Hello! Happy Sunday! How can the weekend already be almost over!? Ugh. I feel as though it just started. We’ve certainly had a busy weekend, with a work party on Friday, running errands and cleaning the house on Saturday — we stayed up way to late watching Netflix too — to today when I’m recipe testing for a special cake that’s coming this next week! So anyway, its been a busy and productive weekend, but I just wish there was one more day left! But! I have a wonderful recipe for you today that’s delicious and easy to whip up. These mixed berry hand pies would be perfect at a summer bbq or for the 4th of July!
I love recipes that you can mix and match ingredients to suite your tastes and pie…particularly hand pies…are a perfect fit for that kind of baking! All you need is a couple of pie crusts, store bought or homemade, and a mix of your favorite berries!
These pies ae also not overly sweet, which I like because it lets the natural flavor of the berries shine through. I used fresh Rainier cherries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries in my mix, but as long as your berries total 7 cups in the end, you can use whatever berries you like!
I also cooked the berries down a bit so that their flavors could meld and become more of a “jelly” consistency in the pie. With the help of cornstarch, the filling thickens so it doesn’t slide out all over your hands as you eat the pies. Of course, this filling is just as good in a normal pie and behaves the same as it does in hand pies, so if you don’t want to trouble with making individual pies, then just make a regular pie and bake it for a bit longer (40-45 minutes).
And voila! Hand pies made and ready to be enjoyed over the summer! Comment down below if you decide to make these and let me know how it goes!
Have a great Sunday afternoon!
XO,
Danielle
Mixed Berry Hand-Pies
Ingredients
All Butter Pie Crust (makes 2 pie Crusts):
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 pound 2 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 cup cold water
- 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Bourbon
- 1 cup ice
5 Berry Filling:
- 7 cups fresh or frozen Cherries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries about 2 1/4 cups of each type of berry
- 1 cup granulated sugar plus a little extra to sprinkle on top of the pie
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 egg beaten with a fork
Instructions
Instructions:
- Add berries, sugar and lemon juice to a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Simmer, until warm and juicy, about 5-10 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. (You can taste it at this point and see if it's sweet enough for your liking. I don't like to make mine too sweet, but if you want it sweeter you can add 1/4 cup more sugar.)
- Spoon out about 1/2 cup of the juice from the pan into a bowl. Stir cornstarch into the juice until smooth.
- Bring pot of berries back to a simmer and slowly pour in the cornstarch. Gently stir mixture (being careful not to mash the berries), until thickened, about 2-5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Allow to cool while rolling out one piece of the pie dough.
- Cut pie dough into circles (you can use any shape you like, round is just easier) and using a tablespoon, scoop 1-2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of the round. Top with another round of pie dough.
- Using a fork or crimping tool, pinch the edges of the top and bottom pie crusts together and crimp the edge. Using a knife, slice thin slits in the tops and brush a thin layer of beaten egg over the top of the pie and sprinkle lightly with sugar.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Check it after about 15 minutes and place a piece of tinfoil over it if the top crust is getting too brown.
- Remove from oven and cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. To Store: place in a airtight container at room temp for up to 3 days.
For Pie Crust:
- Stir the flour, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl.
- Add the butter pieces and coat with the flour mixture using a bench scraper or spatula. With your fingers, or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture, working quickly until mostly pea-size pieces of butter remain.
- Combine the water, apple cider vinegar, bourbon and ice in a large measuring cup or small bowl.
- Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the ice water mixture over the flour mixture, and mix and cut it in with a bench scraper or spatula until it is fully incorporated.
- Add more of the ice water mixture, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, using the bench scraper or your hands (or both) to mix until the dough comes together in a ball, with some dry bits remaining.
- Squeeze and pinch with your fingertips to bring all the dough together, sprinkling dry bits with more small drops of the ice water mixture, if necessary, to combine.
- Separate the dough into two balls and shape the dough into a flat disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight, to give the crust time to mellow.
- 10. Wrapped tightly, the dough can be refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for 1 month.
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