Blueberry Hand Pies
I was thinking about you today. I was thinking about how badly you want to make mini pies, but how you don’t have mini pie tins, and therefore you’ve been walking around depressed due to your lack of mini pies. So I came up with a soultion for you! Hand pies! No tins required.
You can use whatever filling you want. Really. Blueberries, strawberries, apples, pears, whatever floats your boat. If it’s juicy (like berries) add a couple tablespoons of cornstarch so the filling thickens as it bakes. You could even do a more savory filling like sweet potatoes if you want. Or if you don’t have time for cutting fruit or mixing berries and sugar, use your favorite jam or preserves. I won’t tell.
Blueberry Hand Pies
Makes 8-10 pies
1 Recipe Pate Brisee
1 10 oz Bag Frozen Blueberries
2 Tbs Sugar
2 Tbs Cornstarch
Preheat oven to 425º.
Make and chill dough (click on the link in the ingredients for directions). Roll out 1 disc of dough to about 1/4″ thick. It’s much easier to do this on a large cutting board that has been covered in parchment paper and lightly floured. If the dough rips, press it back together with your fingers.
Cut two rectangles out of the dough. It doesn’t really matter what size they are, since you’re going to roll them out again and make them larger, but mine were about the size of index cards.
Roll out a rectangle again to its final thickness, about 1/8″ thick. That’s thin enough that the dough begins to become slightly translucent, but thick enough that you can still pick up the dough without ripping it. Use more flour as you’re rolling the dough out if you need to.
Trim the dough again into a neat rectangle. Again, size isn’t important, so go for whatever size appeals to you. I wanted my finished pies to be the same size as pop tarts, so I guestimated the height (5 inches?) and the width (7inches?) and rolled out the dough accordingly. This will make a 3.5×7″ pie once it’s filled and folded in half to close.
Prick one half of the dough with a fork, and place two tablespoons of filling on the other half. Pricking the dough helps it bake more evenly, preventing dough bubbles. You could cut out little shapes as vents instead if you want, but the filing will bubble up and out of any large holes.
Fold the dough over the filling and press closed with your fingers to seal. Then use a fork to crimp the edges. It’s okay if some juice escapes, but try to keep it at neat as possible. Use a spatula to pick up your hand pie and place on a baking sheet covered in parchment or lined with a silpat.
Repeat these steps, rolling, cutting and filling, until you run out of dough. Lightly brush each pie with soymilk and sand with sugar.* Bake the pies for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool slightly on a wire rack and serve warm.
*If you want to freeze these and then reheat them in a pop-up toaster like poptarts, skip the sugar so it doesn’t burn up when you toast it. If you’re going to use a toaster oven, you can sugar them or frost them with a simple powdered sugar and soymilk glaze.
Keep an eye on them while baking - escaped berry juice and tender, flaky edges burn quickly when you’re not looking! Ours didn’t last long enough to save for later, but they will keep at room temperature for a few days if stored in an airtight container.
20 comments March 10th, 2007
