Strawberry Hand Pies
When I spotted these Strawberry Hand Pies in a magazine, I knew I wanted to try the recipe. I typically love all things strawberry, and I had a feeling this yummy dessert would be no exception.
Boy, was I blown away and knew I had to eventually share these cute little pies with you.
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Truthfully, this recipe requires a few more ingredients and a little more prep time than any other recipe I’ve ever shared with you, but I’m so wild about strawberry desserts that I have made a special exception for these hand pies.
Sometimes, we just need a dessert change-up, don’t we? Brownies and cookies are all well and good, but sometimes something a little extra special is in order.
For those times, I like to bake up a batch of these cute little hand pies. They take a little effort, but the pay off is worth it!
One handy thing about my recipe for delicious strawberry hand pies is that so much of it can be made in advance. You can work up your butter pie crust and place it in the refrigerator until the next day. The same goes for the juicy strawberry filling.
Children love putting the mini pies together, and by having both portions ready to go ahead of time, I’m much more likely to answer with a resounding “Yes!” when they ask if they can help stuff the pies.
If you are sure to seal your edges well and prick holes on the tops of each hand pie for steam, then you can rest assured that you’ll have perfect little self-contained hand pies.
These individual servings of pie are the perfect way to bring a dessert in a picnic basket without extra mess! No need to make sure the pie is kept flat in the basket, or bring plates and forks for passing out each slice of pie.
Ingredients For Delicious Strawberry Hand Pies
To make these delectable desserts, you’ll need:
- Flour – All-purpose flour is the best for this recipe. If you’re needing to avoid gluten, feel free to switch out for a different type of flour – just be sure to adjust how much water you add accordingly.
- Baking Powder – The dough isn’t going to rise a ton, but the baking powder will add some lift.
- Salt – If you use salted butter, consider ditching the salt elsewhere in the recipe.
- Butter – To get a flaky crust, you need small chunks of cold (very cold!) butter cut into the flour. Use a stick of unsalted butter, cut it into cubes, then pop it into the fridge for a few minutes prior to using the pastry cutter.
- Vanilla Extract – Because doesn’t every good baked dessert require vanilla extract?
- Strawberries – One container of fresh strawberries will get you through this recipe. Cut them into ½ inch pieces ahead of time.
- Confectioners’ Sugar – Otherwise known as powdered sugar~
- Strawberry Jam – This combines with the diced strawberries to make your filling.
- Sanding Sugar – What is sanding sugar? You know the small sugar sprinkles that you add on top of sugar cookies? That’s sanding sugar! Get the clear kind for this recipe.
How To Make Little Strawberry Hand Pies
I won’t lie to you – this dessert isn’t the simplest card in the recipe box. But the filling and the pastry can each be made ahead of time, and children love putting the hand pies together. You can do this!
- Make Your Pastry – The process is similar to making biscuits, pie crust, or rough puff pastry. You’ll make a flour mixture of dry ingredients, then use a pastry cutter to work in cold butter. Once the butter is cut in, add wet ingredients to make a dough. Then, since it’s important to keep that butter cold, pop it in the fridge while you make the filling.
- Make Your Filling – This strawberry filling comes together in a snap. Mix together the strawberries, sugar, and jam. That’s it!
- Make Your Pies! – Divide your dough into six pieces, roll them out into circles, add the filling, fold, crimp, and bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Change It Up With These Filling Options
Once you’ve got this recipe down pat, you’ll find that it’s easy to switch up the flavors to match what’s in season. Here are some ideas:
- Apple Cinnamon Hand Pies – When strawberry season gives way to autumn, this delicious flavor combo is perfect!
- Blueberry Hand Pies – Or raspberry, blackberry… any fresh berries is fine.
- Strawberry Lemon Hand Pies – Keep the strawberries, but add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or some lemon zest.
Top Tips For Easy Strawberry Hand Pies
There are a few tips that will help you turn this into an easy success:
- Keep your butter cold! You want to keep the butter as cold as possible, so that it doesn’t melt until it’s in the oven. That’s how you’ll achieve a flaky pie crust! Handle the butter, and then the pastry, as little as possible, or your hands will melt the butter. Cut the butter into pieces, then chill it. Make the pastry dough, then chill it. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into circles.
- Use a cookie cutter to start your circles. It’s much easier to make uniform, 6-inch wide circles that fold over evenly, if you already have a circle to start with. Roll out the pastry dough, then use a round cookie cutter to cut it into 6 equal circles. It’s a cinch, then to use a rolling pin to widen each circle out.
- To get a good seal around the edges of your strawberry hand pie, whip up an egg wash. Before folding the top half of the circle up and over the filling, use a pastry brush to brush the outer edge of the bottom half with egg wash. The moisture will help hold the top and bottom edges together. Further secure the edges by using the tines of a fork to crimp them.
- Don’t forget to poke holes into the top! Use a toothpick to prick a few holes into the tops of each pie so that steam from the filling can escape. Otherwise, it won’t matter how well you washed and crimped the edges – that pie is going to spring a leak.
If you enjoy strawberry desserts, you will love this Creamy Strawberry Dessert Recipe. It has quickly become a favorite on our site.
Another delicious strawberry recipe here on This Little Home of Mine is our Easy Biscuit Strawberry Shortcake.
Strawberry Hand Pies
Equipment
- 1 Oven
Ingredients
- 2 3/8 cup all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 stick cold, unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 lb strawberries (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 3 tbsp strawberry jam
- 1 tbsp sanding sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl, combine 2 ¼ cups flour, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt.
- Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse sand.
- Add 1 egg yolk, ½ c chilled water, and ½ teaspoon vanilla, and mix until just combined. If dough is dry or crumbly, add up to 3 tablespoons more chilled water).
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead 2 to 3 times, just until dough comes together. Return dough to bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make filling: In a medium bowl, combine strawberries, confectioner’s sugar, and jam, plus remaining flour, vanilla, and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, beat remaining yolk and 1 tablespoon water for egg wash. Set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to ½ inch thickness. Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter, cut dough into 6 rounds. Roll 1 round into a 6 inch circle.
- Spoon a heaping 2 tablespoons filling onto half of circle, leaving ½ inch border. Brush the edges with egg wash, then fold dough over filling. Using a fork, crimp the edges to seal. Transfer to a parchment lined baking pan. Repeat with remaining dough rounds and filling.
- Using a toothpick, poke a few holes in the top of each pie. Brush with remaining egg wash and sprinkle each pie with ½ teaspoon sanding sugar.
- Bake until golden brown, or 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
