These Berry Hand Pies are made with the most delicious pie dough stuffed with a sweet berry mixture.
I’ve admitted it before, and I’ll admit it again. I’m a hopelessly horrible pie crust maker. I’ve tried many a recipe and many a method, and I can never seem to get it right. Am I overworking the dough? Is it not chilled enough? Is it a poor recipe to begin with? Am I just jinxed? It’s hard to say. But heck, I keep trying. Once in a while I get a good one: like this crust I used for these Berry Hand Pies.
This recipe comes from the cookbook Pie it Forward by baker/confectioner/pastry master extraordinaire– Gesine Bullock-Prado. In Pie it Forward, Bullock-Prado shares both sweet and savory pies. More on Pie it Forward at the end of this post.
How to Make Berry Hand Pie Dough and Filling
This pie dough recipe was created specifically to be a “hand pie dough.” Bullock-Prado describes it as a zippy and easy-to-handle dough, tailor made for small, handheld treats. Something different about this one- it has a 1/4 cup of sweetened condensed milk in it. I was a little worried about that… because what in the world would I do with the rest of the sweetened condensed milk?! Not to worry though. You can actually place sweetened condensed milk into a little container and just stick it into the freezer until you need some more.
The filling is a mix of strawberries and raspberries and a tiny bit of fresh rosemary!
A brush of egg wash gives the pies a slightly shiny finish when baked, and a sprinkle of turbinado sugar (or any sugar) gives them sparkle.
The dough for these Berry Hand Pies is pretty easy to work with (thank goodness!), and it turns out the best sort of rustic-looking pies with thick, syrupy juices oozing out in all the right places.
These hand pies are delicious. The recipe makes 12 individual, hand-held pies. They’re perfect to include on a platter of desserts for a summer gathering. They’ll be the first to go!
Pie it Forward cookbook:
In Pie it Forward, author Gesine Bullock-Prado shares the best dough recipes to use for each creation- from sweet tart dough to strudel dough to pizza crust! And guess what? There is an entire chapter devoted to perfecting pie crusts- all kinds of tips and tricks! She shows us how to master fillings too. Yep, this pie cookbook covers both sweet and savory recipes. As a pie-challenged individual, I’m happy to have this book at hand in my kitchen. Recipes I’m excited to try: New England Berry Galette, Blueberry Brown Butter Tartlets, German Apple Custard Tart, Buttermilk Peach Pie, Butterscotch Meringue Pie, Meyer Lemon Pudding Pie, Apple Strudel, Bavarian Calzones, Fried Green Tomato Tart and A Very Good Pizza Pie. Everything looks so good!
If you’re looking for more summer pie recipes, you’ll like my Raspberry- Blueberry Pie and my Fresh Peach Pie too. This Strawberry Rhubarb Pie looks pretty fantastic as well.
Berry Hand Pies
Ingredients
HAND PIE DOUGH:
- 2 cups all purpose flour, chilled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons frozen shortening
- 2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
FILLING:
- 1/2 pint (170g) fresh strawberries
- 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 medium lemon, zest and juice
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 cup halved fresh raspberries
- 1 large egg, whisked with 2 T. water
- turbinado or sparkling sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
PREPARE THE HAND PIE DOUGH:
- In a food processor, pulse together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the shortening and butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and condensed milk. With the processor running, slowly add the milk mixture and continue to pulse until the dough just comes together.
- Turn the dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Use the plastic wrap to turn the dough over a few times, until it no longer has dry bits of flour visible and is smooth. It's important the the dough be rather smooth- otherwise, when you roll it out for your pies, the dough will crack. Wrap the dough in the plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before using.
PREPARE THE FILLING:
- Hull the strawberries. Cut them into small pieces, a bit larger than corn kernels. Combine the strawberries, sugar, lemon zest and rosemary in a mixing bowl and stir until the strawberries are evenly coated with sugar. Allow to strawberries to sit for a while until the sugar melts and the juices of the strawberries are running freely. Drain the strawberry juice into a small bowl. Add the lemon juice, then stir in the cornstarch until the mixture becomes a smooth slurry without lumps. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the berries, the cornstarch slurry and the salt. Stir over medium heat until the mixture bubbles and thickens, 5 to 10 minutes. Allow the filling to cool completely in the refrigerator, about 20 minutes. Stir the raspberries into the strawberry mixture.
ASSEMBLE THE HAND PIES:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Divide the dough evenly into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 4-inch round and place the rounds on a parchment-lined sheet pan. With a pastry brush, brush egg wash along the outside edge of the dough rounds. Place 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling onto the middle of each round. Fold the dough over, creating a half moon, and seal the pastries by pressing gently along the edges of each with the tines of a fork. Brush the outsides of the pastries with egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado or sparkling sugar. - Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the hand pies to cool completely.
Notes
- *Most berries will work in a hand pie. Just be sure to cut the berry pieces small enough (not much larger than a kernel of corn).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My mom used to make these! She called them Popovers or pie pouches. I was just telling my hubby that I would make him some. She would fill them with a sweet potato mixture, lemon pudding, mincemeat, peaches and apples for Thanksgiving, instead of making the pies. She made them square so they would be pointy and then she arranged them into rows of twelve each. Then she placed them in a long wide box top lined and covered on the outside with foil. It made the desert table sparkle. He is gonna love em. Meee too! Yummmmmmmmmmmm
Pie crust can definitely be a bit tricky. I have a “magic” pie crust that I usually stick to and I love it’s results. I’ve tried so many different ones that end up crappy that I’m afraid to venture too much now. These little hand pies look so cute I may just need to try them
I love when I find a good pie crust recipe, it makes the pie that much better. The problem is that I keep misplacing that really good pie crust recipe and have to search anew every time I make pie–sometimes with success other times not. This recipe looks so good!!
Love the idea of hand pies. They are beautiful!
You may struggle with the dough but they still look delicious! What helps me is moving the dough constantly. I don’t flip it but I side it around alot to prevent it from sticking. Not sure if that’s any help!
I have wanted this book ever since I read Dawn/vanillasugar interview Gesine and everything she said just spoke to me – love her story.
And great job on the hand pies!