Follow your croissant recipe up until the final roll out step. Stop before cutting the triangles for croissants - you’ll be cutting rectangles instead for these hand pies.

Dice apples into 1/4-inch pieces so they’ll fit nicely in the hand pies and cook evenly.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the diced apples, both sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Mix cornstarch with 15ml water to create a slurry. Add this to the apples along with lemon juice. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until the mixture thickens.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract once the filling has thickened.

Let the filling cool to room temperature before using in hand pies to prevent the pastry from getting soggy.

Roll out your croissant dough into a rectangle approximately 12.5 x 9.25 inches.

Trim the edges to create clean, straight edges on all sides.

Cut the dough into 4 equal rectangles approximately 6 x 4.5 inches each.

Place each rectangle on parchment paper.

On each rectangle, lightly mark a 2-inch wide strip down the center lengthwise, this is where your filling will go.

Using a sharp knife, cut the remaining dough on each side into strips about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide. You should have 4-5 strips on each side of each rectangle.

Make sure to cut all the way to the center marking, but don’t cut through the center strip.

Divide the apple filling evenly among the 4 rectangles, spooning it down the center uncut strip of each one.

Dot each portion of filling with small pieces of the remaining butter.

Beginning at one end, take the first strip from the left side and fold it over the filling at a diagonal angle.

Take the first strip from the right side and fold it over the filling, crossing over the left strip.

Continue alternating sides, pulling each strip snugly over the filling to create a braided pattern.

Tuck the ends under to seal each hand pie.

Repeat for all 4 hand pies.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Whisk together egg yolk and milk to create egg wash.

Brush each hand pie with the egg wash. Avoiding the open edges of the croissant layers.

Sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired.

Bake for 22-27 minutes, checking at 22 minutes until golden brown and flaky.

Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.