Blueberry Hand Pies

The dough for these blueberry hand pies is sort of a cross between puff pastry and pie crust. It involves using a dough with pea sized chunks of butter along with the folding technique to create layers. The dough is very dry and requires some patience to bring together, but the result is a flaky pastry that is still sturdy enough to support a handheld pie. The pastry crust is sugarless, and could easily be used for savory treats. I'm thinking cheeses, meats, tapenades, tomatoes....

My sister and I used to sometimes describe certain foods as "poppable," or if it is really good, "soooo poppable." What does that mean? I guess the best way to capture it is to say that it is portable and slips into your mouth without any hassle. Oh, and delicious. It has to fit all of the categories to be poppable.

A slice a pie that you have to eat with a fork? It may be delicious, but it is not poppable.

A little mini hand held pie? Poppable. So neat and tasty.

For another great hand held poppable pie, check out these summer berry turnovers.

Blueberry Hand Pie Recipe

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

For the Pastry:

8 1/2 ounces unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

8 ounces of cold unsalted butter, very coarsely grated into pea sized pieces and placed in the freezer for about 30 minutes

4 ounces sour cream

A few sprinkles of water if necessary

For the filling:

8 ounces of blueberries

1 3/4 ounces sugar

1 T Instant Clear Jel, flour, or cornstarch

2 tsp lemon juice

To finish:

One egg, beaten

Sparkling sugar

Directions

1. Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together. Add in the butter pieces and lightly toss with your hands to coat the butter.
2. Add the sour cream and stir until you have a dry dough. 
3. Place the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead lightly to bring it together. If it does not come together at all, add a couple of sprinkles of water. The dough should be dry.
4. Roll the dough into a 8 by 10 inch rectangle. Fold it like an envelope, in threes. Repeat once. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to one day.
5. While the dough is resting, make the filling by placing all of the filling ingredients into a saucepan and cooking over low heat for about five minutes. Cool.
6. Roll the dough out into a 14 inch by 14 inch square. Cut into 16 pieces with a pizza cutter or a 3 1/2 inch square cookie/biscuit cutter. 
7. Place 8 of the pieces onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
8. Brush the edges with the beaten egg.
9. Spoon the fruit evenly onto each of the eight pieces.
10. Using a small cookie cutter, cut a piece out of each of the remaining dough pieces. If you don't have a tiny cookie cutter, just slit the top crust with a sharp knife. 
11. Place the pieces on top of the filled pastry pieces, and seal with a fork or a pie crust crimper.
12. Place the cutout onto the top (where it used to be before you cut it out) and brush the pies with the rest of the egg wash. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. 
13. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden, and cool for at least 20 minutes. 
14. Enjoy!

I am participating in the Avid Baker's Challenge. We are baking goodies from King Arthur Flour all year. To join or see others' results with this recipe, head on over to the Avid Baker's Challenge webpage.