an invitation to Mrs. Van Gundy’s, you’re going out. The pandemic, and time, and old age have claimed too many classic cafés here in recent years, but at the Ox Yoke Inn, a highlight of any trek to the historic Amana Colonies region, sour cream raisin remains a constant on the dessert menu. You can carry out an entire pie, if you like — that is, if you can think about eating again, after one of their family-style dinners.

Georgia

Back in the day, when you didn’t have much in your pantry but still wanted dessert, you baked what came to be known as a desperation pie. Generations later, these basic-by-necessity pies are some of the most popular in the country, which just goes to show that simple sometimes really is better. The buttermilk pie, with a filling made from buttermilk and flour, has proven to be one of the most enduring within the genre — the ones they make at the Yesterday Cafe in Greensboro are so good, Carrie Underwood famously ordered 300 of them for her wedding. At Mashama Bailey’s The Grey in Savannah, the justifiably exalted salted honey pies are a decidedly luxurious take on the genre. Something like a pecan pie without the nuts, the star here is the filling itself, which walks the tightrope between sweet and salty like an absolute pro.

Hawaii

When the Hori family, now into their fourth generation of bakers, opened Hawaiian Pie Co. in Honolulu a few years back, you could almost hear the old-timers cheering. Off and on for close to half a century now, the family has been baking for Oahu, and this recent return to form was an unexpected treat. Still, what people really wanted to know was, would they be bringing back the passionfruit pear pies? The answer was yes — that and a lot else. Classic island flavors are centered here — not just lilikoi, but guava and pineapple too. Pumpkin pie gets a local upgrade thanks to a layer of custard, and, of course, there’s coconut pie too, with a rich macaroon-style filling wrapped in a buttery crust. Good news — they ship to the mainland.

German Chocolate Pie

Just like a classic German chocolate cake, this pie is made with coconut, pecans, and semi-sweet chocolate. It’s a fun twist that everyone will love.

Get Ree’s German Chocolate Pie recipe.

Double Cherry-Almond Slab Pie

Cooking for a crowd? This sweet and tart cherry slab pie is made in a sheet pan so it’s sure to feed the whole family. Just don’t forget to top it with a scoop of ice cream!

Get the Double Cherry-Almond Slab Pie recipe.

Ingredients

• Apples: This recipe calls for 4-6 apples (440 grams). The best baking apples are honeycrisp or granny smith apples. This is because they don’t become mushy when baked. I like to use organic fresh apples when possible, to avoid the shellac coating that is found on non-organic apples.
• Sugar: You will need ⅔ cup of white granulated sugar for the apple mixture.
• Cinnamon: Can’t have apple pie with delicious cinnamon apples can we? I love cinnamon, so I add a full teaspoon to the filling.
• Nutmeg: ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg is added into the spiced apple filling to add a bit of nuttiness.
• Cornstarch: Cornstarch is a thickening agent added to the filling to make it a little less runny. We want the mixture to be super juicy but without cornstarch, it would completely run out of our dough.
• Puff Pastry: In this recipe I use Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry. It is very accessible to get and most likely at your local grocery store in the frozen section. You will need 2 sheets for this recipes, which is one pack. Make sure it is completely thawed before handling.
• Egg: 1 egg yolk is needed for this recipe as egg wash. This gives the tops of each hand pie that golden brown color, as well as seals the dough between layers.
• Demerara sugar: This is optional but a heavy sprinkling of this chunky sugar on top adds so much texture and a little bit of added sweetness.

Massachusetts

Buy it: Centerville Pie Co. Signature Chicken Pie

Buy it: Hartley’s Original Pork Pies, 12 pack

And what’s for dessert, you ask? Boston cream pie of course, which isn’t even a pie, but more like a Victoria sponge, with custard in between the layers and chocolate on top, but who’s complaining? Boston’s Omni Parker House Hotel, where French immigrant Augustine Anezin invented the thing in in the mid-1800s, will ship one directly to your door.

Buy it: Omni Parker House Hotel Original Boston Cream Pie

Tennessee

Custard-style, and sporting a beautifully crisp topping, the chess pie has as many origin stories as there are spins on the classic. At Kat Gordon’s Muddy’s Bake Shop in Memphis, you can have it a variety of ways, but we’ll go for the chocolate, aka the Cocoa Crackle, a stealthily luxurious pie using only the best ingredients, all ruggedly handsome crust and civilized, silky filling. In Nashville, Arnold’s Country Kitchen isn’t just one of the finest meat-and-three restaurants in the South — they also ship their excellent chess pies, chocolate or otherwise, all over the country.

Buy it: Arnold’s Country Kitchen Classic Chess Pies

Variations & substitutions

If you can’t find puff pastry dough, phyllo dough can be substituted. However since phyllo dough is not a laminated dough, the hand pies will be less rich & buttery.

For a more robust filling flavor, try substituting the white sugar in the filling with brown sugar. This gives it more of a molasses taste.

Minnesota

Situated rather enviably on the North Shore of Lake Superior, the town of Two Harbors is one of those places where you could eat a peanut butter sandwich you brought from home on the breakwater at Agate Bay, and still go home telling everybody you had the best time. Fortunately, at least during the less-cold months, there’s Betty’s Pies, just over Highway 61 (yes, the Bob Dylan one) from the beach. For well over half a century, this friendly diner, named for the best thing it makes, has been an essential stop for those driving one of the Midwest’s finest roads. Betty’s is popular for their crunchy crumble-topped fruit pies, but for those not fanatical about pie crust, the French blueberry cream pie — featuring a relatively unobtrusive graham cracker bottom — is something of a dream, with acres of fluffy filling made from cream cheese and whipped cream, topped with a wild blueberry compote. Most bakeries are hesitant to ship cream pies — Betty’s seems to have it down to a science.

Buy it: Betty’s Pies, 2 Pack

Rhubarb Pie

Come springtime, this fresh rhubarb pie is a welcome treat! To add some sweetness, the rhubarb is mixed together with apricot jam.

Get Ree’s Rhubarb Pie recipe.

New Jersey

Really, the best pie in New Jersey is always going to be a tomato pie, but this isn’t a list of the best pizzas in America. Then again, when it comes to actual pie, the Garden State has plenty up its (baking) sleeve. Once harvest season starts winding down, Delicious Orchards turns its attention to the holidays, making tens of thousands of seasonally appropriate pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas — even a fine mince pie, which is something we don’t see often enough on this side of the Atlantic. Their apple crumb pie isn’t like everyone else’s, marrying that marvelous regional tradition (the mostly-streusel crumb cake, hiding under a blizzard of confectioner’s sugar) and with the classic American favorite.

Kentucky

France has its network of spies, just making sure that sparkling wine producers elsewhere are not tempted into calling their work champagne; Kentucky has the Kern family. Pie is serious business around here, just like the Kentucky Derby, and when the Kerns became popular, back in the 1950s, for their Derby Pie, which is something like a really good chocolate chunk walnut cookie, except baked into a pie, they had the good sense to trademark the name. (That decision that has led to more than a few cease and desist letters over the years.) Let’s just say that nowadays, you get your Derby Pie from Kern’s Kitchen in Louisville — they bake approximately 100,000 of them a year, and will ship anywhere in the country — or you don’t get it at all. What you do find a lot of here, however, and not just during Derby Week, is the Kentucky bourbon pie, on the menu in cafes, restaurants, and bakeries all over the state. This is more like a pecan pie, sometimes with chocolate chunks, sometimes not, along with a splash or two of bourbon, talk about a civilized upgrade. Stop by one of the Homemade Ice Cream & Pie Kitchen locations, scattered around Louisville, for one of the most popular versions.

Buy it: Kern’s Kitchen Kentucky Derby Pie, $45 at goldbelly.com

Atlantic Beach Pie

This sweet and salty dessert was inspired by the Atlantic beaches of North Carolina. It’s light, bright, and perfect for summer.

Get the Atlantic Beach Pie recipe.

New York

Buy it: Original Thanksgiving Day PieCaken

Storage & reheating

Let the hand pies sit on the counter for at least 20 minutes before storing in an airtight container. Then place airtight container in refrigerator. Baked hand pies will stay good in the fridge for up to 5 days.

These mini apple hand pies can be reheated in the oven or air fryer. Reheat in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 400F. Reheat in the air fryer by wrapping the pie in aluminum foil and then air frying at 350F for about 5 minutes.

Recipe

• 4 medium honeycrisp apples (440 grams, peeled and sliced)
• ⅔ cup white granulated sugar (140 grams)
• ½ teaspoon Lemi Shine’s 100% food grade citric acid
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 sheets puff pastry (thawed)
• 1 egg (egg yolk only, for egg wash)
• Demerara sugar (for sprinkling on top)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, combine the sliced apples, sugar, citric acid, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cornstarch. Toss until every apple is coated in the mixture. Set aside.
• On a floured work surface, roll one of the puff pastry sheets until all seams are mended. Then cut into thirds horizontally.
• On one half of each cut dough piece, place a heaping spoonful of the apple mixture. Then on the border edges of the dough, brush with egg wash. Fold the side of the puff pastry without the apples, over the apple side. Using a fork, crimp the border of the hand pie to seal the bottom and top dough together. Place the hand pie on the lined baking sheet. Repeat steps 3 & 4 with the remaining sheet of puff pastry dough.
• Brush the top of the apple hand pies with egg wash. Cut three thin slices on top. Sprinkle the tops with Demerara sugar.
• Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes. Serve warm.

Notes

Make Ahead Instructions:

The filling can be made ahead of time but still prepare and bake the hand pies on the same day you plan on serving. The filling can be mixed and kept in the fridge for up to 2 days.

1

Amount Per Serving:

5g 1g 0g 3g

All nutrition facts are estimations. Please see a physician for any health-related inquiries.

Nevada

Culinary Institute of America grads Tyler & Aubrey O’Laskey were both doing great work in New York and California, respectively, when the couple decided to settle down in Reno and open their own place. Rather quickly, Perenn Bakery has become one of the city’s favorite small businesses, bringing strong, coastal chic vibes to the dry side of the Sierras. One of the hardest seasonal pies to snag on this list is also one of the most unique. You probably wouldn’t find an apple caramel pie-kouign amann mashup — essentially, a giant pastry with pie filling, plus plenty of crumble — in a patisserie window in Brittany, but that’s the whole point of moving to a place like Nevada. People don’t look over your shoulder and say, that’s not how we do things around here — they ask you if they can reserve one for their Thanksgiving. In Las Vegas, Oakland expats Brett Boyer and Brendon Wilharber run Desert Bread, one of the state’s best new bakeries, out of their home; their seasonal fruit galettes are a reminder that sometimes sticking to tradition is an absolutely beautiful thing, and also that Las Vegas is changing.

Indiana

Back in the day, when Hoosier bakers found their pantries almost bare, they traditionally turned to the sugar cream pie, a recipe said to have reached the state as early as the 1800s, brought by Shaker and Amish resettlers. This pie is not much to look at, typically lacking the crackly top that a buttermilk or chess pie might lure you in with, but there’s a reason such a humble, no-egg pie remains an important part of so many regional celebrations — after a big meal, a simple dessert can be just the thing. Wick’s Bakery in Winchester traces its roots back to World War II, when Duane Wickersham gained a serious reputation around town for his pies, made from old family recipes. All these years later, they’re still using those recipes, right down to the lard in the crusts. One of the most popular sellers remains — no surprise there — the sugar cream.

Buy it: Wick’s Pies Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie

Florida

The first thing to know about the Key lime is that it’s not from the Keys at all, or at least it wasn’t, until pioneering horticulturalist Henry Perrine brought it there from the Yucatan Peninsula, back in the 1800s. The other thing to know, if you didn’t already, is that Key limes are the best, most delicious limes. They’re more fragrant and more tart, with a more aromatic quality to their sought-after juice, and over time they’ve become the bedrock of Florida pie culture. From the Chanticleer Eatery in homey Grayton Beach on the Panhandle, to late-night strawberry key lime tarts in the dessert room at the legendary Bern’s Steak House in Tampa, to the Amish and Mennonite markets near Sarasota, in the dining room at Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami, and on down the Keys to Kermit’s Key West Key Lime Shoppe, at the foot of Duval Street in Key West itself, you’re never very far from a celebration of one of Florida’s finest contributions to American food culture.

Buy it: Kermit’s Key Lime Pie, $79 at goldbelly.com

Mississippi

Back in the 1990s, Mary Jennifer Russell started selling cakes and pies from her home in Northern Mississippi. Over time, demand grew to the point where she opened up Sugaree’s in New Albany, celebrating the classic recipes of the Deep South, and honoring tradition by doing everything by hand, and in small batches. While other states might be more widely known for their pecans, Mississippi is one of the top producers in the country — Russell’s pecan pie is packed with locally-grown nuts, baked into a delicious lard and butter crust.

Buy it: Sugaree’s Mississippi Pecan Pie, $55, at goldbelly.com

How-to video

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New Mexico

When Kathy Knapp closed the Pie-O-Neer due to the pandemic, because you can only stay open for so long doing curbside pickup in a town with a population of just over 100, tiny Pie Town, New Mexico reeled. Then came the announcement that the owners of the last remaining pie baking establishment in town were thinking of retiring, and people began asking — if there’s no pie, should it even be called Pie Town anymore? (Dating back about a century, the name came from a local bakery that specialized in apple pies.) For a moment there, it was looking like Pie Town was going to be Pie-Less, but then Sarah Chavez, a local baker, stepped into the void — the Pie-O-Neer is back, serving up local peach and apple pies zipped up with green chiles, to the delight of those passing through town on Highway 60.

Serving suggestions

Sprinkle some additional cinnamon sugar on top or add some vanilla ice cream! If you’re feeling extra saucy, try this salted caramel sauce to drizzle on top!

If you love this apple dessert, you should also try my bourbon caramel apple galette or apple cider doughnuts in chai cinnamon sugar.

Washington

Buy it: A La Mode Famous Blue Hawaiian Pie

It will brighten up any dark winter day, and yes, they ship. Do you have a Twin Peaks fanatic in your life? Send a cherry pie from Twede’s Cafe in North Bend, which played a significant role on the groundbreaking TV show.

Buy it: Twin Peaks Cherry Pie + “Damn Fine” Coffee

Faq’s

What apples should not be used for an apple pie recipe?

How do I keep my hand pie from leaking?

Can hand pies be made ahead of time?

Wyoming

For somewhere so remote, there sure are a lot of ways to get to Yellowstone National Park or the Grand Tetons. Travelers along Route 26, which nudges its way northwest across the state from Nebraska up to Jackson Lake, do not find much in the way of human-made distractions. The small, unabashedly Western town of Dubois being one exception to that rule. Once you’re here, there isn’t a whole lot of choice, but that hasn’t stopped the Cowboy Cafe from being very good at its job of feeding both the locals and the tourists — nobody, however, will argue that the best reason to come here is the pie, of which there always seems to be plenty. Everything’s good, but the rhubarb ginger pie, if you can land some, is in a class by itself.

Oreo Pie

You can make this Oreo pie throughout the year. It’s just as delicious on the holidays as it is for a birthday celebration.

Get the Oreo Pie recipe.

Missouri

To make one of Mary Hostetter’s Levee-High Apple pies, you need a minimum of 18 apples. Also, you need the patience of Job to slice and stack those apples, Jenga-style, so they don’t come crashing down before you have time to cover the thing. Or, you could just leave the work to the team at Blue Owl Restaurant & Bakery in Kimmswick, where Hostetter’s pies remain the center of attention, decades after she first became a St. Louis-area sensation. The final flourish? A flood of caramel glaze—absolutely necessary, of course.

Buy it: Levee High Caramel Pecan Apple Pie

Michigan

Supposing you’re not lucky enough to live within driving distance of the shop, and you just want a Michigan cherry pie delivered to your door — more than a few makers in the state will be glad to ship you one, from Zingerman’s Bakehouse in Ann Arbor, which has their own mail order business, to Achatz Handmade Pie Co. in Chesterfield.

Buy it: Achatz Handmade Cannoli Cream Pie

California

Just when much of the country is snuggling up for pumpkin spice season, the temperatures in Southern California can get downright uncomfortable. Still, this is California, and they really do have it all, even if sometimes you have to get in the car to find it. Even on the most brutal September and October days, you’ll find people picking apples, up at 4,200 feet in the tiny town of Julian, just a little over an hour from the beaches of San Diego County. Changing leaves, a bit of classic Eastern architecture, cider mills, pick-your-own — it’s all happening here, and has been, at least the apple growing part, since the mid-1800s. During some dry years, the crop gets a little smaller, other years it’s out of control. The main change, according to growers, is that the season has started earlier, often before Labor Day. The famed Julian Pie Co. makes their sought-after, classic apple with locally picked Granny Smiths; they ship via FedEx.

Up north, generations of Central Valley kids will remember piling into the car for trips to Apple Hill, a historic agricultural area near Placerville, where dozens of growers (and cider makers) can be found keeping tradition alive. Pick up a pie at the Larsen Apple Barn, a seasonal operation dating back to the 1860s. Back in the day, people used to order slices of apple pie with melted cheese on top, and quite frankly, we’re sad that they stopped doing this. Down in Los Angeles, the very modern Cake Monkey is doing its bit to revive tradition, making an exceptional closed pie with Pink Lady apples and Granny Smiths roasted with Vermont cider jelly, brown butter, and vanilla beans, baked in a cheddar cheese crust. This low-key work of art costs about as much as two and a half Julian pies, but you don’t have to drive to 4,200 feet to get one, either — they’ll ship to your door.

Buy It: Cider Roasted Apple Pie in Double Cheddar Crust, $65 at goldbelly.com

Oregon

Fuse the sharp sweetness of a Northwest blackberry with the sophistication of a good wine grape, and what do you have? Real Oregonians know — it can only be a marionberry, named after for the county that is this distinctive, highly-sought-after berry’s spiritual home. During the season and often well outside, it has to be everything marionberry-flavored for fans, including pie, of course. Many of these pies come from Willamette Valley Pie Company, started by a family of long-time berry farmers in Salem, using their own recipes. They ship, too.

Buy it: Willamette Valley Pie Company Marrionberry Pie

After working with Nancy Silverton in California for years, Kim Boyce started her own Portland-based enterprise, Bakeshop PDX, which quickly become one of the best bakeries in the Northwest—her brown butter apple buckwheat streusel pies yield a sophisticated taste of fall.

Buy it: Bakeshop PDX Burnt Basque Cheesecake

It’s no wonder this classic Southern pie is so beloved. It’s sweet, dense, and just a little bit caramelized on top.

Get the Chess Pie recipe.

Arkansas

When it comes to possum pie, which is definitely the most Arkansas of pies, there are two types of people — the ones who are hugely relieved to discover that the recipe does not call for actual possums and the rest of us, who are slightly disappointed that it does not. This is a layered pie, somewhat subject to the whims of the baker, but typically you’ll find one vanilla (cream cheese or perhaps custard) and one chocolate (usually custard) layer, both buried under lots of whipped topping, which is how, supposedly, the pie got its name: from the slang term, playin’ possum, which means to play dead, or at least something you’re not. It’s definitely very different from a roadkill pie, in the end, but also extremely delicious. The pie is popular in towns like Conway, where Patti Stobaugh puts out one of the classiest in the state, at PattiCakes Bakery.

Colorado

Heather Briggs comes from one of those families where pie recipes were passed down from generation to generation, which is to say, she has a great deal of experience. Since 2016, she’s been baking the best pies in Colorado Springs, starting out small, selling slices from a truck. These days, Gold Star Pies turns out a lot of whole pies for people to take home, particularly during the holidays. In season, the sweet-tart rhubarb cream (Briggs’ favorite, she’ll tell you) makes an all-too-brief appearance, reminding us that what this country really needs is a whole lot more rhubarb pie.

Did you skip a trip to the Rockies this year? Bring a taste of the mountains to your kitchen table, with fruit pies shipped from Estes Park Pie Shop & Diner. If you’ve been, it’s the one with the sign that says You Need Pie! out front, and we’re definitely not arguing.

Buy it: Estes Park Choose Your Own Pies, 2 Pack, $80 at goldbelly.com

Louisiana

Quick — what’s the oldest city in Louisiana? Answer: probably not the one you’re thinking of. Founded in 1714 by French explorer Louis Juchereau de St. Denis, the handsome, if sleepy, river burg of Natchitoches has New Orleans beat by four whole years. Nowadays, the much smaller town is known primarily for two things — one, being the place where Steel Magnolias was filmed in the late 1980s, the other being meat pies. For almost as long as there have been European colonists in the area, meat pies have been central to the local cuisine. Made with beef and pork, and seasoned with onions, bell pepper, and cayenne, among other things, a Natchitoches meat pie looks a lot like an empanada; some food historians will say that’s because nearby Spanish colonists contributed to their creation. (There are a lot of theories flying around.) Mostly, people don’t get hung up on how the meat pie got here, they just eat them, at restaurants like the long-running Lasyone’s in downtown Natchitoches and events like New Orleans’ annual Jazz Fest, where the locally made pies (look for the equally popular crawfish, and even a vegetarian version) are popular enough that when the festival was cancelled two years in a row, the vendor that makes them held pop-ups, so fans could get their fix.

Buy it: Laysone’s Large Cajun Meat Pies

Connecticut

New Haven might be world-famous for pizza, but nearby Bridgeport brought dessert, and it has been doing so since 1968, when Sicilian immigrant John DiMarco took something very Italian, which is the cannoli, and turned it into something very American, which is a cannoli pie. For years, you went to Luigi’s Bakery to pick one up; after the business closed a couple of years back, DiMarco and a few pals launched The Cannoli Pie Company, which ships pies, made from a flaky crust of cannoli shell filled with a sweet, three-cheese cream, across the country. Bridgeport’s contribution to the dessert table may have gone wide, but the pies are still handmade. Of course, Connecticut pie history goes way further back than the 1960s. Lyman Orchards in Middlefield started out in the mid-1700s, and their apple pies remain some of the most popular in the state.

Idaho

Like many people enjoying the relatively rarified air of Sun Valley, Rebecca Bloom made a few chic stops before arriving, like at the Ritz-Escoffier in Paris, and various pastry kitchens in Southern California. Once here, she started her own business, Piedaho, putting her considerable skills to work, and before long, Bloom was reading about her own pies in O Magazine. Strawberry vanilla bean, blackberry with a thyme crust — these are pies made by a serious pastry chef, each one decorated to the nines. Tradition dies hard, however — one of the most popular sellers has, and according to Bloom, probably always will be, her salted caramel apple.

Vermont

Pie fixes everything, reads the optimistic slogan on every box at Poorhouse Pies, a home-based operation in the tiny town of Underhill, named for its scenic location in the shadow of Mount Mansfield. The name of the business comes from where Jamie and Paula Eisenberg thought they’d end up, once they left their jobs and tried to make a living baking out of their home, a few years back — not a chance. The maple cream pies alone could probably keep them afloat; syrup from just a few miles up the road is combined with condensed milk, eggs, and everything else you need for a seriously good cream pie, poured into a graham cracker crust. Topped with cream, this is about as Vermont as you get without sticking your head into a cloud of steam at the nearest sugarhouse. Everything is sold on the honor system, from a photogenic little shed on property — look for the sign that says “Pie Today,” which, it turns out, is nearly always the case.

Rhode Island

In America’s littlest state, the farm stand isn’t just a place you stop by a few times per summer or fall. Some of them are year-round destinations, catering to all kinds of needs and wants. At Wright’s Dairy Farm in North Smithfield, it’s not just about the milk, but baked goods as well, including an awfully fine coconut custard pie, a classic affair made with rich cream and milk from the cows out back. From May until the end of December, Sweet Berry Farm in Middletown relies largely on whatever’s in season to craft its road-trip worthy pies, from blueberry at summer’s peak to cozy-making apple pies toward the end of the year. Like yours à la mode? No need for a second stop — both farms make their own ice cream

This is one of Ladd Drummond’s all-time favorite pies! It can be made with a graham cracker crust, Oreo crust, or an all-butter crust. The options are endless!

Get Ree’s Chocolate Pie recipe.

Arizona

If you made a pie in the Southwest, savory or sweet, and didn’t find a way to sneak green chile into the recipe, what exactly was the point? At Pie Snob in Phoenix, crisp, tart Granny Smiths marry beautifully with chilies trucked over the state line (Hatch, New Mexico, of course) to create a memorable Apple Green Chile Crumb pie. The topping, a cinnamon-scented crumble made with a zippy-sweet honey jalapeño butter, pulls it all together beautifully. Traci Wilbur, who grew up in a pie-loving family, is all about the little twists and turns that make classic pies exciting again; At Thanksgiving time, her pumpkin pie with a ginger snap crumble crust is a popular seller.

South Carolina

Every host ought to have a talented baker in their little black book of dinner parties. Savvy planners in the greater Charlotte area are fortunate enough to have Christine Priester Simmons, who manages a busy home baking business, just over the state line in Fort Mill. Anything from Priester Pies, beginning with the excellent sweet potato (vegan or not vegan) with just a hint of lemon is a wise idea. (Priester Simmons will even deliver by hand, if you’re in the area.) Down in the Lowcountry, tomato pie makes for a perfect summer brunch, with many a maker putting their own spin on the regional fave. Sometimes its almost a quiche, other times it looks like you’re about to dig into an apple pie, except you cut through the crust and — voilà — tomatoes. At Stono Market and Tomato Shed near Charleston, it comes out almost like a casserole, served up in generous portions — nothing you’d serve at a sophisticated dinner party, but so delicious, people drive for miles to get their fix.

Step by step instructions

1. Let’s prep. Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Peel & slice your apples. Ensure your apples are completely peeled. You don’t want any tough bites of apple skin in your pie! Then cut the apples into even equal pieces, about ¼ inch each slice.

3. Mix your apple filling. In a large bowl, place your sliced apples. On top of your apples, sprinkle the sugar, citric acid, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cornstarch. Toss until every apple is evenly coated. Then set aside.

Apples topped with filling ingredients

Apple filling fully mixed

4. Now let’s prepare the pie dough. Make sure your puff pastry is completely thawed or else the dough will crack and break. On a floured work surface using a floured rolling pin, gently roll out one sheet of the dough so all seems are mended. Once the dough is even and seamless, cut into thirds horizontally.

Folded puff pastry

Rolled out puff pastry

Puff pastry cut into thirds

5. Fill the mini apple pies. On one half of each cut dough piece, place a heaping spoonful of the apple mixture. Along the border edges of the pastry dough, brush with the egg wash. Then carefully fold the side of the dough without apples, over the apple side. Using a fork, crimp the border of the square hand pie to seal the bottom and top dough together. Repeat steps 4 & 5 for the remaining sheet of puff pastry. Place all the prepared hand pies on the parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Puff pastry topped with apple filling

Puff pastry folded over apple filling brushed with egg wash

Prepared apple hand pies with slits cut on top

6. Time for final touches. Brush the top of apple hand pies with egg wash. Cut three thin slices on top to allow the steam to escape when baking. Generously sprinkle with Demerara sugar for that extra crunchy sugary goodness.

7. Bake em! Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. Serve warm.

Ohio

Sorry to everyone who lives in the big cities of Ohio, but do you really think your pies are ever going to fully compete with the ones in Holmes County? Ohio’s flagship Amish Country (there are a couple) is a schlep from most places, but the pie payoff is considerable. Here you’ll mostly find the blissfully simple and straightforward, the way pies always were before baking started trending again in this country. To look at the fruit pies at Mrs. Yoder’s Kitchen in Mount Hope, you might not know you were in the presence of greatness, but you are. The crusts are the crusts (good, but not world-changing); the toppings are non-dairy, inoffensive; but in season, the fruit fillings are so perfect, it’s like eating whatever — fruit, apple, the works — from the tree. Start here, but make sure to eat as much pie as you can, while you’re in the neighborhood — for starters, it’s the pecan pie at the classic Boyd & Wurthmann lunch counter in Berlin, and absolutely, definitely, your fill of the fried hand pies at Hershberger’s Farm & Bakery, which also has a petting zoo.

Alaska

Back in 1993, Carri Thurman found herself in something of a predicament — not only was she pregnant with her first child, but she was also in need of a full-time job. Working out of a shed by the beach in Homer, Thurman was a founding member of Two Sisters Bakery, which over time would become one of the state’s best. Today, the business operates out of a charming home, complete with a wraparound porch and wood-fired brick oven, in the same beautiful place. The pies Thurman and business partner Sharon Roufa put out at Thanksgiving are a little celebration of Alaska’s brief but memorable harvest, calling on everything from birch syrup to apples and pumpkins to bring local flavor to the holiday table.

Maine

In the more than two decades Puzzle Mountain Bakery has been operating on the honor system, selling baked goods from their little shed by the side of the road in Newry, the biggest problem that owners Ryan and Devon Wheeler say they’ve encountered isn’t people taking pies without paying — it’s the local black bear population, who like to show up at the end of the day and themselves to the leftovers. Not that there’s typically much for them to choose from, particularly during blueberry season, when pies filled with local, wild-picked fruit tend to fly off the shelves as fast as they’re added. Of course, you don’t have to trek all the way up here to get a pie, though you really should, one of these summers.

Down in the Portland area, easily one of the great baking capitals of the country right now, Two Fat Cats Bakery is known for their outrageously good wild blueberry pies, available both in and out of season — these are low-intervention pies, just lots of Maine’s favorite fruit, a dash of lemon, a sprinkle of sugar and spice, and plenty of experience rolling out great crusts. Best of all, they ship.

Buy it: Two Fat Cats Bakery Maine Wild Blueberry Pies

Mini Apple Pies

There cute bite-sized treats are filled with sweet apples and finished with a crumbly streusel topping. It’ll be hard to eat just one!

Get Ree’s Mini Apple Pies recipe.

Mississippi Mud Pie

This is one of those mile-high pies that looks like it could win a blue ribbon. It’s got three layers, including a brownie layer, chocolate pudding layer, and whipped cream.

Get the Mississippi Mud Pie recipe.

Tips & tricks

Make sure your apples are sliced into thin small pieces. Use a sharp knife to cut about ¼ inch slices. If your slices are too thick, they will not fully bake through.

Flour the rolling pin and your work surface when rolling out the pastry dough. Just a little flour goes a long way here to prevent the sheet of puff pastry from sticking to any surfaces.

Be sure to add enough filling to each apple hand pie. When it looks like there is enough apples on there, just add a few more! Don’t be scared to add a heaping pile! It condenses a lot in the oven and we want to be sure to have juicy apple pie pockets.

North Carolina

Like so many of the best pies in America, the chess pie is a very simple thing to make, assuming you know your way around a crust — next to that, whipping up the simple, custard-like filling can be relatively easy. Which is a good thing, because customers at the Angus Barn steakhouse in Raleigh, one of the state’s most iconic restaurants (and a fixture on the landscape since the 1960s), tend to order a lot of the chocolate chess pie off of the dessert tray — in a recent count, the restaurant was making over 100 of the crackle crust-topped pies per day. This isn’t the kind pie that ships easily, so you’ll have to actually show up to try it — while you’re there, Raleigh’s Slice Pie Company makes its own version of the local favorite, a double chocolate chess pie topped with chocolate ganache. Owner Michael Mullins became well-known for his pies (and specifically, his family’s generations-old crust recipe) after winning the blue ribbon at the state fair one year; chess pies they won’t ship either, but that’s okay — their terrifically good pecan pies they will.

Buy it: Slice Pie Company Pecan Pie

Banana Cream Pie

Get the Banana Cream Pie recipe.

Wisconsin

Buy it: O&H Danish Bakery Apple Cinnamon Kringle Pie