Hand Pies!

Hand Pies!

Ah, the humble little hand pie. They can be savory or sweet. Round or cresent shaped. Their origins date back to 19th century England, where they provided a convienient lunch for Cornish tin miners. These tiny treats mean you can actually eat a whole pie! Think of them as a preportioned guilty pleasure.

These are reminiscent of those yummy Hostess cherry pies that were a luscious childhood indulgence for so many kids. Of course in my house, a store bought baked good was a rare sight. So I had to learn how to make my own.

Here's my recipe:

Hand Pies
(fruit filled)

Ingredients

Basic pie crust (recipe follows*) or you can use a premade, store bought crust

All purpose flour (for rolling out your crust)

2 cups of fruit (I like blueberries, cherries, peaches or strawberries)

citrus zest- from 1/2 a lemon, lime or clementine 

1/3c cane sugar (or more to taste, depending on sweetmenss of fruit)

pinch of salt (I like pink)

1 tsp arrowroot

egg wash (1 egg beaten with a spalsh of water)

coarse sanding sugar

For the pie crust:

2 1/2c all purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

1tsp salt

8tbl butter (cold)

1/3c shortening or lard (cold)

5 tbl ice water

1tbl white vinegar

Directions

Make the fruit filling:
1. Combine fruit, sugar, zest and salt in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until fruit begins to break down and release juice. Remove a tbl of juice and combine with arrowroot until smooth. Add to fruit and continue stirring until fruit bubbles and thickens. Remove from heat and cool. Can be made ahead and stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Make the pie crust:
1. In the bowl of a standing mixer, using the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, salt. With the mixer running, drop in butter and lard, 1 tbl at a time. Blend until the mixture has the consistency of sand. Slowly add the ice water and vinegar. Mix just until the dough holds together. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 45 minutes.

Assemble the hand pies: