apple-cheddar hand pies w/ maple glaze

Most of you know I love Emeril. A huge dream of mine is to meet him and cook with him--I mean cook things up to notches unknown! I think he is just absolutely fascinating to watch, always is quick-handed during cooking, knows how to react perfectly with people and just has this contagious energy to get people involved in cooking, just like he did in his show "Emeril Live"!
Remember that show?  Good times. Wish they'd bring that one back.

Emeril would get you so engaged, so excited to cook!
Best of all, I love that he likes to think as do I and kick things up a notch; as he would say "why be boring?...we're gonna make it better and badder!"  He definitely made you think about doing your same old recipe different; for me anyways.
Here is one of his recipes and one of my very favorite ways to make apple pie. I love hand pies. This way everyone gets their own individual pie, plus you can shape them into any form. Did you know that with hand pies come MORE crust? Think about it, you get more crust per square inch in a hand pie than you would with a slice of pie. For me, the crust is the best part--hands down. It's all about ratio baby! I don't think there should be an equal amount of filling to crust, I think it should be 60% crust and 40% filling.
(my apologies for the dark photos)





apple-cheddar hand pies
adapted from Emeril Lagasse
print recipe

2 golden delicious apples, peeled, cored, & chopped (I used 3 McCoun) 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (I used pie crust this time, both work great) 1 cup cheddar, shredded
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water (I used no water)
Maple Glaze, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice. Add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and toss to combine.
In a saute pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Cook apple mixture for 7 to 10 minutes until apple juices release and apples are slightly softened. Sprinkle flour over mixture. Cook for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry sheet. With pizza wheel, cut pastry sheet into 6 squares.
Add the cubed cheese to cooled apple mixture.
Divide the apple mixture in the center of each pastry square, leaving a 1-inch border along the long sides.
Carefully fold into triangle shape; crimp the ends together with fork to seal, and place on the prepared baking sheet.
In a small bowl, beat together the egg and water to make an egg wash. With a pastry brush, lightly coat the outside of each square with the egg wash. Using a paring knife, make a vent in each triangle.
Bake until risen and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool slightly and drizzle with maple glaze. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream on the side.
If using pie crusts, they take about 30 - 35 minutes to cook.

Maple Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
7 tablespoons maple syrup
Combine sugar and syrup until smooth.
(I added in about 4 - 6 oz. of softened cream cheese)

These really taste like a pop tart only 1000x's better.