Sink your teeth into the gluten-free, keto apple hand pies. These hand-held pastries are filled with zucchini, so they are keto-friendly.
Apple Hand Pies
Don’t tell anyone, but these apple hand pies don’t have any apples in them! They taste like they do. In fact, they have the same texture, shape, and flavor as apples. These flaky little pastries are filled with cooked zucchini.
That’s what keeps them ket0-friendly.
Unfortunately, apples have too many carbs in them to be considered keto-friendly. I really wish I could make a low-carb apple pie with all apples, but there is just no way.
So the next-best thing is to use low-carb zucchini pieces instead of apples. You have to try it! You’ll be surprised at how sweet and delicious these pastries are.
Sugar-Free Apple Hand Pies
These gluten-free zucchini apple hand pies are shaped in portable rectangles. They make a delicious dessert or snack that you can take with you out the door. They are also the perfect things to serve guests at a party.
I like how they are already individually portioned. You don’t need any utensils or cups.
The type of sweetener you use in the filling is very important. Make sure you use Swerve brown sugar substitute.
This is the best sweetener to use because as it bakes, the brown sugar substitute will caramelize, creating that apple pie flavor and aroma. Granulated, liquid, or confectioner’s sugar substitutes don’t caramelize the same way.
Keto Zucchini Dessert
Always peel and dice the zucchini before you add them to the pastry filling. Even though zucchini skin is safe to eat, it won’t taste very good when you eat it in the pastry. If you want the zucchini to pass for apples, you should peel them first.
Zucchini has a very mild and subdued earthy flavor. Since it doesn’t have a strong flavor that stands out, you can make it taste however you want. In order to make it as sweet as apples, you need to add plenty of Swerve brown sugar substitute.
Keto Breakfast Pastry
These copycat PopTarts are made with my favorite Fat Head dough. This is a combination of almond flour, mozzarella cheese, and cream cheese. I used this dough to make sweet Hawaiian rolls before and they turned out buttery, sweet, and flaky.
Since these zucchini apple pastries remind me of PopTarts, I suggest serving them for breakfast or brunch. If you love sweet flavors first thing in the morning, try these ideas next.
Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Muffins are high in fiber and protein and have the delicious flavor of chocolate chips. Oreo Chaffles are surprisingly low in carbs. The chocolate chaffles are topped with a sugar-free whipped filling. it’s delicious!
Apple Pie Spice
The apple pie spice will fill your kitchen with incredible aromas. It’s what makes these little pastries taste like apple pie. If you don’t have apple pie spice at home, you can use pumpkin pie spice as a substitute.
The only difference between the two is that pumpkin pie spice includes cloves, and apple pie spice doesn’t.
Keto Apple Hand Pies Recipe
Below are the ingredients that you’ll need to make these tasty zucchini apple hand pies. Exact measurements and instructions are located below within the printable recipe card below.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Servings: 6
Net Carbs: 4 net carbs per serving
Ingredients:
For the filling:
Butter
Large zucchini
Apple pie spice
Swerve brown sugar replacement
For the dough:
Almond flour
Mozzarella cheese shredded
Cream cheese
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Swerve confectioners sugar substitute
Egg
Xanthan gum
Baking powder
Butter melted
Instructions:
Add cream cheese and mozzarella cheese into a microwave safe bowl. Heat the cheeses in 30 second intervals until completely melted and combined.
Add cheese mixture to a mixing bowl, with the remaining dough ingredients except for the melted butter. Knead until all ingredients are combined.
Chill dough for 30 minutes.
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat on the stove. Stir in zucchini, apple pie spice and brown sugar Swerve.
Stir to combine, and saute until zucchini is a crisp tender. Let cool.
Roll chilled dough out between two pieces of parchment paper until it’s about ¼ of an inch thick.
Slice dough into 12 rectangles, you may have to do this in two batches, rolling the excess back out the second time around.
Place some filling into the center of six of the rectangles of dough.
Add another rectangle of plain dough over each filled rectangle, and pinch the edges closed. Fold edges of each rectangle up slightly. Bake for 15 minutes.
Brush with melted butter (optional), remove and let cool before serving.
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Keto Apple Hand Pies
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Microwave-Safe Bowl
- Parchment Paper
- Rolling Pin
- Pizza Cutter
Ingredients
Zucchini Apple Filling
- 3 tbsp Butter
- 1 large Zucchini Peeled and Diced
- 1 tsp Apple Pie Spice
- 3 tbsp Swerve Brown Sugar Replacement
Keto Pastry Dough
- 1 cup Almond Flour
- 1 1/2 cups Mozzarella Cheese shredded
- 2 ounces Cream Cheese
- 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 pinch Nutmeg
- 3 tbsp Swerve Confectioner's Sugar Substitute
- 1 large Egg
- 1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 tbsp Butter melted
Instructions
- Place the cream cheese and mozzarella cheese into a bowl that is microwave safe. Heat the cheeses for 30 second intervals until completely melted and combined.
- Add the cheese mixture to a mixing bowl, with all of the remaining dough ingredients except for the melted butter. Knead until all of the ingredients are combined.
- Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat on the stove.
- Stir in the zucchini, apple pie spice and brown sugar Swerve. Stir to combine, and saute until the zucchini is a crisp tender. Let cool.
- Roll the chilled dough out between two pieces of parchment paper until it is about ¼ of an inch thick.
- Slice the dough into 12 evenly sized rectangles, you may have to do this in two batches, rolling the excess back out the second time around.
- Place some of the filling into the center of six of the rectangles of dough.
- Add another rectangle of plain dough over each filled rectangle, and pinch the edges closed. Fold the edges of each rectangle up slightly.
- Place the filled pastries on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove and let cool before serving.
Notes
Keto Pastries
If you enjoyed learning how to make low-carb apple hand pies, here are some more tasty keto pastries you should make next! They are some of my favorites!
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