The holidays are the one time of year we think it's permitted, nay essential, that you eat pie at each and every chance. We prefer hand pies like this Spiced Pear Cranberry Hand Pies Recipe so we can have them on the go, as a snack, or just our very own individual portion just because.
2/3cupgranulated sugarplus 2 tablespoons for garnish
1/2cupPure maple syrup
1/2cupapple juice
3tablespoonsunbleached all-purpose flourdivided
3tablespoonsunsalted butterdivided
1teaspoonkosher salt
3/4teaspoonground cinnamon
For The Pears:
1poundmedium ripe pears(about 2) cored and finely chopped
1cuppecansfinely chopped
2tablespoonsfreshly squeezed lemon juice
2tablespoonsunbleached all-purpose flour
For The Hand Pies:
1poundpie dough
1/4cupchilled heavy cream
For Serving:
Heavy Cream or Ice Creamfor serving
Instructions
Cook The Cranberry Filling: Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Combine cranberries, 2/3 cup of the sugar, the maple syrup, the apple or pear juice, 3 tablespoons of the flour, 1 tablespoon of the butter, salt, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Prepare The Pears: Meanwhile, peel, core, and cut pears into a small dice. Remove from heat, stir in the pears, pecans, the lemon juice, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour and set aside to cool slightly, at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the pie dough.
Cut Out The Hand Pies: Unwrap the dough and using a lightly floured rolling pin on a lightly floured cutting board, roll the dough to 1/4-inch thick circle. With a 3-inch biscuit cutter, stamping as many discs as possible from the pie dough. Gather the scraps and reroll the dough and stamp until you have 32 discs total. (Keep unused dough in the refrigerator until ready to use.)
Assemble The Hand Pies: When the filling is cool, cut the remaining butter into 16 small pieces then arrange 16 of the rolled-out discs between the two prepared baking sheets. Top each disc with 2 1/2 heaping tablespoons of the cranberry mixture and a dab of the butter, being sure to leave a 1/2-inch border around the edge.Place the remaining discs on top of the cranberry mixture and press them together at the border. Using a small fork, crimp the edges of the two discs together to securely close each hand pie. TIP: Hand pies can be assembled through this step then wrapped up and frozen for up to one month before baking.
Bake The Hand Pies: Use a pastry brush to brush the hand pies with cream then garnish the hand pies with the remaining sugar. Cut an “X” shaped vent in the top of each hand pies. Place pies in the freezer until the oven is heated, at least 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°F and arrange two racks in the upper and lower third.
Place both baking sheets of pies in the oven and bake, swapping the baking sheets halfway through cooking time, until pies are risen and golden brown on the bottom and the fruit mixture starts bubbling through the vent, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool briefly on cooling racks (at least 5 minutes) then serve with whipped cream or ice cream. TIP: Hand pies can be baked for up to two days and stored at room temperature before serving.