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blueberry hand pies
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Blueberry hand pies

Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
resting time2 hours
Total Time50 minutes
Servings: 12 hand pies
Author: Aleksandra

Ingredients

cream cheese pie crust:

  • 1 ⅔ cup (7.6-oz/215g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (4.2-oz/120g) powdered sugar
  • 8 oz (230g) cream cheese cold
  • 1.5 sticks (6-oz/170g) butter cold
  • a large pinch of salt

filling:

  • 11 oz (300g) wild blueberries mine were frozen, or regular blueberries
  • 1.5 teaspoons vanilla pudding powder or cornstarch*
  • ¼ cup (2-oz/50g) sugar

egg-wash:

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon milk

Instructions

Pie crust:

  • Making the crust by hand: mix the flour with powdered sugar and salt, add the cold cream cheese and diced butter, chop everything with a knife until a crumble forms (or rub the butter chunks and flour mixture with your fingers), then knead quickly with your hands, until dough forms a smooth ball (be careful not to overmix it!)
  • If using a stand mixer:
    add the flour, powdered sugar, and salt to the mixing bowl, stir. Add the cold cream cheese and cold diced butter, mix at the lowest speed using paddle-shaped attachment until dough forms a smooth ball (be careful not to overmix it!).
  • If using a food processor: Add the flour, powdered sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor, then put the cold cream cheese and cold diced butter on top. Pulse with intervals until dough forms a smooth ball (be careful not to overmix it!).
  • In all cases - flatten the dough, wrap in plastic foil and put in the fridge for 2 hours.

Filling:

  • After this time, preheat the oven to 190 °C / 375 °F / Gas Mark 5, no fan.
    .
  • In a medium bowl, mix the sugar with vanilla pudding powder together, then carefully stir in the blueberries (if using frozen - don't thaw them).

Assemble the pies:

  • Remove the dough from the fridge and divide it in half.
  • Roll out thinly the first part of the dough on a piece of parchment paper (the second part of the dough returns to the refrigerator) into a large square that’s about ⅛-inch (3-4 mm) thick. It’s important that the dough is well sprinkled with flour, it is a little more sticky than traditional shortcrust pastry. While rolling it out, lift the dough and make sure it doesn‘t stick to the paper.
  • Use a sharp knife to cut out any hand pie form you like (I cut 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4 inch squares).
  • Lift a piece of dough, just to make sure that it doesn‘t stick, then put it back, scoop about 2 tablespoons blueberry filling (or as much as will fit), leaving about ⅓-inch (¾ cm) border. Cover with a second piece of dough, seal the edges together with your fingers, then press the edges of the dough together with the tines of a fork (it doesn‘t have to be sealed very well). If the dough sticks to your fingers or fork, dip them in flour. Prick the dough with a fork a couple of times on top of each pie.
  • Place the pies on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake the pies in batches (the remaining ingredients go to the fridge). Arrange the pies at least an inch / 2.5 cm apart on baking paper.
  • Make the egg wash: beat an egg with a tablespoon of milk. Brush the pies with the egg wash. You can sprinkle them with granulated sugar for extra crunch.
  • Bake for about 30 minutes, until the pies are golden.
  • Repeat with the rest of the dough.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

  • What to do with leftover dough scraps: you can knead them together and roll out once again, or dip in granulated sugar on both sides and bake as cookies!
  • Ingredient notes:
    • You can also use other fruit.
    • Instead of vanilla pudding powder, you can use cornstarch + vanilla extract or vanilla sugar.
    • You can use another dough recipe, also regular pie crust, instead of this cream cheese dough, but the cream cheese dough is really amazing, flaky, and crispy.
  • Storage:
    • The dough without the filling can be stored for up to 3 days in the fridge.
    • Don't store the dough with the filling (blueberries will release too much juice and the dough will be soggy!).
    • I haven't tried freezing the dough but I think this can be done. Defrost the dough in the fridge.
    • These hand pies taste best within a day of baking them, on the second day they are not crispy and flaky anymore, they are more tender, but still very delicious! They taste like cream cheese and blueberry yeast buns. Store them in a tightly closed container.
  • Important tips:
    • It's important that the dough is well cooled. It's more sticky than traditional shortcrust pastry dough. Make sure to sprinkle the dough a lot with flour and check all the time if it doesn't stick to the baking paper. If it gets too sticky you can always put it in the fridge for a while. 
    • If you are very impatient you can take the dough out of the fridge after an hour (instead of 2 hours), the dough can be than a little harder to work with.
    • Don't overmix the dough or it will be tough.
    • If using fresh berries: make sure that they are cold (the dough will be easier to handle) and mix them with sugar only directly before filling the pastries. Fruit mixed with sugar will start to release to juices - filling the pastries won't be that easy.
    • If using frozen fruit - don't thaw them! - the dough will be easier to handle and more crispy. If you're making these pastries in batches make sure to put the blueberries back in the freezer between the batches (while the first batch is baking).
  • Calories = 1 blueberry pastry (1/12 of the recipe).

Nutrition

Calories: 307kcal