Pull-Apart Bun Pie with Apples and Nuts
Soft yeast dough balls stuffed with apple-cinnamon-nut filling, baked together and glazed. Cozy grandma-style treat.
Updated : 13 February, 2026
Easy
More than 1 hour.
Ingredients
Dough
320 grams
Wheat flour
150 milliliters
Milk
70 grams
Butter
1
Eggs
2 tablespoon
Vegetable oil
2 tablespoon
Sugar
1 teaspoon
Dry yeast
1 grams
Salt
Filling
400 grams
Apple
70 grams
Walnut
60 grams
Brown sugar
2 tablespoon
Juice
1 tablespoon
Lemon zest
1 teaspoon
Cinnamon
Glaze
100 grams
Powdered sugar
1 tablespoon
Water
0.5 teaspoon
Almond extract
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Advices
Advice
Keep in mind that all ovens are different. The temperature and cooking time may differ from what’s listed in the recipe.
Preparation
Step 1
How to make a pull-apart bun pie: first prepare all ingredients for the yeast dough. The butter and the egg should be at room temperature, so take them out of the fridge in advance.
Step 2
Warm the milk to 37-40°C (99-104°F). If you don’t have a thermometer, test it by hand: drop a little milk on the inside of your wrist. If it feels pleasant - not cold and not hot - the temperature is right. At 45°C (113°F) yeast becomes sluggish, and at 50°C (122°F) it starts to die. So the most important thing when making dough is not to kill the yeast at the very beginning.
Step 3
Into 100 ml (about 1/2 cup minus 1 tbsp) of warm milk, add the sugar and yeast. Stir and leave for 15 minutes until a foamy cap forms. This means the yeast is active and you can continue. If no foam appears, either the yeast is bad or the milk was overheated. You’ll need to start over, because the dough won’t rise.
Step 4
In a separate bowl, mix the remaining milk, vegetable oil, the egg, softened butter, and salt.
Step 5
Pour in the activated yeast and mix.
Step 6
Add the sifted flour.
Step 7
Knead a soft, pliable dough. If needed, add a little more flour.
Step 8
Leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Step 9
While the dough is rising, make the filling. Tart-sweet apples with green skin work best (such as Granny Smith). They also brown more slowly. You can replace brown (cane) sugar with regular sugar.
Step 10
Chop the nuts. I recommend pouring boiling water over walnuts for 5-7 minutes, then peeling off the skins - this removes bitterness.
Step 11
Peel the apples, remove the cores, and cut into small cubes.
Step 12
Mix the apples with lemon juice and zest, sugar, cinnamon, and nuts.
Step 13
Mix everything thoroughly.
Step 14
Punch down the risen dough.
Step 15
Divide the dough into 22-28 equal pieces and roll them into balls.
Step 16
Flatten a piece of dough, place 1 tsp filling in the center, and pinch the edges to form a ball.
Step 17
Shape the rest of the balls the same way, with apple filling inside.
Step 18
Grease a baking pan (round or rectangular) with butter and pack the apple balls tightly in several layers. To get several layers, the rectangular pan should be narrow, and the round one should be small - 18-20 cm (7-8 in) in diameter.
Step 19
Spread the remaining apple filling on top. Cover the pan with a towel and let proof for 25 minutes. Bake in a preheated oven at 175°C (347°F) for 40-45 minutes. 10 minutes before the end, cover the top with foil so the apples don’t burn. Remove the finished pie from the pan and cool on a rack.
Step 20
While the pie cools, prepare the glaze. I didn’t have almond extract, so I replaced it with limoncello. You can also replace it with cognac.
Step 21
Put 60 g (about 1/2 cup) powdered sugar into a bowl, pour in the almond extract and water. Mix, then gradually add the remaining powdered sugar while stirring.
Step 22
Drizzle the glaze over the still-warm pie and serve. Enjoy your meal!
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