Valentine Hand Pies

Yesterday was a near perfect day here at casa pinksuedeshoe.  We slept in, had a late breakfast and then spent the day together, mostly just hanging out.  I got to do a lot of fun cooking, a little sewing and ended the night on the couch with my hubby watching girly movies. I really love to cook, and my life has been so busy lately that it has felt like a chore, which I hate.  But yesterday I made some Valentine hand pies and it was so much fun.  More work than a regular pie, but they were so cute I didn’t mind.

A few weeks ago I bought a heart shaped pie press at Target.  (Here is a similar one at Amazon.)  I am a total sucker for heart shaped bakeware, and when combined with pie it was a total control fail.  It had to come home with me.

So basically, they are like poptarts.  I didn’t frost mine, but you totally could.  I made a big batch of pie crust and it was enough for these six plus a full size pie.  Without a pie press you could totally make these as well.  Use your favorite pie crust recipe, or purchased frozen pie crust.  Roll it out and cut out two shapes.  (You can use the back side of the press to cut them out.)  Fill with whatever you choose and then crimp the edges and bake on parchment paper for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.  Easy peasy!

I made three kinds two of which turned out awesome, and the third turned out awesome in theory.  I tried a Smores pie, filled with marshmallows, chocolate chips and crushed graham crackers.  And it smelled good, and looked great, but the marshmallows had carmelized on the inside and were completely gone.  Next time I’ll try marshmallow cream or something else before I share that recipe.

Raspberry or Blueberry Handpies

My hearts are about 4″ across, and I filled each with 2 tablespoons of fruit.  I used frozen, thawed raspberries and fresh blueberries.  Then I mixed together 1/3 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch.  I added about 1 tablespoon of the sugar mixture to the middle of each pie before adding the top crust and sealing it up.  Then I turned them out onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and brushed the tops with milk before sprinkling with sanding sugar.  That makes it sound pretty easy, but getting them out of the pie press was kind of tricky.  Be warned.

The fruit to crust ratio is a lot different than a regular pie.  A lot less fruit and a lot more crust, which for me just means I’ll need more ice cream to wash it all down.  But they were fun to make, and delicious even though there were very few ingredients involved.  Next time I’ll try a savory filling I think.  Sausage and rice and veggies or something.  It was a really fun treat to make and it is something that I am going to play with over and over.  (Be warned that it took me 30 minutes to put together these 6 pies.  Assembly takes a while, so keep that in mind if you decide to make some.)  I’m working on one of my very favorite childhood traditions with Creamie tonight.  I’ll share some pictures tomorrow.  Hope your Sunday was lovely.