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–+ servings
stacked, gooey turtle hand pies
5 from 10 votes

Turtle Hand Pies

Author Andrea + Stef

Course Dessert
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
6
Warm and delicious turtle hand pies cook quickly in the air fryer. Chocolate, pecan and caramel make the perfect filling for these easy to make pastries.

Equipment

Ingredients
  

Hand Pie Ingredients:

  • 1 package of two refrigerated pie crusts
  • 4 oz. Ghirardelli dark chocolate bar this breaks evenly into 6 squares
  • 6 caramel squares
  • About ½ cup chopped pecans
  • Water for sealing crusts

Glaze Ingredients:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • ⅛ cup whole milk
  • 1 ½ teaspoons corn syrup

Instructions

  • Bring pie crusts to room temperature 30-60 minutes before making pies.
  • Unroll pie crust onto a floured countertop. Cut out 12 circles from the two crusts using a 4” fluted biscuit cutter. Gather scraps and re-roll to make additional crusts so that you have 12 total.
    cutting pie rounds
  • For each pie, center a chocolate square on a crust circle. Slice a caramel square in half and place the two halves side by side on top of the chocolate. Mound 1-2 teaspoons of chopped pecans over the chocolate and caramel.
    add pecans to top of caramel and chocolate on pie crust
  • Cut small slices for venting into a second pie crust circle and brush with water. Place the moistened crust over the filled bottom piece. Align the edges and press them together well to seal all the way around the pie.
    top crust on mini hand pie with hands pressing down on edges
  • Fold up the outer edges to provide a tighter seal - this also makes an attractive edge on the hand pies.
    hand pinching edges of hand pie to seal
  • Space four hand pies in the basket of the air fryer (or as many as you can fit while leaving a couple inches around each pie).. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes.
    uncooked hand pies in air fryer
  • While the hand pies are baking, whisk together the ingredients for the glaze.
    sugar glaze ingredients being whisked in a bowl
  • Remove the pies from the air fryer when they are golden and flakey. Place them on a cooling rack and immediately brush with glaze.
    pastry basting brush brushing sugar glaze on top of 4 cooked turtle hand pies
  • Leave hand pies to set and dry (about 15 minutes).

Notes

Storage: 
Store leftover hand pies in an airtight container on the countertop.  Reheat in the microwave, air fryer, or toaster oven.
 
Notes:   
 
We cut the caramel square in half so that it sits flatter in the hand pie and also so that it melts more evenly.  If you place the caramel square on top of the chocolate whole, the pie crust molds to the square shape before the caramel has a chance to melt and the hand pie takes on an odd shape.
 
Adjust the amount of filling to make a pie that has plenty of everything inside, but one that you can also seal without everything falling out or splitting apart during baking.  We found it easiest to layer the ingredients as shown - with the chocolate square on the bottom, then the cut caramel square, and finally the chopped pecans.
 
These hand pies are delicious when eaten warm.  The caramel can harden too much and be difficult to chew when the hand pies are cold.  Reheat hand pies in the air fryer or microwave, just until warm.

Nutrition

Calories: 369kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 148mg | Potassium: 191mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 3mg

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