This original recipe is by Dessert for Two with some modifications to the process. Please check out her blog for the original recipe but I made some changes that work better for me. For one, I love to grate my butter, I think it adds amazing texture and flakiness to the dough. I like to also bake just 4 pies instead of 6 mostly for logistical purposes of cutting the dough but also because I can make each hand pie bigger and fill each pie with more cherries! Enjoy this recipe, it is seriously so so so delicious and a perfect treat to have on its own or perhaps with ice cream. The crust is unreal!
Cherry Hand Pie
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter very chilled or frozen
- 1/2 cup cold water
Cherry Filling
- 2 and cups pitted sweet cherries fresh
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Small pinch of salt
For coating
- 1 large egg beaten (for egg wash)
- 1 tablespoon milk or cream or buttermilk
- Turbinado sugar for garnish
Instructions
Make Filling
- Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer, stirring almost constantly, until the mixture starts to thicken – about 6 minutes. I break a few of the cherries in half to have a variety of sizes but this is completely optional. Reduce heat to low and cook for another 2 minutes before removing from the heat. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and cool to room temperature.
Make dough
- In a bowl combine flour, salt and granulated sugar and mix well.
- Grate your very cold or frozen butter into the flour mixture.
- Use a fork to mix it into the flour to form pea sized pieces.
- Slowly pour 1/2 cup of cold water into the flour and butter mixture and mix until combined and dough comes together, do not over knead.
- Form into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour. You can chill for up to 2 days.
Form Hand Pies
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. After dough has chilled, flour a work surface and a rolling pin and rolling out one disk into a rectangle, trim the edges if necessary to make the straight, you will be dividing this into 6 pieces so make sure it is big enough to cut out 6 large sized rectangles from it (which you will divide in half again to make 12).
- Tip: I fold my dough into thirds, make rough markings to help but my dough into 3 pieces, then cut each of those 3 pieces in half.
- Cut your 6 pieces of dough in half to form 12 pieces.
- Move the 12 rectangles to a parchment paper. 6 of these rectangles will be the top of your pastry and the other 6 will be the bottom of your pasty.
- Beat an egg and milk together and brush 6 of the 12 rectangles with the egg and milk mixture.
- Brush it on the bottom crusts evenly. You can cut out a shape from the top crust if you choose, like a small circle in the middle of the rectangle.
- Scoop cherry filling onto the bottom curst (the rectangles you brushed with egg wash) and top with the top crust, press the edges with your fingers first and then a fork to crimp the edges. It helps to dip the fork you use to crimp the edges in flour to help prevent sticking.
- Finally, brush the remaining egg and milk mixture on top of the pies and sprinkle with turbinado sugar for garnish and to add a lovely texture.
- If you didn’t cut shapes into the top dough, you may cut slits at this point.
- Bake the pies for 18-22 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the fruit filling is bubbly.
- This recipe will make 6 pies.
