Blueberry Hand Pies are the taste of late summer, perfectly sized and full-flavored, these are a must!

Now, I feel like I should preface this post by stating we are not food bloggers. However, as we continue to preserve food from our land and create new kitchen concoctions we decided food was undeniably a large part of what we do, and what we love to share. So bear with us as we stumble our way though these posts and as always feel free to share what you like or what you’d want to see more of in the comments below.

This recipe started after I picked some blueberries from our neighbors patch, which we’ll be inheriting this spring! I was originally looking for a blueberry cobbler recipe, you know something easy to toss together to take to some friends of ours. I then stumbled upon this recipe for blueberry hand pies, and was suddenly inspired to go full fledged baker.

 

 

Dough is no joke. So here are a couple pointers I learned the hard way. First – you can never have enough butter. The more butter, the more flakes so pick your poison, or amount of butter sticks wisely.

Some dough can easily be over processed when adding butter and water. This dough however, is perfect for the food processor, so I highly recommend taking that route.

Lastly, the colder the dough the better, the hotter the oven the even betterer – see I told you to bear with us. It seems contradicting to a novice baker like myself, but it’s an important part of the process if you want golden flakes. So just trust me.

 

INGREDIENTS

CRUST

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 & 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 sticks very cold butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream (or 1/4 cup water)

FILLING

• 2 cups blueberries
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 & 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

TOPPING

• 1 beaten egg
• sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine first four ingredients (2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 and 1/2 tablespoon sugar) in food processor, and pulse to blend ingredients. Cube butter and pulse until mixture becomes a course meal, with chunks of butter still visible. Take blade out and fold in sour cream.*

Turn mixture on a well floured surface and knead a few times. Dust both sides with flour, wrap dough in saran wrap and chill for an hour.

Combine the filling ingredients (2 cups blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 and 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon lemon juice) in a sauce pan. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-heat. Cook down mixture until it begins to thicken, 5-10 minutes. Transfer blueberry filling to a bowl and let cool until room temperature*.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Roll dough out to 1/4″ – 1/8″ thickness. Using a 3″-4″ cookie or biscuit cutter, cut an even number of rounds. I tossed my rounds into the freezer, while I did a quick counter clean up to prepare for filling to keep them extra cold! With one round on the counter, place a dollop of filling in the center, careful not to overfill. Brush the beaten egg around the edges of the filled round. Cut an “X” into the top of a second dough round and center on top. Using a fork, lightly press the edges together to seal. Transfer pie to lined baking sheet, brush additional egg across the top and finish with a sprinkle of sugar. Repeat process until cookie sheet is full.

Bake pies for 20 minutes and allow to cool before serving*.

NOTES:
* I made this recipe a second time, and halfway through making the dough realized I didn’t have sour cream! As an alternative I pulsed a little sprinkle of water into the dough, until a ball began to form. Textural results remained the same but the sour cream definitely adds a unique flavor.
* In a hurry I’ve tossed the whole filling pan in the freezer to chill faster (told you I wasn’t a professional).
*I notice the filling receded, so I added left-over filling into the pre-cut “X” and topped with a couple fresh blueberries before serving.
* Place extra filling in a freezer bag, and store in freezer for next time! Or us it as an ice cream topping! 

 

Now devour! Because I know you can’t eat just one, from personal experience.