How to make cherry hand pies from scratch

Cherry hand pies are the perfect, portable summer treat. Pack them in lunches, take them to potluck dinners, freeze them for the cold months when you need a burst of summer. These mini pies are made from scratch using sweet, not sour, cherries. They are a hand held remake of a classic childhood treat.

I’ll give you variations and substitutions where I can, plus helpful tips and tricks for success. Read on for this info as well as the recipe. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipe, use the jump to recipe button at the top of the post.

You may also be interested in my fresh cherry scones and my cherry chutney recipes. For ease of browsing, you can find all of my cherry recipes in one place.

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Why you should make this recipe

• Great for gatherings – This recipe make 2 and a half dozen cherry hand pies.
• Perfect for summer holidays – From Memorial Day though Labor Day, you can celebrate all of the red, white and blue holidays with these treats.
• Versatile – You can make these little pies as big or as small as you like.

Cherry Hand Pies

Do you remember your favorite childhood treat? Mine was Hostess cherry pies. Cloyingly sweet cherry pie filling encased in a lackluster pastry shell coated with a cavity-inducing glaze of white icing.

To think of eating one now does absolutely nothing for me, but the 10 year old version of me would happy devour that sugar bomb.

This homemade version made from scratch is a much better option.

Ingredients

You’ll need some pantry basics and about a pound and a half of cherries to make them.

• Flour – Provides structure for the dough. You can’t have a crust without it.
• Lemon – We’ll use the zest in the crust and the juice in the filling.
• Sugar – Regular granulated sugar sweetens both the crust and the filling.
• Buttermilk – Provides moisture and makes a tender crust.
• Salt – All baked goods need salt.
• Butter – Cold, unsalted butter for the crust.
• Egg – Used for the egg wash to seal the pies and brush the tops.
• Cherries – The base of the filling. I used sweet Bing cherries.
• Cornstarch – This helps to thicken the cherry filling.

Handheld cherry pies 

These portable packages would also be a perfect addition to a picnic basket or a summer gathering. Just stack them up on a plate and let people help themselves. No need for utensils, plates or clean-up, which in my opinion is the best thing about these hand pies.

They are little pockets of goodness. Everyone went wild for these cherry hand pies. They disappeared before I got a chance to snag one for myself. 

How to Make Cherry Hand Pies

The first thing we have to do is make the dough for the crust. This will need to chill in the refrigerator for a bit, so it is the first step.

Make the dough

Slice the COLD butter. This is important. The butter must be cold, if it gets too warm, put it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up again.
Zest your lemons and measure out the flour, then combine everything in a medium bowl.

Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until the pieces of butter are the size of a pea.

Make the filling

Step one in this is pitting cherries. It’s not too laborious, if you have a cherry pitter. I highly recommend getting one if you don’t own one. You can also use it for olives, so it does double duty.

Once you have the cherries pitted, chop them up and put them in a small pot to make your filling. 

Roll out dough and assemble pies

You ‘ll need a rolling pin for this bit and my maple rolling dowel is the one I reach for. It works perfectly for rolling out crust and keeping everything even. You have to decide how big you want to make your hand pies. Choose a cutter of the appropriate size and cut out the dough. Make sure you have an even number – you’ll need 2 pieces per pie.

I made 2 different sizes so you could see the difference. It is only a slight difference in size, but it will change the number of pies you get out of the dough.

Also, keep in mind that the dough shrinks a little while it is baking, so the pies will be just a smidge smaller after baking.

If you have kids who like to help in the kitchen, this is a great recipe to make with them. They can help you spoon the filling onto the dough discs, help with egg washing or sprinkling the tops with sugar.

Cherry hand pies FAQ’s

Variations and substitutions

If you are a blueberry fan, check out my blueberry mini pies.

You could also use a mixture of berries with the cherries, as long as it equals the same amount in the recipe.

Helpful tools and equipment

• Round Cutters to cut out dough circles
• Fluted edge cutters are also a good thing to have
• Microplane to zest lemons
• Pastry brush for egg wash

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Cherry Hand Pies

Cheryl Bennett

Your favorite childhood fruit pie gets a mini make-over with these cherry hand pies.

4.63 from 16 votes

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Prep Time 2 hours hrs

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course Desserts

Cuisine American

Servings 30

Calories 183 kcal

Equipment

• OXO Good Grips Cherry and Olive Pitter, Red
• J.K. Adams Maple Plain Rolling Dowel
• Ateco 5457 Plain Edge Round Cutters in Graduated Sizes, Stainless Steel, 12 Pc Set
• King Arthur Flour White Sparkling Sugar 3777

Ingredients

  

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For the Crust

• 3 3/4 cups 470 grams all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 12 ounces unsalted butter very cold and cut into small pieces (3 sticks)
• 3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk

For the Egg Wash

• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water.
• If you want to dust the top with sugar you will also need sanding sugar or any coarse sugar.
• prepare egg wash get out the pastry brush & set aside.

For the Cherry Filling

• 3 cups pitted cherries roughly chopped (about 1 1/2 pounds whole cherries)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch
• juice of half a lemon

Instructions

 

Make the dough

• Whisk together flour, zest, sugar and salt in the bottom of a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until the biggest pieces of butter are the size of tiny peas.
• Gently stir in 3/4 cup buttermilk with a rubber spatula, mixing it until a bit of a mass forms, then knead it two or three times to form a ball.
• If it doesn’t come together, add remaining 1/4 cup buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does, then gently knead again. (I had to add all of the remaining 1/4 cup)
• Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Chill in fridge for at least an hour or up to two days. (Life got in the way & mine was in there for 3 days… It was fine)

Make the Filling

• Combine the cherries, sugar and salt in a medium pot over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves.
• Increase heat slightly to bring to a simmer for 5 more minutes.
• In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in a few teaspoons of the cherry juice from the pot and stir until smooth.
• Pour the cornstarch mixture back into the pot and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened (about 6 to 8 more minutes). Turn off heat and add lemon juice. Stir to combine.
• Transfer to a non-metal bowl and allow to cool.

Assembly Line

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Generously flour the counter top, then unwrap one of your disks of dough. Gently begin rolling it out, starting from the center and pushing outward. The dough will be pretty firm when you begin, so be patient, but it will warm quickly… so not too patient!
• Keep rolling from the center out, turning the dough as you go, until it is about 1/8 inch thick. If the butter in the dough begins to get too warm and it starts to stick to the pin or gets goopy, slide it onto a baking sheet and put it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up again.
• Once dough is rolled out, cut out with a 2 1/2 – 3 inch cutter, whatever shape you have, or use a knife and cut into squares. I only had a round cutter of the appropriate size, so that’s what I used.
• Lightly brush half of your circles or squares with the egg wash, taking care to get the edges, cut vents in the center of the other half of your circles/squares. Place 1 rounded teaspoon of filling in the center of the egg washed halves and top with the vented pieces. (don’t overfill!) Seal with your fingertips or press with a fork along the edges.
• Brush with the egg wash on top and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Chill in refrigerator before baking if dough begins to get mushy. Repeat with remaining disk of dough, filling, etc.
• Place on baking sheet 1 – 2 inches apart and bake for 15 – 18 minutes until golden and puffed.
• Cool on wire rack.

Nutrition

Serving: 1hand pieCalories: 183kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 3gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 156mgFiber: 1gSugar: 7g

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