Blueberry Hand Pies

Hand pies are all the rage these days. So naturally I jumped on that wagon and whipped up six of them, happy to have something to do with the blueberries that seemed to be multiplying in the fridge. Happy to feel like a trendy baker, hip with the baking times. (I am the antithesis of hip in part because I used the word hip. I know this.)

I found a recipe in my Bon Appetit magazine on a flight from somewhere to home, and knew I was going to have to make them. (I do this thing where I look at recipes when on a plane and starving, or on a piece of cardio and starving [which is always the case, because who can do cardio on a full stomach?], and want to make everything I come across. I rip recipes out and think “for sure, I am making this on Saturday”, and then when Friday night comes around and we’re about to go grocery shopping- and I’m full- I look at the pages of recipes and think “really?”. It’s then that I realize I was inspired by starvation, and that some baking or cooking ideas suck in reality. But the blueberry hand pies- these babies made the cut. They don’t suck in the slightest.

Make these with just about any fruit you have your heart set on (except banana- don’t even try it), and join the trendy baking movement of the moment. Although slightly messy, you can eat these with your hands (i.e.: highly portable to eat when driving to work, or on a plane, or on a piece of cardio), just like the McDonald’s people knew when they invented their apple pie hand thing. (Confession: every now and then I smell a McDonald’s apple pie, out of nowhere, when I’m not even close to a McDonald’s, and really really really love the smell and want one. The scent is stuck in a bizarre olfactory part of my brain somewhere, and maybe when I hear a certain word or sound it triggers the smell. Like how Kramer would have a seizure when he heard Mary Hart’s voice. I can’t explain it. I’m a teeny bit embarrassed that I love the smell, but I am also comfortable with it in the same way that I admit I love the syntheticness [new word] of the Magic Gooey Cookie Bars and the Quickie Toffee Graham Cracker Cookies. Sometimes a girl’s gotta open up a jar of Marshmallow Fluff and revel in the syntheticality [another new word] of it all. But that’s enough about me and my low-brow taste. These hand pies are not quite high brow, but they are a step up from McDick’s. I highly recommend them.)

Adapted from the Bon Appetit recipe…

CRUST:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), cold & cubed

4 ounces cream cheese (half of package), cold & cubed

2 teaspoons ice water

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

FILLING:

2 cups blueberries

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, whisked with 1 teaspoon water

1 tablespoon raw sugar
1. MAKE DOUGH:
  1. Mix flour, salt and baking soda in a food processor, then add butter and cream cheese- pulsing to create a mixture with small and medium sized crumbs no larger than peas (you can do this by hand with a pastry cutter, of course).
  2. Combine water and vinegar together, then slowly drizzle into the food processor, pulsing to combine into a coagulated dough ball. Don’t over process.
  3. Shape dough into a ball, and cover with plastic wrap, flattening into a rectangular chunk. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
  4. Roll out dough on a floured surface to a 15 x 12″ rectangle. Cut into 6 rectangles and transfer to a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet.
2. Preheat oven to 375°.
3. PREPARE FILLING: in a medium bowl, gently mix blueberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and salt.
4. Brush edges of dough rectangles with a small amount of water. Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of blueberry filling in bottom half of each rectangle (or as much as will fit comfortably with room to seal). Fold dough over, and press edges to seal or use fork tines for a decorative edge. Brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with raw sugar. Cut 2 – 3 slits in tops for steam to vent while baking.
5. Bake for about 35–40 minutes (pastry should be golden brown, and blueberry juices will run onto parchment paper). Allow to cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tips:
- Keep the dough chilled when forming the pies, or else they’ll get all gloppy on you as you wet the edges. You want the rectangles at a temperature you can still work with, but not too soft. (Plus, it’s way better to bake dough when it’s chilled anyway.)
- Try to seal the edges well, or the juices will leak that much more on you. Accept the fact that this dessert is meant to look casual, and not something you’d find at Ladurée in Paris or anything.
- Leftover blueberry filling? Nice! Heat it up to soften and serve it with whipped cream or ice cream… or lemon sorbetto. Or serve some over the Berry Orange Fool. Or alongside the Lemon Cornmeal Shortbread Tart. You could even stir into a Bluenana Bread or Blueberry Almond Cake– the filling will just taste even tastier with all the lemon and sugar and stuff going on.
- These freeze really well. Wrap tightly, and thaw in the fridge. Serve at room temp or ideally a bit warmed in the oven or toaster oven. Yum.
Click Here to PRINT This Recipe Now!
Related Recipes & Posts:
September 14th, 2013 | More Sweets Please | 2 Comments | Tags: Fruit, Pies

2 Responses and Counting...

Mary Beth 09.14.2013

oh my gosh this crust is DELICIOUS. you already knew that. this is for sure my go-to sweet crust recipe. thank you!!

by the way, i live in Panamá so we don’t have blueberries and it’s not blackberry season right now either. so i used Sally’s (from Sally’s Baking Addiction) recipe for cinnamon apples as the filling instead. so can’t comment on your blueberry filling, though i’m sure it’s divine. :)
More Sweets Please

Holy chow- I am so hankering for an apple cinnamon concoction, so thanks for the wondiferous substitution idea. (Panama sounds exotic and cool but I just don’t know how you handle it without blueberries. You’re a trooper.)