CINNAMON STRAWBERRY HAND PIES
Summer seems to be coming to a hot end and I’m not going to lie this growing momma is pretty happy about it. From swollen feet to 18 fans around the house, I am looking very forward to the cooler days (even though most will say we didn’t have that hot of a summer, I will beg to differ with the extra little furnace in me).
Yesterday, here on the west coast actually felt like an early fall day and it had me singing from the inside, the rain trickled down, the grey skies chilled the heat and near the end of the day the sun popped out and gave that beautiful and very west coast golden glow that happens so so well in the fall.
Now the one thing I will miss about the summer is the gorgeous and delicious fresh berries and produce. If once thing could carry into the fall I would be so very happy if a few summer goodies trickled down the line. I swear I have probably eaten my weight in strawberries this summer, and let me tell you my weight has grown! They have been so extremely juicy and sweet and like little pops of candy to the taste buds.
Pies are not my most favourite thing to make, don’t get me wrong I love them but with it just being Paul and I (well and a little one to come now) baking a pie just always seems so much and to be honest we can never finish the entire thing. So my go-to’s are usually galettes or hand pies!
These cinnamon strawberry hand pies are a total delight and make the house smell like pure summer delight. The filling is extremely easy and the pie dough is super flakey. My trick to the flakey dough is larger chunks of very very cold butter. I find that instead of crumbling the butter up with the flour leaving it a little chunkier gives you the flakes and a bigger buttery flavour.
Cinnamon Strawberry Hand Pies
Ingredients
Flakey pastry dough
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup very cold unsalted butter (best to come straight from the fridge)
6-8 tbsp very cold water
Cinnamon Strawberries
2 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
turbinado sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Start with the pastry dough. In a large bowl mix the flour, salt and sugar together. Next cut your butter into large chunks and using your fingers roughly mix into the flour mixture. You want to start to combine the two together but leave as many larger chunks as you can (you don’t want it to look like a crumble mixture). Add in the water 1 tbsp at a time, until most of the flour is incorporated (but not too wet). Dump the flour mixture onto a cold (marble is best) flat surface and knead a couple of times until the rest of the flour combines.
You do not want to overmix the pastry or else it will come out tough and not flakey when baked. Wrap the pastry in Saran Wrap and place in the fridge for at least half an hour.
In a small bowl, add the chopped strawberries, sugar and cinnamon. Let sit at room temperature while the pastry is chilling and the berries start to macerate.
Take your pastry dough from the fridge and on a large flat lightly floured cold surface roll it out to about 1/8 thickness. Using any kind of cookie cutter make some rounds or squares, enough to have an even amount of each.
Place the bottom rounds on a cookie sheet covered in parchment. With the top rounds slice three air holes in the middle of the pastry (will allow the pastry to breath in the oven), this is much easier done before placing the top onto the berries.
Add a couple of spoonfuls of the berries onto the bottom round of pastry (keeping them in the middle with a small clear border), lightly beat and egg and brush the border, place the top pastry round onto the strawberries and pinch together with a fork. Continue with the rest of the pies, brush the tops with the egg and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry and golden brown on top. Eat as is or top with a scoop of ice cream.