Strawberry Hand Pies

As soon as I saw these ingenious little goodies on Katie’s blog, I knew I absolutely had to try them.  I had quite a love for hand-held pies when I was a kid, and my dad would buy them from the store for me as a treat sometimes.  I also knew that my husband would love them, because he loves fruit pie, especially the crust, and these have a higher crust-to-filling ratio than regular pie.  Plus, who can really resist such a cute, hand-held treat?  I certainly can’t.  Well, these little babies delivered!  I was pretty amazed at how quickly they came together.  Such a fun summer treat!  I will definitely try these again with other fillings as well – blueberry, peach, etc.  So many delicious possibilities!

Strawberry Hand Pies

Ingredients:

For the pie dough:

½ tsp. vanilla extract

6-8 tbsp. cold buttermilk

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp. sugar

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. lemon zest

2 sticks (1 cup) cold butter, cut into ¼” pieces

powdered sugar, for dusting

 

For the filling:

4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered

4 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

 

For finishing:

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

turbinado sugar for sprinkling (optional)

 

Directions:

To make the pie dough, in a small bowl, combine vanilla and buttermilk.  Stir to combine and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest.  Mix to combine.  Add in butter and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal and pieces are less than pea sized.  Add buttermilk mixture and stir until the dough comes together.  Transfer the dough to a powdered sugar-covered surface and shape into a flat disk.  Wrap the disk tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

 

In a medium bowl combine the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice.  Mix well and set aside.  Meanwhile, place the pie dough onto a powdered sugar-covered surface.  Cut the disk into 12 equal sized pieces.  Gently form each section into a small disk.  Roll out disks into 6-inch circles, about 1/8” thick.

 

Preheat oven to 400°.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Place a dough round onto a prepared baking sheet.  Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the strawberry mixture into the center.  Using a pastry brush, brush the edge of half of the dough round with the beaten egg.  Fold the dry edge onto the egg-brushed edge forming a semi-circle shape.  Press the edges together to seal with the tines of a fork.  Repeat with the remaining dough rounds and strawberry filling.  Brush the tops of the pies with the egg mixture and sprinkle with sugar, if using.  Use a small knife to make a 1-inch slit in the top of each pie to allow the steam to escape.

 

Bake in the preheated oven until the tops begin to turn golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheets 7-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. 

Source: adapted from Good Things Catered