APPLE CREAM-CHEESE HAND PIES

Steps:

• Make the Fillings:
• Combine cream cheese filling ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Place in fridge until ready to use.
• For the apple pie filling, melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the rest of the filling ingredients and cook over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until apples are soft but not mushy. Use a slotted spoon to strain out the apple pieces. Return the pan to the stove and continue to cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until juice is reduced to 1/3 and is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Pour thickened juice back onto apples. Let cool to room temperature
• Make the All Butter Pie Crust:
• Stir the flour, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the butter pieces and coat with the flour mixture using a bench scraper or spatula. With a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture, working quickly until mostly pea-sized pieces of butter remain (a few larger pieces are OK; be careful not to overblend).
• Combine the water, cider vinegar, and ice in a large measuring cup or small bowl. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the ice-water mixture over the flour mixture, and mix and cut it in with a bench scraper or spatula until it is fully incorporated. Add more of the ice-water mixture, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, using the bench scraper or your hands (or both) to mix until the dough comes together in a ball, with some dry bits remaining. Squeeze and pinch with your fingertips to bring all the dough together, sprinkling dry bits with more small drops of the ice-water mixture, if necessary, to combine. Shape the dough into a flat disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight, to give the crust time to mellow. Wrapped tightly, the dough can be refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for 1 month.
• Make the Hand Pies:
• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Roll chilled pie dough out on floured surface to approximately 1/8 inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out forty 4-inch circles, re-rolling if necessary. Place a dollop of cream cheese in the center of half of the circles. Top with a spoonful of the apple pie filling.
• Cover with another pie dough round and gently pinch the edges together. Use the tines of a fork to seal further and to create a fluted edge. Cut a small X-shaped slit on the top of each pie with a paring knife.
• Use a pastry brush to brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with raw or demerara sugar. Chill in freezer for 10 minutes before baking. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes until dark golden.