Pie
Makes eight double-crust 4 1/2-inch round hand pies or sixteen single-crust 4 1/2-inch half-round hand pies
Ingredients
- Cream Cheese Dough (recipe follows)
- 3 cups blueberries, rinsed and picked over for stems
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- Egg wash, as needed
- Sanding sugar or granulated sugar, as needed
- Lemon Icing Glaze
Directions
- Prepare the Cream Cheese Dough.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and set the rack in the lowest position. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt and stir to combine. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, and cook, stirring, until the juices are thickened and clear, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. - Roll out half of the chilled dough to ⅛ inch thick. Using a round 4½-inch cutter, cut 8 discs from the dough, re-rolling scraps as necessary. Transfer the discs to a prepared baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Repeat the rolling, cutting, and chilling process with the remaining half of the dough.
- Remove the chilled dough discs from the refrigerator. For round hand pies, spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of the filling into the center of a dough disc. Lightly brush the edges of the disc with water and place a second disc on top. Gently press the edges to seal. Add a decorative border by pressing the edges of the dough together with the tines of a fork. For half-round pies, using your hands, gently warm the chilled dough discs until pliable. Place 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center of a disc. Lightly brush water around the edge of half of the disc, and then fold the other half over the filling to create a half-circle. Seal and decorate the edges as indicated above. Repeat with the remaining dough discs and filling.
- Place the hand pies on a prepared baking sheet and brush them with egg wash. Using a paring knife, cut decorative steam vents into the top of each pie. If desired, sprinkle sanding or granulated sugar liberally over the hand pies.
- Bake until the filling is bubbly and thick and the crust is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the hand pies from the oven and place them on a cooling rack. Let cool for 1 hour. The filling will continue to thicken and set as the pies cool.
- If desired, use a fork to drizzle the glaze over the top of each hand pie. Allow to set for at least 1 to 2 hours before serving.
Cream Cheese Dough
Makes 2 discs
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 ounces cream cheese, cold, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoons ice-cold water
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Directions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour and salt.
- Blend the dry ingredients on low speed until combined, about 15 seconds. With the mixer off, add the cream cheese pieces to the mixing bowl and combine on medium speed until the mixture resembles cornmeal, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the butter pieces and combine on medium speed until the mixture appears rough, with irregular pieces of butter no larger than small walnuts and no smaller than peas, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Sprinkle the ice-cold water and the lemon juice over the mixture and mix on low speed for 30 to 60 seconds, or until just combined. Continue to mix until the dough is rough but pliable. The dough should just hold together when pressed to the side of the bowl. It should not form a ball or mass of dough in the bowl.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Shape the dough into two 5- to 6-inch disc and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or preferably overnight, until firm.
There’s no recipe/directions for the “lemon glaze.”
In the recipe where it lists the Lemon Glaze, click on it. It sends you to the recipe.
For the first time maybe ever, I got exactly as many as the recipe indicated I would. The cream cheese pastry is nice and forgiving. No need to worry about the dough toughening when forming the scraps into the last circles.
So glad it was a success!