Easy Mini Vegan Apple Pies with Shortcrust Pastry

When you need an easy sweet treat and want something fruity, these easy mini vegan apple pies made with shortcrust pastry are just perfect.

Little homemade hand pies filled with apple and cinnamon in flaky pastry. Mmmmm!

They are dairy-free, egg-free and completely vegan.

Quick to make and delicious!

Jump to:

• 🍎 Why quick apple hand pies are so good
• 💭 Store bought or homemade shortcrust pastry?
• 💭 Is shortcrust pastry suitable for vegans?
• 💭 Can you use puff pastry instead?
• 🍏 Easy apple pie filling
• 🍎 Using fresh apples
• 📋 What you need to make mini vegan apple pies
• 📖 Variations
• 🥛 Cutting the pastry circles
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Decorating mini apple pies
• 👩🏻‍🍳 A light golden finish without egg wash
• ♨️ Can you bake them in an air fryer?
• 🥄 A dusting of icing sugar
• 🍨 How to serve vegan apple tarts
• 🌡️ Storing & freezing individual dairy-free apple pies
• More fruity vegan recipes
• ⭐ Save your favourite recipes for free!
• 👩🏻‍🍳 How to make Easy Mini Vegan Apple Pies with Shortcrust Pastry
• 📖 Recipe
• Comments

🍎 Why quick apple hand pies are so good

These mini pies are a new favourite in my house and they are so easy and fun to make, I really don't mind if my family ask me to make another batch.

Here are a few reasons why they are so good.

• Fruity - they are filled with an apple sauce
• Quick - made with shop-bought shortcrust pastry (store-bought pie crust)
• Easy - simple to make
• No rolling - the pastry is ready-rolled
• Fun - these are fun to make
• Play about - keep them simple with a fork crimp around the edge or play about with scrap pastry to decorate them
• Delicious - fruity little pies that will bring a smile to your face
• Not too sweet - these aren't filled with sugar, so you really taste the apple
• Great for lunch boxes - just wrap one in parchment paper (baking paper) and pop it in your lunch bag
• Good hot or cold - for a snack or dessert

Try this mini apple pie recipe and see what you think!

💭 Store bought or homemade shortcrust pastry?

Shop-bought shortcrust pastry is perfect for these little apple pies.

It is ready rolled to a perfect triangle and the ideal thickness.

And it doesn't have to be sweet shortcrust pastry either. I use plain shortcrust pastry and top the pies with a sprinkling of sugar before I bake them.

It gives them enough sweetness, without them being overly sweet.

However, you can use sweet short crust pastry if you prefer.

Homemade shortcrust pastry is also an option if you prefer to make your own.

Try this vegan shortcrust pastry from my friend Kate over at The Veg Space or the flaky shortcrust pastry made with vegetable suet, I use to make Bedfordshire Clangers.

💭 Is shortcrust pastry suitable for vegans?

Most shop-bought shortcrust pastry is accidentally suitable for vegans.

However, it is best to check the pack before you buy it just to make sure.

They tend to use oil or margarine instead of butter.

Probably because it's cheaper.

If you're making pastry at home (homemade pie dough), I would recommend using vegan block butter for a short pastry or vegetable suet, which makes a very flaky pastry (flaky pie crust).

I've not seen any gluten-free shortcrust pastry in the supermarkets, but here is a recipe for gluten-free pastry that might be an option.

💭 Can you use puff pastry instead?

You could definitely use puff pastry instead of shortcrust in this recipe.

It will give you a completely different result, but they would be equally tasty.

It's worth giving it a try, if that's what you have or just what you fancy.

And of course, you could use gluten-free puff pastry if you follow a gluten-free diet.

🍏 Easy apple pie filling

Apple sauce is a good filling for apple pie pockets like these little pies.

Here in the UK, it's usually made with Bramley apples (cooking apples) and it's not overly sweet.

It also has small chunks of apple, it's not a completely smooth sauce, which is ideal when making a quick apple pie.

The one in the photo is a smoother sauce, which works too, but I prefer the Tesco apple sauce which has chunks.

You can usually see how smooth it is through the glass.

I always have a jar or two in my store cupboard.

It makes a good replacement for egg in cakes (I use it in my soft, rich fruit cake), as a filling for filo pastry apple hand pies , for the filling in quick Danish pastries and it's rather nice dolloped on vegan Greek yoghurt or your morning bowl of porridge.

🍎 Using fresh apples

Of course, you can use fresh eating apples (tart apples like granny smith apples or gala apples for a sweeter finish) or cooking apples instead of apple sauce to make the apple filling for these mini apple tarts.

Just, peel, core, and dice them finely, then cook them for a few minutes in a pan with a little sugar and a splash of water until they start to soften.

Don't add a lot of water as you don't want the filling to be wet.

📋 What you need to make mini vegan apple pies

Here are the simple ingredients you need to make these easy mini apple pies.

• Shortcrust pastry
• Apple sauce - or cooked apples
• Cinnamon - if you don't like ground cinnamon try mixed spice or ground ginger
• Oat milk - or your milk of choice
• Caster sugar - brown sugar or granulated sugar would work too

The full printable recipe can be found at the bottom of this page after the step-by-step photos.

🥛 Cutting the pastry circles

I use a fluted cookie cutter when I make these simple apple pies, but you could use any circular or shaped cookie to cut the pastry shapes.

My cookie cutter is approximately 8 ½ cm (3 inches), but you can use a smaller or larger cutter and adjust the amount of filling accordingly.

You could also use a glass to cut circles of pastry.

Rub the rim of the glass with a little oil first, so the pastry doesn't stick to it.

👩🏻‍🍳 Decorating mini apple pies

Here are simple ideas for decorating these little vegan apple pies.

I used a cookie press to emboss a flower design on mine.

• Keep it simple - use a fork to seal the edges and create a design around the edge
• Paper doilles - gently press a paper doillie into the shortcrust pastry lids for a lace effect
• Fork - use the tines of a fork to create a criss-cross pattern on the pastry lids
• Trimmings - use the excess pastry to make shapes to decorate the pies, brushing a little water on so they stick
• Cookie press - you will find a variety of cookie presses (cookie stamps) available online, like my floral stamp
• Lattice - cut the lid into strips and weave them into a lattice (or cheat and buy a pastry lattice cutter)

👩🏻‍🍳 A light golden finish without egg wash

For that light golden brown finish without using beaten egg, simply brush the pastries with plant-based milk.

I use oat milk. but you can use your regular milk.

You don't want the apple tarts to brown. You are just looking for a light golden colour at the edges.

♨️ Can you bake them in an air fryer?

Air fryers are actually pretty good when it comes to baking.

You just have to remember it's hotter at the top (If you are using a shelf-style air fryer) and it bakes faster.

So you need to bake these in smaller batches for less time.

Bake at 180c / 350f and check them between the 12 to 15 minutes mark.

It will be trial and error, to get them spot on.

Cooking time can vary, as they say.

🥄 A dusting of icing sugar

I like to finish these little apple pastries off with a dusting of icing sugar.

I add a sprinkle of sugar to the top of the pies before they are baked, for sweetness.

The icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) is purely to make them look pretty.

🍨 How to serve vegan apple tarts

These mini apple tarts can be served hot or cold.

Serve them cold as a sweet treat with a cuppa or in lunchboxes.

Serve them hot out of the oven with warm vegan custard or a scoop of vanilla ice cream (dairy-free). They make great mini desserts.

Oh, and they would be good served with squirty cream or pouring cream too. Mmmm!

🌡️ Storing & freezing individual dairy-free apple pies

These beautiful little fruit pies can be made ahead.

Once cool. store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Alternatively, you could flash freeze them on a tray in the freezer, then pop them in a freezer bag or wrap them individually in freezer-friendly baking paper and pop them in a freezer bag.

Freeze for 2-3 months and leave in the fridge overnight to defrost.

They can be reheated in a microwave or oven (cover them in foil in the oven to prevent browning, but no foil in the microwave please!).

More fruity vegan recipes

Looking for more easy fruity vegan recipes? Try these:

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👩🏻‍🍳 How to make Easy Mini Vegan Apple Pies with Shortcrust Pastry

These step-by-step photos will show you how to make these tasty little vegan apple pies.

Step 1

• Preheat the oven.
• Unroll the shortcrust pastry.
• Cut circles with a cookie cutter (biscuit cutters) or glass and place half of them on a lined baking sheet and spread the other half out on the paper the pastry was rolled in.
• You can reroll the reaming pastry. I managed to get another two circles for another pie from mine, but it will depend on the size of your cookie cutter or glass (see notes in the recipe card below).
• Decorate the lids, if you wish to do so.

Step 2

• Place a teaspoon of the apple mixture (a good dollop) in the centre of each pie, leaving a border.
• Rub a little water around the border, you can use a clean finger dipped in water or a pastry brush.
• Dust with cinnamon.
• Add the lid, using your thumb or finger to press down around the edges to seal. You can use a fork, which will leave a nice pattern.
• Do the same for as many pies as you can make using the pastry and filling (will vary according to size of pastry sheet and cutters).

Step 3

• Once sealed, you can cut a couple of air holes or slits. I didn't this time and they were fine.
• Brush with milk, then sprinkle sugar over the pies.
• Bake until lightly golden.
• Serve and enjoy!