Cherry Hand Pies
These cherry hand pies with buttery pie crust, fresh fruity centers, and almond icing are a delicious summer dessert!
This recipe is sponsored by Challenge Dairy.
Cherries are one of nature’s best treats and I look forward to them every summer. While we often enjoy cherries straight out of the bag, I love to bake with them too.
These mini hand pies are maybe my new favorite cherry recipe! They are simple and uncomplicated, essentially just cherries enveloped by a homemade flaky pie crust with a little drizzle of almond icing. The flavors of the fresh cherries, buttery crust, and sweet icing are so perfect together.
Perfect Treat on the Go!
Hand pies are exactly what they sound like— individual pies that you can eat with your hands. They are so perfect for taking on the go, whether you’re having a picnic in the park, spending the day at the beach, or heading out for a hike.
Of course, if you want to put your hand pie in a bowl and cover it with vanilla ice cream, I have no problem with that.
So, let’s get baking shall we?
Ingredients You’ll Need
- All-purpose flour
- Challenge butter
- Buttermilk
- Granulated sugar
- Powdered sugar
- Cornstarch
- Heavy cream or milk
- Salt
- Almond extract
- Fresh sweet cherries
Why I Bake with Challenge Butter
Since these cherry hand pies only have a handful of ingredients, the ingredients you choose matters! And that’s why I bake with Challenge Butter. It’s high quality butter churned daily from the freshest cream from family-owned dairies.
Did you know that Challenge Butter is made and ready to be shipped to the supermarket just 24 hours after milking? That freshness helps give these hand pies the best buttery flavor and flaky layers.
How to Make Cherry Hand Pies
These hand pies are really quite simple to make, with homemade pie dough, a quick 3-ingredient filling, and a drizzle of icing to finish them off.
- Prepare pie dough. Use a pastry blender to cut cold butter cubes into a mixture of flour, sugar, and salt mixture. Add buttermilk and bring mixture together into a flat disk. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours or more.
- Roll out pie dough. Roll out pie crust into a large rectangle about 12 x 15 inches, though you don’t need to be exact. Trim edges so they’re straight and cut dough into 12 rectangles.
- Prepare cherry filling. In a bowl combine halved pitted cherries with sugar, cornstarch and a pinch of salt.
- Assemble hand pies. Place a mound of the cherry filling into the center of half of the rectangles. Brush with egg wash and place the remaining 6 rectangles on top. Press dough together to seal and then crimp edges with a fork. Brush tops with egg wash.
- Bake. Bake hand pies until crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes.
- Drizzle with icing. Whisk powdered sugar, milk or heavy cream, and almond extract to make a thick but pourable glaze. Use a spoon to drizzle icing over slightly cooled hand pies.
Then, enjoy! These cherry hand pies are delicious when they are fresh and still slightly warm, but will keep for several days so you can enjoy them even longer.
More Fresh Cherry Recipes to Try
- Sweet Cherry Pie
- Ultimate Summer Fruit Cobbler
- Fresh Cherry Limeades
- Sweet Cherry and Hazelnut Galette
Watch the Video
Shop Tools for this Recipe
Cherry Hand Pies
Ingredients
For the Pie Crust:
- 2 ½ cup (300 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 cup (226 grams) Challenge Salted Butter , cold and cubed
- ½ cup (113 grams) buttermilk , cold
For the Cherry Filling:
- 12 oz (340 grams) fresh sweet cherries , pitted and halved
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
For the Almond Icing:
- 1 cup (115 grams) powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
To prepare the pie crust:
- Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add butter and use a pastry blender to cut butter into dry ingredients until bits of butter are about the size of small peas.
- Add buttermilk and use a spatula and then your hands to bring the mixture together into a ball. If you need to add more buttermilk, do so a tablespoon at a time. It's okay it's a little shaggy, as long as it stays together.
- Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
To assemble Hand Pies:
- Preheat oven to 400°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out pie crust into a large rectangle about 12 x 15 inches, though you don’t need to be exact. Trim edges so they’re straight and cut dough into 12 rectangles of even size.
- In a bowl, combine the cherries, sugar, and cornstarch.
- Place a mound of the cherry filling into the center of 6 rectangles, leaving about a ½-inch border. Brush edges of crust with egg wash and place the remaining 6 rectangles on top. Use your finger to press dough together to seal and then crimp edges with a fork. Brush tops with egg wash and poke a few holes with a toothpick.
- Place hand pies on prepared sheet pan and bake until crusts are golden brown, about 30 minutes.
- Let hand pies cool slightly while you prepare the icing.
- Whisk powdered sugar, milk or heavy cream, and almond extract together. Add only enough milk or cream to make a thick but pourable glaze.
- Drizzle icing over hand pies. Let set up for a few minutes before serving.
- Hand pies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.
Video
Disclosure: This recipe was created in partnership with Challenge Dairy, Inc. Thank you for supporting partnerships with brands I love and believe in, which make Completely Delicious possible. All opinions are always 100% my own. To learn more about Challenge Dairy, you can visit their website here. You can also find them on facebook, instagram, youtube, and pinterest.
Have you ever made these with frozen cherries?
I haven’t, but I imagine you could!