Hey there, welcome to my kitchen at the Frog Pond Veg Patch! Today, we’re baking with a recipe for strawberry hand pies, inspired by Kelly’s challenge to make a strawberry hand pie with a flaky crust and bright red filling that still tastes like strawberries. Before writing this, I didn’t really know how this would work out. Let’s just call this one an experiment, shall we? But there were fresh strawberries that needed to be used up, so I’m glad I made these.
Making the Pie Dough
First up, I’m making an all-butter pie dough with a bit of baking powder and cider vinegar to make it extra flaky from New York Times Cooking. I made a few changes to how I cooked the filling, but you could easily just follow it just like they have in the recipe. Maybe next time, I will too…. You’ll need unbleached flour, granulated sugar, salt, baking powder, cider vinegar, ice water, and butter. Keep that butter nice and cold in the fridge for the best results.
NY Time Cooking Berry Hand Pie Recipe
I picked this recipe because it has less sugar. I’m not a fan of very sweet desserts, and when a pie dough has a lot of sweetness to it too, it tends to be far too much for me. First, you’ll need to measure out 320 grams of unbleached flour. I always use a scale when I’m baking so that I have the right measurements as opposed to just measuring it out in a cup measure. Add a teaspoon of baking powder and salt, then grab your ice water and a tablespoon of vinegar. Cut the butter into pieces and mix it into the flour using a food processor or by hand. You’re aiming for a mix with small and some bigger butter chunks for the best flakiness.
Then I formed the dough into discs, wrapped them in plastic, and popped them in the fridge for at least an hour or leave them overnight. I left these overnight.
Making the Strawberry Filling for the Pies
While the crust is in the fridge, I started up the strawberry filling ready. I sliced up some fresh strawberries and tossed them with sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and a little pinch of salt. Next, I heated this mix gently on the stove to thicken it up. Now, when I say gently, that’s what you’re supposed to do. Actually, I left the room and forgot about it for a few minutes and the filling scorched on the bottom of the pan. I think that was just the beginning of my problems really. For the rest of the strawberries, I let them hang out with sugar and a touch of lemon juice to draw out the extra liquid, so the hope was that I could avoid a soggy pastry this way.
Baking and the Finish
First, I preheated the oven to 425°F. I rolled out the pastry discs to about an eighth of an inch thick and cut them into circles using a 4.5-inch ring. Chill these circles for a bit to firm them up. Then I spooned the strawberry filling into the pastry, fold and seal them carefully. Brush on an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar for a golden finish. Now, here’s where I had a few problems. I combined the fresh fruit with the cooked filling too soon and didn’t cook down the juices at all. I was going to, but I forgot. When I make this next time (and I will!) I’ll remember to do that so they aren’t so juicy. It was a bit difficult to close them up with all that juice, but I made it work.
I baked the pies for about 20 minutes, keeping an eye on them to make sure they were nice and golden.
Ok, So How Did It Go?
In all honesty, given the way the filling went in, I was surprised how yummy and crispy the pie dough was. I wish there were more strawberries in the filling, but the balance between the pastry and filling is pretty awesome. I’m definitely trying this again, maybe with a bigger cutter to fit more filling. For now, these strawberry hand pies are a lovely treat to enjoy, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. And as a bonus, they were even better the next day for breakfast. And I see nothing wrong with that!
Thanks for joining me on this baking adventure. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you know what’s coming up next on the Frog Pond Gardening YouTube Channel and on the blog here. See you next week!
Ingredients & Supplies
- Pastry: Butter, Flour, Sugar, Salt, Baking Soda, Vinegar, Water
- Filling: Fresh Strawberries, Sugar, Cornstarch
- King Arthur Silicone Pastry Mat: https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/rolling-mat
- King Arthur Parchment Sheets: https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/half-sheet-baking-parchment-paper
- Rolling
- Pin Bowls
- Small Pan
- Baking Sheet
- Food Processor (optional)
- NY Time Cooking Berry Hand Pie Recipe
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