Sweet Hand Pie Dough

Sweet Hand Pie Dough

Hand pies are circular or crescent shaped pastries popular in the south of the US, they are typically be baked or fried. They can be filled with sweet or savoury fillings, anything from lamb mince to apple pie filling, all in a flaky crisp crust.

This recipe is for sweet hand pies, a slightly sweet flaky dough that can be made in a flash. This dough is a bit drier and crumblier than most sweet doughs and the addition on the egg yolk adds an elasticity to the dough that makes it super easy to form. The dough is crisp, flaky and crumbly, which lends very well to the fresh fruit filling.

Some of my favourite sweet hand pie fillings:

• Blueberry Hand Pies

I love using my hands to make this dough but a food processor can really come in handy here if you are using a food processor make sure to use the pulse setting for a smoother dough. It is extremely important to use cold butter and cold water when making the pastry to make sure the pasty stays flaky and light.

If you make the pastries in circles, you’ll be using two discs of pastry per pie and make roughly 15 – 16 of them, and you would want to roll out the dough a little thinner. If you choose to make them into crescent shapes then the dough can be a little thicker and you’ll get round about 20 – 25 hand pies.

Sweet Hand Pie Dough

Hunar Baig

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Pastry

Servings 15 – 16 hand pies

Ingredients

  

• 125 g butter (1/2 a cup)
• 1 1/2 cups plain flour (205g)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• pinch of salt

Instructions

 

• Start by cutting the cold butter into small cubes
• In a large mixing bowl mix the dry ingredients and add the butter and egg yolk, have a cup of ice-cold water with a tablespoon ready but don't use the water yet!
• Start to incorporate the butter and flour mixture together until it has a crumble like consistency / the consistency of wet sand.

  You can do this by hand or using a food processor
• Now add a tablespoon of water at a time until the dough starts to come together. I normally use about a quarter of a cup but, every time you make this the amount of water will probably change, so go slow and steady
• Place the dough onto a clean surface and knead with a bit of flour until the pasty is not sticky and well combined and soft and form into a round disc

  Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least an hour
• Take the pastry out of the fridge 20 – 30 minutes before rolling out

Keyword Dough, Pastry