What’s great about individual pies, besides being portable, is when you’re having a craving, you can just de-frost as many as you’d like and pop them in the oven! No need to bake an entire pie. It’s as easy as having cookie dough ready in the freezer.
For the crust, I added cornmeal for a bit of texture. The filling is pretty simple. I wanted the blueberries to shine and let the lemon enhance the flavor. There’s a touch of cinnamon for warmth. You may be tempted to spoon more filling in the middle, but ahhhh don’t! That’ll be more filling that will end up leaking onto the sheet pan. You shouldn’t have any leftover but if you do, you can swirl it into your morning yogurt. Enjoy!
Blueberry Hand Pies with Cornmeal Crust
Makes 16 hand pies
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
4 tablespoons ice water
8 ounces fresh blueberries
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon tapioca flour or cornstarch
1 egg with 1 tablespoon water, lightly beaten
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling
Directions:
Add flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to incorporate. Add butter and short pulse until dough starts to look crumbly. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition. The dough should start to clump together. Empty dough onto your work surface and divide into two discs. Wrap each and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
For the filling, in a saucepan over medium heat, add blueberries, sugar, salt, cinnamon and lemon zest. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and cornstarch to create a slurry. Set aside. Stir the saucepan occasionally until the blueberries begin to burst and bubble, about 3-4 minutes. Add the lemon juice slurry and stir another 2-3 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken. Pour filling into a bowl and let it cool down to room temperature. You can speed this up by placing the pot in a water bath and continue to stir the filling.
Roll out the dough 1/4” thick and use a 3” cutter to stamp out 16 rounds. Place on a parchment-lined half sheet pan. Repeat with second disc of dough. Chill both sheet pans for 5 minutes before assembling.
With one sheet pan, brush the edges of the rounds with egg wash. Spoon 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle of each. Cover with rounds from the second tray. Seal with your fingers. Use a fork to stamp all the way around to reinforce the seal. Place the tray of pies into the freezer for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Place the sheet pan in the middle rack and bake for 16-18 minutes, until golden and the filling is bubbling. Let cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool for another 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
If you make these hand pies, I’d love to see! Show me on Instagram @pastrywithjenn.