Texas Hand Pies Recipes

HAND PIES RECIPE

Steps:

• Place flour, salt, and cold butter pieces into the bowl of your stand mixer and blend on low until mixture resembles coarse sand.
• Add in your egg and just enough water to bring the mixture together
• Press into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for one hour.
• Prepare your fresh fruit by chopping into small cubes (if needed) or use frozen fruit. No need to defrost.
• Place your fruit and butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until the butter is melted and bubbling.
• Add in your water (or juice), sugar, lemon juice, and salt and mix until combined. Bring to a simmer.
• Combine your ClearGel with your water and whisk to make a slurry. Pour into your simmering mixture and mix for 1-2 minutes to cook the gel. If you're using cornstarch, you only need to cook until it's clear.
• Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool.
• Preheat your oven to 400ºF and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper
• Let your dough stand at room temperature for 15 minutes to let it soften a bit
• Dust your surface with flour. Begin by pressing your dough with your rolling pin to start flattening it.
• Roll your dough out to 1/8 thick or about the thickness of a cake board. Thinner than you think. Thinner dough results in a crisper, crunchier crust for your hand pies.
• Cut your dough into 6" circles. I used a 6" cake board as a template or you can use a 5" circle cutter if you want smaller hand pies.
• Fill your 6" hand pie with 3 tablespoons of fruit filling (5" circles take 1 heaping Tablespoon). Do not overfill.
• Brush the outside edge with egg wash (one egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of cold water)
• Fold the hand pie over and crimp with a fork to seal well
• Use a knife or fork to make some vents on top
• Brush the hand pies with more egg wash and place them onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Chill for 20 minutes.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes. They should be golden brown and the filling will just be starting to bubble.
• Let your hand pies cool for 10 minutes.
• While your hand pies are cooling, make your glaze. Just whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together until smooth.
• Use a pastry brush to brush the thin glaze over the hand pies and enjoy!
• These hand pies taste best the day they are baked but will last for three days in an airtight container in the fridge or frozen for up to 2 months.

FRUIT-FILLED HAND PIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix together fruit, sugar, orange zest and juice, salt, and cornstarch; mix until well combined. Set fruit mixture aside.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one piece of dough to a 16-by-11-inch rectangle. Trim to 15-by-10 inches. Cut into six 5-inch squares. With a dry pastry brush, sweep off excess flour. Working with one square at a time, place 2 tablespoons of reserved fruit mixture in the center. Brush two connecting edges with beaten egg and fold on the diagonal over the filling, pressing to seal. Repeat process with remaining squares.
• Repeat entire process with remaining pate brisee. Place hand pies on prepared baking sheet. Brush pies with remaining egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Using a pair of clean scissors, snip the center of one side of each hand pie to allow steam to escape.
• Transfer baking sheets to oven and bake until crusts are golden brown and filling is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Serve warm.

APPLE HAND PIES

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
• Cut peeled and cored apples into quarters, cut each quarter into 3 wedges, and cut wedges into chunks.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; let butter brown to a light golden color and until butter smells toasted, about 1 minute. Stir apples into hot butter; sprinkle with salt, white sugar, and brown sugar. Cook and stir apple mixture until apples are softened, about 5 minutes. Mix in cinnamon and water; continue cooking until apples are soft and sticky, 1 to 2 more minutes. Spread apple filling onto a plate to cool.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Form a dough piece into a ball, place on a floured work surface, and roll into a circle about 8 inches in diameter. Spoon 1/3 to 1/2 cup apple filling in the center. Fold dough over filling, leaving about 1 inch of dough on the bottom side visible below the top side. Gently press dough closed around filling, using your fingertips.
• Fold the overhanging bottom part of the dough up over the top edge, working your way around the crust, and pinch the overhang tightly to the top part of the crust.
• Crimp the edge tightly closed, pinching a little bit of dough with the thumb and forefinger of one hand and using your index finger on the other hand to push a small notch into the pinched dough. Continue pinching and notching all the way around until the crust is tightly crimped together. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Transfer pies onto prepared baking sheet.
• Whisk egg with milk in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. Brush top of each hand pie with egg mixture and sprinkle with about 1/4 teaspoon white sugar. Cut 3 small vent holes in the top of each pie.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pies are golden brown and filling is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

SMOKED BRISKET HAND PIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a small skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
• On a lightly floured surface, unroll piecrusts. Using a 4½-inch round cutter dipped in flour, cut dough, rerolling scraps as necessary. Brush edges of dough with water. Place about 1 tablespoon brisket onto lower half of one round. Top with about 1 teaspoon onion and 2 teaspoons Cheddar. Fold dough over filling; pinch seams to seal. Place on prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough, brisket, onion, and Cheddar.
• In a small bowl, whisk together egg and 2 teaspoons water. Brush egg wash onto dough, and sprinkle with salt. Prick top of dough once with a fork dipped in flour.
• Bake until golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes.

TEXAS HAND PIES

Steps:

• Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the food processor bowl. Pulse a time or two to blend. Add the vanilla, sour cream and milk. Pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter, shortening and sugar and egg, and process until the mixture is thoroughly blended and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball.
• Divide the mixture into 12 equal portion and form into balls.
• Refrigerate for about an hour until they're well chilled.
• Preheat oven to 375, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Flour the work surface and rolling pin. Place a ball of chilled dough on the floured surface. Roll each ball of chilled dough into a 5" diameter circle, using additional flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin.
• Spread 1 1/2 tbsp filling on one half of the circle, leaving a 1/2" uncovered space around the edge of the dough. Moisten the 1/2" space all around the edge of the dough with water.
• Fold the circle of dough in half, over the filling, and crimp the edges with a fork. Prick the pies a few time with the fork tines, to allow the steam to escape while they're baking.
• Place the pies on the parchment on the baking sheet, and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes, or until they're light brown.
• Place the pies on a cooling rack until room temperature. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar before serving.

TACO EMPANADAS WITH PIE CRUST + VIDEO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• In a large skillet brown ground beef, red onion and Taco Seasoning Spice Blend over medium heat, breaking up to crumble.
• Add the refried beans and stir in cheese. Set aside to cool slightly. Meat mixture will thicken.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out a pie crust to about 1/4 inch thickness. Using a 4 inch round circular mold (I used the refried beans container lid) cut 6 circles, re-rolling dough if needed. Repeat with other pie crusts for 24 circles.
• Top each dough circle with about 2 tablespoons of the filling. Fold in half and press edges with a fork to seal. (You can use a 4-inch mold or dumpling press if you have one). Place on a lined baking sheet. (See Note 3)
• Brush the tops and sides with beaten egg then pierce the top of each with a fork. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

HAND PIES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• 2. If you have a food processor, pulse the cold butter, flour and salt until crumbly. You can use a pastry cutter or fork if you don't have a food processor.
• 3. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough starts to come together. I find, depending on the weather, it takes at least 2 and up to 4 tablespoons.
• 4. On a well-floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick and cut into 5" or 6" circles. I used the rim of a bowl about 5" across to cut out mine.
• 5. Dip your finger in water and run around the entire outside edge of the dough and place 1 tablespoon of your favorite jam in the middle. I found that a thicker jam works best. Runny jam will leak out when it bakes.
• 6. Fold circle over and seal with the tines of a fork all along the half circle. Prick the fork twice in the top of pie and lay on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment and sprayed with a baking spray like Pam.
• 7. Once you have a full sheet (about 8 pies), brush each pie with milk (or you could use an egg wash) and sprinkle with a little crystal sugar. Bake for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees and then rotate the pies one full turn and switch racks as you do. Bake another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
• 8. Remove to rack to cool. I then put them in individual sandwich bags and the individually bagged pies into a gallon bag and store them in the freezer to keep them fresh. I made a baker's dozen with this recipe.