Strawberry Hand Pie

Hello again! It’s been one of those months where every weekend has something planned and before you know it the entire month has gone by. I was going through baking withdrawals – and so I scoured my pantry for something to whip up. I had a basket of strawberries in my fridge that were of couple days away from being compost bound and so I decided to harness their ripe goodness for pie.

These hand pies are super easy to make and are the perfect brunch addition. Or any day addition. Pie is acceptable at any time of day – right?

I started with shortening, flour, and salt for a pie dough.

With a pasty blender I cut the shortening into the flour until it resembled course crumbs.

I added water a tablespoon at a time until I could get the dough to come together with my hand into a ball.

I rolled the dough out onto a lightly floured surface until it was about 1/4″ thick. In hindsight I think I would have rolled this out to be thinner. The crust to filling ratio was a bit more crust heavy than I would have liked.

Next I cut the dough into 6″ circles. I didn’t have a biscuit cutter – so I used what I had, the top to my cookie cutter container. Find anything round in your kitchen that you think would be a good size and just use a knife to cut around. Walla! A perfectly round pie crust.

The filling is simple. Strawberries, sugar, and flour. That’s it! Mix it all up and spoon a couple of tablespoons onto one half of each pie crust.

Fold in half and crimp with a fork. I told you – super simple! There’s something about hand held food that makes you feel less guilty about eating more than one. These were devoured by my family. The only evidence of ever having these delicious treats are the dirty pans still sitting in the sink – ugh.

Strawberry Hand Pie

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

375º

Ingredients

1 1/4 C all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 C butter flavored shortening

4 to 5 tbsp. cold water

1 C sliced strawberries

1 1/2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour and salt. Cut shortening into cubes and add to flour mixture. Cut the shortening into the flour until it resembles course crumbs. Add cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until you can bring the dough together with your hands. It will be slightly shaggy. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll to 1/8″ thick (or thicker for your liking). Cut out dough into 6″ circles and place on parchment lined pan. Set aside.

For the strawberry filling. Cut strawberries into slices. In a small bowl add strawberries, sugar, and flour. Stir together until all of the strawberries are thoroughly coated. Spoon strawberries onto one side of the pie dough circles.

Fold the dough in half to cover the strawberries. Pinch the ends together with a fork. Cut two slits into the top of each hand pie to allow for steam to vent.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

xo Sara