Wednesday, July 25, 2012

A Reason to Go to the Beach?

Bringing a pie to a beach picnic isn't really practical. But these hand pies are a different story--no need for a pie server, plates, forks. Now I have no excuse to stay inside. Here is the recipe:

Blueberry Hand Pies
Makes 6 hand pies

3/4 pound (enough for a single crust) pie dough, chilled
3/4 cup blueberries, rinsed and picked over
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
Pinch ground cinnamon
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Sanding sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the blueberries, vanilla, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl and let stand, stirring occasionally and mashing a small amount of berries with the back of a spoon, until the sugar is dissolved.
2. On a lightly floured countertop, roll out the dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. Use a 5-inch round saucer as a guide to cut out as many circlesas you can from the dough and transfer to the prepared baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with flour.
3. Working with one circle at a time, place about 2 tablespoons of filling on one side of the circle, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Fold dough over blueberries. Use the tines of a fork to seal the edges. Repeat with the remaining dough circles and blueberries.
4. Space the pies at least 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Use a sharp paring knife to cut three 1/2-inch vents in the top of each one. Brush with the cream and sprinkle with the sanding sugar. Freeze for 15 minutes. (At this point, you can slide the hand pies into a zipper-lock bag and freeze them for up to 2 weeks before proceeding.)
5. Bake the pies until golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

1 comment:

  1. I have no beach nearby, but for these I can pretend! Your Blueberry Hand Pies sound delicious.

    Keep writing...

    ReplyDelete