Snowman Hand Pies Recipes

HAND PIES RECIPE

Steps:

• Place flour, salt, and cold butter pieces into the bowl of your stand mixer and blend on low until mixture resembles coarse sand.
• Add in your egg and just enough water to bring the mixture together
• Press into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for one hour.
• Prepare your fresh fruit by chopping into small cubes (if needed) or use frozen fruit. No need to defrost.
• Place your fruit and butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until the butter is melted and bubbling.
• Add in your water (or juice), sugar, lemon juice, and salt and mix until combined. Bring to a simmer.
• Combine your ClearGel with your water and whisk to make a slurry. Pour into your simmering mixture and mix for 1-2 minutes to cook the gel. If you're using cornstarch, you only need to cook until it's clear.
• Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool.
• Preheat your oven to 400ºF and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper
• Let your dough stand at room temperature for 15 minutes to let it soften a bit
• Dust your surface with flour. Begin by pressing your dough with your rolling pin to start flattening it.
• Roll your dough out to 1/8 thick or about the thickness of a cake board. Thinner than you think. Thinner dough results in a crisper, crunchier crust for your hand pies.
• Cut your dough into 6" circles. I used a 6" cake board as a template or you can use a 5" circle cutter if you want smaller hand pies.
• Fill your 6" hand pie with 3 tablespoons of fruit filling (5" circles take 1 heaping Tablespoon). Do not overfill.
• Brush the outside edge with egg wash (one egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of cold water)
• Fold the hand pie over and crimp with a fork to seal well
• Use a knife or fork to make some vents on top
• Brush the hand pies with more egg wash and place them onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Chill for 20 minutes.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes. They should be golden brown and the filling will just be starting to bubble.
• Let your hand pies cool for 10 minutes.
• While your hand pies are cooling, make your glaze. Just whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together until smooth.
• Use a pastry brush to brush the thin glaze over the hand pies and enjoy!
• These hand pies taste best the day they are baked but will last for three days in an airtight container in the fridge or frozen for up to 2 months.

CHERRY MITTEN HAND PIES

Steps:

• For the filling: Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Combine the cherries, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cherries are juicy, the sugar dissolves and the liquid begins to thicken, about 10 minutes.
• Stir together the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until smooth. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and continue to simmer, stirring, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the lemon juice and let cool completely.
• For the crust: Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Unroll both pie crust rounds, dust them with flour and roll with a rolling pin just to flatten out any creases and thin the dough slightly. Use a 4-inch mitten-shaped cutter to cut out as many mittens as possible, rerolling the dough once; you should have 16 to 20 pieces in all.
• Arrange half of the mittens on the prepared baking sheets. Beat the egg in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon water. Brush around the edges of the mittens with the egg wash. Spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of each mitten (the amount you use will depend on the exact size of the cutter, but do not overfill). Cover each with a second mitten, pressing to seal with your finger. Brush the tops with the egg wash. Cut one small slit in the top of each mitten to let steam escape. Bake until the crust is golden and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the pies to a rack to cool completely.
• For the royal icing and decoration: Meanwhile, combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 6 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft glossy peaks form, adding 1 to 2 tablespoons water if necessary to make a smooth, slightly thick icing. Remove a third of the icing to a small bowl. Add food coloring to the remaining icing to make a light blue color.
• Transfer the blue icing to a pastry bag fitted with a #6 or #7 round tip. Transfer half of the white icing to a pastry bag fitted with a #3 or #4 round tip and the other half of the icing to a pastry bag fitted with a #103 or #104 rose petal tip.
• Pipe a thin blue border around the edge of each cookie, leaving the cuff plain and uniced. Let set for a few minutes. Pipe a generous amount of blue icing inside the border of each cookie. Using a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the icing to cover the cookie, still making sure to leave the cuff plain. Sprinkle the icing with the snowflake sprinkles. Use white icing with the rose petal tip to pipe a ruffle on the mitten cuff. Pipe stitching around the edge of the mitten using the white icing with the plain round tip. Let the icing harden before serving, about 1 hour.

CHERRY HAND PIES

Steps:

• Make the dough: Pulse the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Drizzle in 6 tablespoons ice water and pulse until the dough starts coming together.
• Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and lightly knead to bring together. Form into a disk, wrap in the plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine the cherries, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the cherries are juicy and the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, 5 more minutes. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the juice into a small bowl; stir in the cornstarch until dissolved. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and continue to simmer, stirring, until very thick, 6 to 8 more minutes. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the lemon juice and let cool.
• Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each into a ball. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each ball into a 6 1/2-inch round, using as little flour as possible. Stack the rounds between pieces of parchment paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand 5 minutes. Place 2 tablespoons cherry filling in the center of each round, then fold in half to enclose and crimp the edges to seal.
• Heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a deep skillet until a deep-fry thermometer registers 360 degrees F. Fry the pies in 2 batches, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

PEACH HAND PIES

Steps:

• Combine the peaches, water, vanilla seeds and pod, granulated sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook until syrupy and the peaches are soft and just beginning to break down, 12 to 18 minutes. (Add more water if the mixture is too thick.) Discard the vanilla pod and mash the peaches; let cool.
• Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Gather the pie dough into 2 small compact squares; roll out each into a 12-inch square. Cut each in half, then cut each half into thirds to make twelve 4-by-6-inch rectangles.
• Arrange 6 rectangles on the baking sheet and top each with 3 tablespoons of the peach compote. Cover each with another rectangle of dough; crimp the edges with a fork to seal. Cut a small vent into the center of each top; brush with the beaten egg. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.