Strawberry Hand Pies

With all the fresh strawberries available this time of year, we are looking for any excuse to eat them. Hand pies are a great way to enjoy these summer fruits at your next summer cook out, especially with a side of ice cream and with a few of the left over strawberries you couldn’t fit inside!

We found this delicious recipe in a 2022 edition of Bon Appetit and made a couple of tweeks. (Their version has a frosting that we didn’t use. We’ve included it here as an optional step)

Dough

2 1/2 cups AP flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Filling

12 oz. fresh strawberries, finely chopped

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

Assembly

All purpose flour

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Dough

Whisk flour, sugar, pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter, a food processor, or your hands, work in the butter until the largest pieces are about pea size. If using your hands, make sure not to overwork the dough for risk of warming up the butter. Sprinkle in 1/4 cup of ice water and mix with your hands to incorporate. Continue adding 1-2 tablespoons of ice water at a time, up to 6 more tablespoons, until the dough can be formed into a ball. Pat it into a disk and wrap in plastic. Chill for 30 minutes.

Filling

Add the strawberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, ginger, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and salt in a medium bowl and combine. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Assembly

Unwrap dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface to a 1/8” thick round. Using a 5” diameter cutter or bowl. punch or cut out as many rounds as you can. Reroll scraps and slide onto a parchment-lined baking sheet; chill 10 minutes. Punch out more rounds.

Working one at a time, spoon 1 tablespoon strawberry filling on 1 side of each round of dough, avoiding excess liquid at the bottom of the bowl; discard liquid. Once all the filling is added to the rounds, fold the empty side of each round up and over the filling to bring the edges together to create a half-moon shape. Crimp edges with a ford\k to seal. Arrange hand pies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill until cold and firm, 35-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush tops of the hand pies with the egg, then prick each one twice with a fork. Bake until golden brown, 35-40 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets.

Optional Glaze

3 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, room remprarture

3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

2 table spoons whole milk

1/2 teasponn vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese and butter a medium bowl, scraping down the sides as needed, until smooth, about 2 minutes. With the motor running, add powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in milk, vanilla, and salt. Drizzle some frosting over each pie.

Chef’s note:

Hand pies can be made 3 days ahead; store airtight at room temperature. Frosting can be made 1 week ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit