Saturday, August 16, 2014

From the Kitchen - Outside the Nest

 Hand Pies
A couple of days ago I posted about
the Apple Turnover Filling that I had picked up
at the Farmers Market.
Today I'll share my recipe for Hand Pies. As in, a pie in the hand. Not pies baked with hands in them.

It starts with pie crust. Now, don't panic.
I, for one, cannot make pie crust from scratch.
And, I don't use shortening in my baking,
which pretty much defeats making pie crust.
Or not.
This recipe uses oil and milk.
It works. Trust me.


My first attempt was mini pies. One serving.
This one is mincemeat. Delicious.
1/2 of the recipe below makes a nice double crust for this mini pie.

Then I found the turnover filling, and I had to find a way to make hand pies.

First the flour,

a bit of sugar,

a smaller bit of salt,

the oil. Yes, I use olive oil. The first time I made the recipe, I used canola oil. The second time, I accidentally grabbed the olive oil and poured it in.
Realizing my mistake, I shrugged my shoulders and continued on. It turned out wonderful. I just need to make sure it's plain olive oil, and not some that's infused with flavor, such as garlic.

Now the milk. I use vanilla almond milk because that's what I drink. Regular milk will work as well.

I add enough milk so that the dough holds together.
If it doesn't form into a nice ball, I add a bit more milk.

I work with small amounts at a time, and I roll the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. This makes it easy to pick up when the crusts are cut.
When it's thin enough(as in quite thin), as in a nice thin pie crust,

I use a biscuit cutter and cut out circles of dough.
My biscuit cutter is about 2-1/2 inches or a bit bigger.

Place on a cookie sheet, dab on about 1 Tsp filling.
Any kind of pie filling will work. The dab needs to be no bigger than a teaspoon, or the covers won't fit.
So the filling needs to be in small pieces.
Blueberry, cherry, raspberry. The possibilities are endless.

Roll out the remaining dough, cut the circles, gently lay on top.
Press the edges together with the tines of a fork,
cut a tiny slit in the center of the top.

Brush with egg. I use liquid egg product, like Egg Beaters.

Sprinkle with a bit of sugar, bake.

One bite gone. Oh so tender, so flaky.

Another bite gone. Light, tasty, melts in the mouth.


last little bite, a hand full of crumbs, and then all gone.
Don't stop with one! Have 2 or 3. That's right. You can eat 2 or 3 pies for one meal! Who knew?
Are they ever good.
Happy Saturday


Hand Pies

1 C all-purpose flour
3/4 Tsp granulated sugar, divided
1/4 Tsp salt
5 Tbsp + 1 Tsp canola or plain olive oil
2 Tbsp + milk
3-4 Tbsp fruit pie filling
1/2 Tsp beaten egg, or liquid egg product

Preheat oven to 375°. In mixing bowl, measure flour, 1/2 C granulated sugar, salt, oil and milk. Mix with a fork until dough comes together into a ball. Add more milk, 1 Tsp at a time, if dough is too dry. Roll half of the dough out between 2 sheets of plastic wrap, to 1/16”. Using biscuit cutter, cut out 10 rounds of dough, place on baking sheet. Top each with 1 Tsp fruit pie filling. Roll remaining dough and cut out 10 additional rounds. Lay on top of filling, gently press edge down, press the layers of dough together with the tines of a fork. Cut a small slit on top, brush with egg and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 Tsp granulated sugar. Bake 20 minutes, remove and cool on baking rack. 10 pies.
Note: fruit should be in small pieces so that the top layer will fit over and reach to the bottom layer. 

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