Fruit Hand Pies: Strawberry-Rhubarb, Brown-sugar Apple, Blueberry-Lemon

I have a thing about pies. Big pies, little pies, pies that are like  perfectly sealed envelopes of steaming-hot fruity desire. Yeah. I get a little crazy about pie.

I was having everyone over for our usual Monday night family supper. I had a lamb shank roasted and shredded, along with cilantro, sour cream, green onions, lettuce, and avocados to make a sort of gyro buffet. And I was making both homemade tortillas and homemade Indian naan bread to tuck the meat and toppings into. Why both? The tortillas are raised with baking  powder, while the naan is a yeast bread. I like them both and wanted to try them at the same time to see which I actually liked best.  See how my twisty mind works?  

But were my thoughts actually on any of this? No, because you should know by now that all I really want to think about is dessert, the most important part of any meal. And I had decided to do three separate types of hand pies, just to give myself little something extra to do.

I made a super flaky butter crust. Normally, lard is my go-to for pie crusts. It adds great flavor, rolls wonderfully, doesn't have to be chilled, and it beats a butter crust for 2nd and even 3rd day flakiness every time. So why did I go with butter? Because I expected all these little babies to be eaten that very night. Right then. No saying you are full, people. I am like a brutal pie dictator.

Onto my crust I put my first filling. I had jarred strawberry-rhubarb compote that summer and decided to use that for one choice since I love it so. See the post on how to make it in Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote (well, duh, Ms. Sam). Note that I just cut long rectangles of crust. If you do circles for a half-moon shape you have tons of left-over crust to re-roll, and you generally get a smaller portion.

Then I opted for a blueberry-lemon. The same farmer who I bragged about before that gave me all the cherries, well, he gave me so many flats of blueberries that I couldn't eat, bake or freeze them all before they went over-ripe and I had to re-gift whole flats. Needless to say, there are lots of blueberries in the freezer. The berries mixed with lemon is an exquisite combination that I have done often as a quick topping for pancakes or bread pudding. You simply cook down the amount berries you want with a touch of sugar and a  splish of lemon juice. Cook this in a small saucepan over med low heat. They will begin to burst and release juice, then thicken into a bubbly mass of lusciousness that will set up like jam. Taste at the end to see if you want to add more lemon juice or sugar. It really is amazing. So there was my second fill.

 Do you see the little green leaves in the crust? I decided to roll freshly picked lemon-thyme leaves into the blueberry dough to see if it would infuse it. Did I notice it? No, but it looked pretty ;). 

All you need to make hand pies is pie dough, and some jams of your choice. Brush some egg wash on your pie edges and fold over, sealing with fork tines. Cut a small vent with the point of a knife. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until golden and crusty. HINT-baking on parchment eliminates the need for a jackhammer to chip off any pie filling that oozes out and burns onto the sheet.

Last was a filling from Bake from Scratch magazine. Please, don't groan. I know I'm a glutton for punishment!! Thing is, I already tried this filling once. It starts with tons of browned butter and brown sugar. It tastes really good, but it oozed out  my pies before I could even get them folded up. This time I determined to freeze the fill so it would be perfect for dolloping on dough squares. Nope. No good. It has such huge concentration of browned butter that it begins to melt the instant it is removed and touches anything. I still loved the taste, but what a pain in the rear! Here is the recipe if you desire self punishment... https://www.bakefromscratch.com/apple-and-browned-butter-hand-pies/

The kids ( and moma and pop) arrived early and I am very much a stickler for having everything done and ready to eat when guests arrive. This day was a bit harried with all the doughs flying about! 

My two oldest sons had fun rolling out the tortilla and naan doughs and cooking them. At the same time I set my two daughters-in-law to brushing my filled pies with egg wash and sprinkling with coarse sanding sugar so they could bake. It's like that little bit of crunchy glitter that makes the world go round. The apple pies got a dusting of cinnamon sugar.

The "gyros" were delicious and I still can't decide which wrapper I like best! As for the pies, everyone had a favorite. I was surprised to find that my strawberry-rhubarb loving self actually preferred the little pockets of blueberry-lemon.

And, as for the third son that was not pictured? Well, he is my "I don't eat cooked fruit" boy. I can feel you wincing in horror. So I made two little pies filled with chocolate chips that became molten and gave him great joy.

Even my visiting "grand-kitten" was completely satisfied. It was a good night for all!

All in all, no more attempts at the brown-sugar apple filling. I think I have learned my lesson, Dear Reader. That is, until next time...