Blueberry Hand Pies

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You may have memories of finding small, individually wrapped pies tucked into your school lunch box. And while everyone has his or her favorite pie, surely blueberry is at or near the top of most lists. Be sure to have plenty of napkins ready, as part of the appeal is the delicious fruit juice that runs down your hands.

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Ingredients

  • FILLING:
  • 2 cups blueberries
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs. sugar
  • 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 Tbs. water
  • Basic pie dough for a double-crust pie (see recipe below)
  • 1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water
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Preparation

Step 1

In a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries, the 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the berries begin to give off their juices. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until all of the berries have burst, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and water. Add the cornstarch mixture to the blueberry mixture and cook until the juices come to a boil and thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 1/2 cup berries. Place the saucepan in a bowl of ice water and let the mixture cool, stirring frequently.

Preheat an oven to 375°F. Have ready an ungreased rimmed baking sheet. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and dust the top with flour. Roll it out into a rectangle about 20 by 13 inches and 1/8 inch thick. Using a 6-inch saucer as a template, use a paring knife to cut out 6 rounds. Place about 3 tablespoons of the blueberry filling on one half of a round, leaving a 1/2-inch border uncovered. Fold the dough over so the edges meet, then crimp them with a fork. Transfer to the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough rounds and filling. Refrigerate the pies for 15 minutes.

Lightly brush the pies with the egg wash, cut an X in the top of each pie and sprinkle with the remaining 1 Tbs. sugar. Bake the pies until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let the pies cool on the pan on a wire rack, then serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 6 hand pies.

Variation: To make a simple glaze, sift 1 cup confectioners’ sugar into a bowl and whisk in 1–2 Tbs.water until the mixture has the consistency of a thin icing. Brush the icing over the cooled pies, then let set for a few minutes before serving.
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Basic Pie Dough:

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
3 Tbs. very cold water

To make the dough by hand, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together.

To make the dough in a stand mixer, fit the mixer with the flat beater, and stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together.

Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. (Although many dough recipes call for chilling the dough at this point, this dough should be rolled out immediately for the best results.) Lightly flour the work surface, then flatten the disk with 6 to 8 gentle taps of the rolling pin. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed, then roll out into a round at least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Makes enough dough for one 9-inch single-crust pie or one 10-inch galette.


Make-Ahead Tip:
Pie dough may be made ahead and frozen for up to 2 months. To freeze, place the dough round on a 12-inch cardboard circle and wrap it well with plastic wrap. Alternatively, use the round to line a pie pan or dish, flute the edge and wrap well.


Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Pie & Tart, by Carolyn Beth Weil (Simon & Schuster, 2003).
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REVIEWS:

Easy & Tastes Good! I made an apple pie this past Thanksgiving using this dough recipe and had MANY compliments. This will be my staple moving forward.

Perfect Crust, Every Time! I have used this recipe time and time again over the last two years, and am always completely satisfied with the result. The crust is flakey and buttery and wonderful. It is so easy and versatile: for quiche omit the sugar, for tarts add a little extra. I find I rarely need more than 3 TBS water added. And the hour in the fridge really helps ease the roll-out.

Best Pie Dough Ever! I loved it, it came out flaky and delicious. My new go-to pie dough.

Perfect Pie Crust! I used this pie crust for an apple pie, blueberry pocket pies, pumpkin pie, and a pecan pie and it was wonderful. This is so much better than purchased crust or package mixes. It is a lot tastier than recipes with vegetable shortening instead of butter. People who normally just eat the filling and leave the crust, ate this crust.

The Best Pie Crust Ever! I used this recipe for my Thanksgiving Carmel apple pie and it was not only very easy but was the best tasteing crust that I have ever had! It will be my "Go To" crust for sure,next I will try to make it savory by adding herbs to it for pot pie. I did make it exactly as the recipe is written and everyone commented how great the crust was.

Good pie crust but way to much salt, reduce the salt and it will be right on.

Easy as Pie! I love to make homemade pies but have always used a box mix for the crust. I tried this crust and was very pleased. It would be perfect for any type of pie and was so simple that I'll never lay eyes on a pie crust box mix again! This recipe is just as easy to make and tastes much better!

Easy Pie Crust for First Timer! This is the first pie crust I have ever made from scratch, and it was perfect and pretty easy. I've made it with several pies now, and I always get rave reviews.

Delicious every single time!! I have done this recipe for every pie I made and everyone loves my pie crust! Even I eat the whole crust its so good!

Love this dough! This recipe is super simple and creates the best crust ever! I will no longer buy pre- made crusts for any of my pies. The finished product is crispy and people notice that it is from scratch. I have had so many compliments on this crust. A recipe box staple.

Quick, easy and flaky! I have made this pie dough twice, and both times it came out light and flaky. Instead of hand or mixer, I used my food processor. It not only made dough faster, it came out just as flaky and tender. However, if you use the food processor, you must have all ingrediants ready to go, pulse only in short bursts and do not overmix. The short pulses act like a mixer and if done right, will make a perfect crust. My only problelm is not making a flaky dough with this recipe, but fluting the edges. All in all, this is a great recipe for pies, rustic tarts and mini pies.

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