Old-Fashioned Hand Pies with Fruit Filling

I walked into Hobby Lobby last week and stopped dead in my tracks.

Disorientation washed over me as I stared at the gigantic Easter displays.

“Wait… have we had Valentine’s Day yet?!”

After a moment of contemplation I determined that we, in fact, have NOT yet had Valentine’s Day.

(You’re welcome for that Public Service Announcement.)

So anyway, I’m the absolute worst at holidays.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve had a magazine editor or book publisher ask me to add my “unique holiday ideas” to an article, interview, or manuscript…

…and I’m forced to tell them I have none. Zero. Nada. Zilch. ?

The extreme consumerism that accompanies most holidays makes me feel slightly sad and more than a little overwhelmed, so I prefer to keep our celebrations simple and homespun.

We typically spend our Valentine’s Days at home with home-grilled steaks, a little box of chocolate for the kids, homemade cards, and a special dessert like Chocolate Orange Mousse or Double Chocolate Cream Pie.

But this year? We’re going with these perfectly old-fashioned hand pies.

This recipe is more of a “suggestion” than a set-in-stone-technique.

You can use your favorite pie crust recipe (you’ll need a double crust) and whatever fruit you have hanging around.

I’ll show you how I did mine, but keep in mind that there’s a lot of wiggle-room here.

Old-Fashioned Hand Pies with Fruit Filling

Makes 6-8 small pies, depending on the size of your cutter

Pie Crust Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter or lard
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 10-12 tablespoons ice-cold water
• 1 egg, for egg wash
• Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

Fruit Filling Ingredients:

• 1/2 – 1 cup fruit (Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries all work. Either fresh, frozen, or canned is fine)
• 3-4 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
• Pinch salt

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, mix the flour and salt. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or two knives.

When the butter chunks resemble coarse crumbs, add the water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough just starts to form a ball; you may not need to add all the water. Press the dough until it comes together, but don’t knead it, or the heat from your hands will melt the butter and result in tough crust.

Wrap the dough and refrigerate it while you work on the filling.

Place all the filling ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until the mixture is thickened. If it’s not thickened within 5 minutes, add more cornstarch. The sweetness will greatly depend on what kind of fruit you’re using, so be sure to taste and add more sugar as needed. I used these honey canned cherries for my filling and they didn’t need much extra sugar.

Roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thick and cut with cutter of your choice. Since I used a heart cutter, I needed to cut two hearts per mini-pie. You could also cut a single large circle and fold it over.

Spoon several tablespoons of filling onto the bottom crust, leaving 1/2-inch of room around the edges.

Place the top crust over the filling (or fold over half) and crimp the edges with a fork.

Arrange the mini-pies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Mix the egg with one teaspoon water and brush over the top of each pie. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

(Fun story: I’ve been struggling with my oven. It’s pretty but doesn’t get very hot. I wanted more browning, so I grabbed the propane torch we use to light fires in our fireplace. I achieved superior browning and also started a small parchment paper fire. Soooo…. maybe don’t do that.)

Serve while warm.

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More Old-Fashioned Desserts:

In addition to my other Valentine go-to dessert recipes of Chocolate Orange Mousse or Double Chocolate Cream Pie, check out these other delicious sweets:

• Chocolate Pudding Cake Recipe
• Cast Iron Fruit Pizza Recipe
• Rustic Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
• Maple Custard Recipe

Love to cook from-scratch heritage recipes? Make sure to check out my Prairie Homestead Cookbook and Heritage Cooking Crash Course.