Ina Garten has a really great quote about not having to make everything from scratch. Ina has lots of quips and tips that she says on her show but this is one I can always get behind. I think a lot of folks get stressed about cooking because they believe everything has to be made from scratch. Now, I do LOVE making things from scratch but I’ll be the first to tell you: it’s OK to take the easy way out. That’s exactly what I did with these blueberry hand pies.
I think some of my discouragement with baking pies has always been making pie crusts. I’ve made homemade pie crusts before but it’s not anything I want to get in the habit of doing. Not because it’s soooooo hard but because I’d prefer to take the easy way out. There you have it. I’m a lazy-ish cook.
via Pure Wow
These blueberry hand pies are crazy easy. No homemade pie crust involved at all. Instead, we use Pepperidge Farm’s puff pastry – duh. If you’d like to make your own crust, please don’t let me discourage you. In fact, I encourage you to please make your own crust. You’ll feel really accomplished after you do. However, if you’re pressed for time – or just simply greedy like me, buy the puff pastry.
How to: quick blueberry hand pies
So the filling for these hand pies is really good. I mean, blueberries soaking in sugar and lemon – what more do you need? Maybe you’re thinking blueberries aren’t your thing – THAT’S OK. Don’t turn away from this recipe. You can substitute the blueberries for another fruit of your liking. This may be tasty with blackberries, peaches or even apples. Really the sky is the limit on these.
And did I mention the lemon? Yep, there’s lemon in this, which adds a little acidity to the sweetness. I just recently talked about all of my favorite recipes that featured fresh lemon juice. I’ll have to update that round-up soon to include these blueberry hand pies.
I had leftover blueberries which you can use to make little tarts or just eat them with a spoon (I don’t recommend it but it may or may not have been what I did – no comment). With Thanksgiving coming up, you can easily pop these in the oven and serve them for dessert OR FOR BREAKFAST. Oh yum. These would be perfect for breakfast with coffee. Let’s forget about the blueberry muffins and replace them with blueberry hand pies.
Blueberry Hand Pies
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh blueberries
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- 1 large egg, beaten to blend
- Pepperidge Farm puff pastry
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out puff pastry and cut into six 6x4" rectangles.
- In a large bowl, toss blueberries, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and ½ cup sugar - set aside.
- Brush edges of pastry rectangles with some of the beaten egg then spoon some of the blueberry mixture on one half of each rectangle; leave a ½" border. Top each slice with puff pastry and press edges to seal. Crimp with a fork.
- Transfer to baking sheets and place in the freezer (yes, the freezer) for 15 minutes.
- Brush pies with remaining egg and sprinkle with sugar. Cut a few slits in tops of pies to let air escape.
- Bake pies, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until juices are bubbling and pastry is golden brown, maybe 30ish minutes.
- Let hand pies cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.
