Blueberry Hand Pies
When I was little, my family would drive from Rockville, Maryland all the way up to Bar Harbor, Maine – a small town on Mount Desert Island – almost every summer. We’d go in August because the blueberries would be in season and we could pick them as we hiked up Cadillac Mountain. We’d make a competition of it…who can pick the most! For dinner, my parents and older brother would dine on fresh Maine lobster and I would eat spaghetti (I was very young and scared of the lobsters) but we’d all indulge in blueberry pie for dessert. Deep dish and packed to the brim with juicy, fresh berries.
These Blueberry Hand Pies are my tribute to those memories. Those same sweet berries stuffed in a crispy, buttery pie crust just in a smaller size. If you can eat just one you have more will-power than I. Store a few unbaked hand pies in your freezer so they're ready to go whenever you want a bite of summer.
Blueberry Hand Pies Recipe:
Yield:
6 - 8 individual hand pies
Difficulty:
Easy
Special equipment:
4½ or 5-inch round cutter (the lid of a yogurt or sour cream container could work in a pinch)
Ingredients:
Crust:
Single pie crust dough (see recipe)
Blueberry filling:
1 pint fresh blueberries, divided
2 TBSP granulated sugar
1 TBSP cornstarch
¼ tsp lemon zest
⅛ tsp table salt or fine kosher salt
To finish:
1 large egg
1 TBSP room temp water
2-3 TBSP course sugar like sanding sugar or turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw)
Instructions:
Place half the blueberries in a saucepan with sugar and cornstarch over medium heat, stirring until the blueberries release some juice. Bring the mixture to a boil then remove from heat and stir in the remaining blueberries, lemon zest and salt. Let cool to room temperature.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the pie crust on a lightly floured surface somewhere between ⅛ to ¼ inch thick. Cut out 4½ or 5-inch circles of dough and place on prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Tip: If they don’t all fit on one sheet you can stack with parchment between the rounds.
Preheat the oven to 330° F.
Beat the egg and water together.
Once the dough has chilled, remove from the refrigerator, lightly brush the perimeter of the circle with the egg wash, and put 2 heaping tsp of blueberry filling on the lower half of the circle. (See photo below.) Lift the top half over the filling and press the edges to seal them. You can use a fork to seal the edges closed too.
Brush the tops with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle with course sugar.
Bake for 35-45 minutes until dark golden brown and crispy. Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool for a few minutes then enjoy! Some filling may ooze out but that’s all part of the hand pie fun.
They’re hand pies of course, but they’d also be fantastic served warm in a small bowl with a scoop of vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.
