Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

hand pies

(1 rating)
Recipe by
Laurie Sanders
Seattle, WA

My husband likes the Hostess fruit pies for his lunches. Unfortunately, they are a $1.00 per pie most of the time and I thought I could probably make him some homemade ones that would be good and save money.

(1 rating)
yield 10 -12
prep time 30 Min
cook time 30 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For hand pies

  • FOR THE PASTRY:
  • 1 c
    cold butter
  • 2 c
    all purpose flour
  • 1 pinch
    salt
  • 2-4 Tbsp
    ice water
  • FOR THE PIE:
  • 1 Tbsp
    your favorite jam per pie
  • 1/4 c
    milk
  • 1/4 c
    crystal or demerara sugar

How To Make hand pies

  • 1
    Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • 2
    If you have a food processor, pulse the cold butter, flour and salt until crumbly. You can use a pastry cutter or fork if you don't have a food processor.
  • 3
    Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough starts to come together. I find, depending on the weather, it takes at least 2 and up to 4 tablespoons.
  • 4
    On a well-floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick and cut into 5" or 6" circles. I used the rim of a bowl about 5" across to cut out mine.
  • 5
    Dip your finger in water and run around the entire outside edge of the dough and place 1 tablespoon of your favorite jam in the middle. I found that a thicker jam works best. Runny jam will leak out when it bakes.
  • 6
    Fold circle over and seal with the tines of a fork all along the half circle. Prick the fork twice in the top of pie and lay on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment and sprayed with a baking spray like Pam.
  • 7
    Once you have a full sheet (about 8 pies), brush each pie with milk (or you could use an egg wash) and sprinkle with a little crystal sugar. Bake for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees and then rotate the pies one full turn and switch racks as you do. Bake another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
  • 8
    Remove to rack to cool. I then put them in individual sandwich bags and the individually bagged pies into a gallon bag and store them in the freezer to keep them fresh. I made a baker's dozen with this recipe.
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