Fruit Hand Pies

Not much is new in my life. How about you?

That’s nice. And you know what else is nice?

Hand pies.

Hand pies are the perfect combination of two of my great loves — pie and handheld food.

Pie is an obvious love. And frankly, I think handheld food should be equally obvious. But for some reason it’s not, so let me explain a bit.

I generally dislike utensils (except spoons), so handheld food eliminates the need for those. It is also a more pure way to eat as you get a chance to better connect with your food, like our ancestors.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea: handheld food is awesome.

So back to the marriage of the two —hand pies — and how you can get them into your kitchen. 

           Fruit Hand Pies

•  ½ nectarine, chopped
•  3 cherries, quartered 
•  1 shake nutmeg 
•  ¼ t ground ginger 
•  1/4 t cinnamon 
•  1/2 t sugar 

          Crust 

•  1 c whole wheat pastry flour 
•  1 c AP flour 
•  ½ c (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces
•  1 T sugar, plus more for garnish
•  1 t salt
•  2 T-1/3 c ice water
•  coconut oil

 This is double the amount of filling I told you to make, FYI.

Mix everything for the filling together and let chill in the fridge for at least a few hours or up to a couple of days.

To make the crust start with all the ingredients at least chilled in the fridge, if not the freezer.

Mix the flours, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add in the butter and cut it in. I have the best results using a pastry cutter (optimal) or a fork (less optimal) until the pieces are small enough to fit through the cutter and then I finish up by running it all through my fingers a few times. You can also use a food processor (which I would almost definitely do if I was making a double batch) or anything else you’ve had luck with.

Once the butter is evenly combined throughout the flour and it resembles something akin to the texture of potting soil (or “a coarse meal” as it’s often called), add in water a splash at a time until a slightly crumbly dough forms.

Drop the dough on a floured surface (or a piece of wax paper, because cleaning up flour sucks) and roll/knead it a couple of times, just until a less crumbly ball forms. Wrap the dough in wax paper or something of the sort and put it in the freezer for at least 20 minutes.

Once the dough has re-chilled, roll it out on a floured/wax paper surface until just less than a quarter of an inch. Using any circular object (I used an old yogurt tub), trace and cut circles out of the dough. Place the circles on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Ball and re-roll the dough and continue cutting circles until there’s no more dough.

 Using a pastry brush or your finger, brush a bit of coconut oil on a dough circle. Spoon a little bit of the fruit filling onto a little less than half the circle and then fold the other side over. Crimp the edges closed with a fork, brush a bit more oil on top of the pie, sprinkle with sugar, and cut a vent slit.

Repeat this process until all the little pies are assembled (you might have filling leftover, that’s no bother) and then bake for 25-30 minutes in a 400F oven.

Let the pies cool just enough so you don’t burn your mouth on the filling and then dig in
Whipped cream, ice cream, or other accouterments are optional. Encouraged, but certainly not necessary.

I ate mine au natural. And they were so perfect. 

Hand pies are a slightly different animal than a regular pie. Keeping the crust from getting soggy is extra important, hence why the oil can’t be skipping.

You have to be extra careful not to overfill them or else they won’t close properly.

They also require a bit of a delicate, patient hand when it comes to folding them. I’m not terribly patient. 

 But luckily, even the funky looking pies still tasted dang good.

So you really have no reason not to dwarf down your next pie into these handy little single servings. 

 How do you feel about handheld food? :)