Cherry Hand-Pies

Last week our grocery store had an amazing sale on cherries. Needless to say, we now have ... quite a lot of cherries. While H loves to snack on them and I froze a bit more for later, there was still a lot left over that I wanted to use for some baking. When I saw these little hand-pies, I knew they were exactly what I wanted to make.

I loved the concept- all the tasty goodness of a pie, but ... portable. (As if the lack of mobility is what was missing from your traditional pie.) It's possible though! These are perfect for a cookout or a picnic, where it might be too messy and difficult to bring, slice, and eat a full pie. Just grab one of these babies!

Cherry Hand-Pies

for the dough:
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
8 Tablespoons of cold buttermilk
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of lemon extract (or 2 teaspoons of lemon zest)
2 sticks of cold butter, cut into 1/4" pieces
powdered sugar, for dusting

for the filling:
4 cups of cherries, pitted and halved
1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
1 Tablespoon of cornstarch
1/4 cup of sugar

for finishing:
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup of sugar

Directions: Combine buttermilk and vanilla extract in a small mixing bowl. Add flour, sugar, salt, and lemon extract (or zest) to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Give it a quick beating to combine. Add the butter cubes, and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Remove bowl from mixer, add buttermilk/vanilla mixture, and mix by hand until dough just comes together. Move dough to a powdered sugar covered surface, and flatten into a thick disk shape. Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, put three cups of cherries in a large mixing bowl. Pulse the remaining one cup of cherries in a food processor with the lemon juice until they are a thick liquid. Add the cornstarch to the cherry liquid, and whisk until combined. Then add the sugar, and stir to combine. Add the liquid back to the bowl of cherries, and stir to coat.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator, and place on a powdered sugar-dusted surface. Divide dough into 12 equal parts, and roll each part into a 6" circle, about 1/8" thick.

Preheat oven to 400. Have beaten egg and sugar, as well as cherry filling ready in bowls. Place a dough round on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Spoon about 3 Tablespoons of cherry mixture into the center of the dough. Brush the edge of one half of the dough round with beaten egg. Fold opposite side of dough over to meet the egg-brushed side, into a half circle-shape Press edges together, containing the cherry filling. Brush tops of pies with egg, and sprinkle with the sugar. Cut three 1" slits in the dough to let steam escape. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until tops start to turn golden brown. Allow to cool on pans for 10 minutes, and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!

Adapted from Annie's Eats, original recipes here and here.