pie

Mmmmmm pies…. seriously, is there anything better than a fantastic pie? Today the girls and I went raspberry picking at a local farm that we go to every summer and picked two large quarts of yummy red tart berries. I knew right away that I wanted to try my hand at making hand pies and am so happy with how they came out. Here is my recipe for Raspberry Hand Pies!!

rasperry pie 2

Ingredients (Makes approx. 5 pies):

2 Pillsbury Pie Crusts (or any pre-made pie crust that is in a roll, not already in a pan)
3 cups of raspberries
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 tablespoon water

To make the glaze:

1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk

Let’s get baking!!!

Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper and set aside.

Next, in a medium bowl, combine strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla and set aside.

Working with half of your prepared pie dough at a time, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 6-inch cookie cutter (or round bowl or plate with a 6-inch diameter), begin cutting out your rounds. Repeat with the remaining half of the dough. Form any excess dough back into a ball, roll out and cut again. Repeat this until you’ve used as much dough as possible. I got about 5 pies cut but you can use a 4inch circle cutter and get more than that.

With all of the rounds cut, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Lightly brush this around the edges of each pie dough round. Then, place about 2 – 3 tablespoons of the strawberry filling onto one-half of each round. Fold the opposite side of the dough round over to enclose forming a half circle. Using a fork, gently press the edges together to seal; then pierce the top of each pie to allow any steam to escape. Brush the tops of each hand pie with the egg wash.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes until the pies are golden brown. Transfer the pies to a wire rack to cool before adding the glaze.

Enjoy!!!

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I have been trying to get into baking from scratch more, something that I have never been very good at. Thanks to Pinterest though I have many new recipe ideas and this photo just caught my eye:

Don’t they just scream summer and sunny days? Well as the snow comes down here I decided to bring a taste of summer back into the house, even for a day. I had most of the ingredients on hand and the recipe is pretty straight forward and easy to follow. I have never made pie crust from scratch either so it was definitely an experience to do all at once. Luckily aside from my dough being a little thick the recipe came out wonderfully.

I love The Farm Chicks blog! It is full of really inspiring, has crafts and recipes that are fun and easy, and best of all, there are strawberries everywhere!!! Here is the recipe for the pocket pies, originally found here:

Crust:

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 1/2 cups cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 egg

1/2 cup cold water

Combine the flour and graham cracker crumbs in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles course meal. Whisk the egg and water together and mix into the flour mixture until just combined. Transfer to a clean work surface and gently press to form a dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, press into a disk shape, and chill for at least one hour.
While dough chills, prepare Strawberry Pie Filling.

Strawberry Pie Filling:

4 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered (cut into eighths if the berries are huge)

1 cup brown sugar (not packed)

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients into a medium bowl and stir together until flour and sugar are mixed in. Set Pie Filling aside. Line two large baking sheets with foil or parchment and lightly grease.
Roll out dough onto a floured work surface and roll out to a 1/8″ thickness. Use a cereal bowl for a guide, and trace with a knife.
Repeat until the dough is all used up. (Should make about 16-18 dough circles). Divide pie filling evenly between the dough circles, folding and pressing each one closed as you go. Press edges with a fork and prick center for steam to escape. Place the pies on the baking sheets.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and filling is oozing out from steam holes. Remove pies immediately to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely. (They will harden up as they cool to room temperature).

Notes:

These pies will ooze filling as they cook, as the strawberries are very juicy. If you prefer a less juicy/messy pie, don’t use all of the juice from the filling mixture when filling the pies.

Your baking sheets will look somewhat – a lot juicy when you remove the pies from the oven. Don’t worry, this is normal. Just make sure to remove the pies while they’re hot so the filling doesn’t stick to the foil/parchment.

I definitely recommend using foil or parchment, rather than placing these directly on the baking sheet. this way, you won’t have a huge clean-up when you’re done!

Picnic Pies are rustic and don’t need to be perfect. They’re meant to be enjoyed! 🙂