While Memorial Day is often celebrated with a good barbecue fest, some of the best feasting can actually happen over dessert. These Star-Shaped Hand Pies are one of the most delicious ways to show your patriotism and satisfy your sweet tooth!
The beauty of hand pies is that they’re easy to grab and even easier to eat. Traditional pies need to be sliced and plated, making them a bit fussy when you’re entertaining a crowd. These Star-Shaped Hand Pies don’t require a plate, fork, or any time spent serving. In fact, they’re so tantalizing that you might find your guests snatching one up before it’s even dessert time.
The pies are not only shaped like the stars of the American flag, but they’ve also got a delectable red and blue filling. Fresh strawberries and blueberries are warmed with sugar until they’re softened and syrupy, and then they’re nestled inside golden pastry.
Using store-bought pie crust makes these star-shaped hand pies really easy to make. Once you’ve got your sheet of pie crust rolled out, a star-shaped cookie cutter is all you need to create the desired cut-out.
Star-Shaped Hand Pies Recipe
The hand pies are baked until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbly. The strawberry and blueberry filling will seep out a bit while the hand pies bake, but that just adds to their charm. Once the hand pies have cooled, you can dust them with powdered sugar or drizzle some icing on them.
These Star-Shaped Hand Pies are so yummy; they literally taste like bite-sizes pieces of classic pie. Biting into the flaky pastry only reveals even more scrumptiousness with the sweet and tart filling. The jam-like filling is a wonderful contrast to the crisp pastry since it’s luscious and tender.
Best of all, these hand pies can be made ahead of time and wrapped as mini gifts. Perhaps you know of someone who is in, or has previously been in, service for this country and you’d like to thank them with this sweet gift. There’s no better way to show your love and appreciation than with a home-baked gift!
Ingredients
- 1 sheet of store-bought pie crust
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, stems removed
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- Juice of 1/4 a lemon
- 1 egg, beaten
- Powdered sugar to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper. Start by dicing your strawberries. You want the strawberry chunks to be no bigger than the size of the blueberries.
- Add the diced strawberries and blueberries to a medium saucepan with the sugar and lemon juice. Stir over medium heat for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, until they're softened and syrupy. Allow the filling to cool until it's just warm.
- Roll out your sheet of pie crust and use a star-shaped cookie cutter to cut out stars from the dough. Once you've cut out as many stars as you can, bunch the dough scraps together and roll out the dough again to the same thickness it originally was when you first unraveled it. Cut out more star shapes. You will need 2 stars per hand pie.
- Place 12 stars on your baking sheet, then add a teaspoon or so of the filling to the center of the stars. Use a pastry brush to brush some of the beaten egg on the edges of the dough. Then cover the filling with another cut-out star, matching the stars' pointed ends together so it's symmetrical. Gently press down on the edges to seal the pies. Brush more of the beaten egg all over the tops of the hand pies.
- Bake the hand pies for 15-20 minutes, until they're golden throughout. Let the hand pies cool on a wire cooling rack until they're completely cool then dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
Home Chef Tip: To add even more great flavor to your filling, add some orange zest or lemon zest.
You can also create a glaze by simply whisking 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of milk. Drizzle this over the hand pies and allow the glaze to set.
We hope you love this recipe for Star-Shaped Hand Pies from SoFabFood Contributor, Beeta from Mon Petit Four, as much as we do. If you love this delightful recipe, stop by our Desserts section to find more like it. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so that you never miss a single recipe, and you can visit our Pinterest boards for even more incredible dessert ideas. Enjoy!
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