Cherry Hand Pies Recipes

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, whisk 4 tablespoons water, sugar, brandy, cornstarch, lemon juice, tapioca, lemon zest and salt until combined. Add cherries. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Set aside to cool., Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough to a 14x9-in. rectangle. Cut out eight 3-1/2 x 4-1/2-in. rectangles. Repeat with remaining dough. , Transfer 8 rectangles to parchment-lined baking sheets; spoon about 3 tablespoons cherry mixture in center of each. Whisk egg and remaining 2 tablespoons water. Brush edges of crust with egg wash. Top with remaining 8 rectangles; press edges with a fork to seal. Brush tops with egg wash; cut slits in tops., Bake until crust is golden brown and slightly puffed, 25-30 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Combine confectioners' sugar, hot water, melted butter, extracts and salt; drizzle over pies. Garnish with freeze-dried strawberries if desired. Let stand until set.

Steps:

• Make the dough: Pulse the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Drizzle in 6 tablespoons ice water and pulse until the dough starts coming together.
• Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and lightly knead to bring together. Form into a disk, wrap in the plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine the cherries, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the cherries are juicy and the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, 5 more minutes. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the juice into a small bowl; stir in the cornstarch until dissolved. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and continue to simmer, stirring, until very thick, 6 to 8 more minutes. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the lemon juice and let cool.
• Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each into a ball. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each ball into a 6 1/2-inch round, using as little flour as possible. Stack the rounds between pieces of parchment paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand 5 minutes. Place 2 tablespoons cherry filling in the center of each round, then fold in half to enclose and crimp the edges to seal.
• Heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a deep skillet until a deep-fry thermometer registers 360 degrees F. Fry the pies in 2 batches, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• For the filling: Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Combine the cherries, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cherries are juicy, the sugar dissolves and the liquid begins to thicken, about 10 minutes.
• Stir together the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until smooth. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and continue to simmer, stirring, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the lemon juice and let cool completely.
• For the crust: Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Unroll both pie crust rounds, dust them with flour and roll with a rolling pin just to flatten out any creases and thin the dough slightly. Use a 4-inch mitten-shaped cutter to cut out as many mittens as possible, rerolling the dough once; you should have 16 to 20 pieces in all.
• Arrange half of the mittens on the prepared baking sheets. Beat the egg in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon water. Brush around the edges of the mittens with the egg wash. Spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of each mitten (the amount you use will depend on the exact size of the cutter, but do not overfill). Cover each with a second mitten, pressing to seal with your finger. Brush the tops with the egg wash. Cut one small slit in the top of each mitten to let steam escape. Bake until the crust is golden and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the pies to a rack to cool completely.
• For the royal icing and decoration: Meanwhile, combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 6 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft glossy peaks form, adding 1 to 2 tablespoons water if necessary to make a smooth, slightly thick icing. Remove a third of the icing to a small bowl. Add food coloring to the remaining icing to make a light blue color.
• Transfer the blue icing to a pastry bag fitted with a #6 or #7 round tip. Transfer half of the white icing to a pastry bag fitted with a #3 or #4 round tip and the other half of the icing to a pastry bag fitted with a #103 or #104 rose petal tip.
• Pipe a thin blue border around the edge of each cookie, leaving the cuff plain and uniced. Let set for a few minutes. Pipe a generous amount of blue icing inside the border of each cookie. Using a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the icing to cover the cookie, still making sure to leave the cuff plain. Sprinkle the icing with the snowflake sprinkles. Use white icing with the rose petal tip to pipe a ruffle on the mitten cuff. Pipe stitching around the edge of the mitten using the white icing with the plain round tip. Let the icing harden before serving, about 1 hour.

Steps:

• Roll out each circle of pie dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut circles into the dough using a 3-inch round cookie cutter to make 16 circles (8 from each dough round).
• Moisten the edge of a circle with water, then add 1 tablespoon cherry pie filling in the center. Fold the circle in half and pinch the edges of the dough together to seal. Use a fork to crimp the edges to secure them further. Add a slit in the top of the crust with a sharp knife. Repeat with the remaining dough circles.
• Preheat an air fryer to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and spray the air fryer bucket with cooking spray. Place pies in the basket in a single layer (you may need to work in batches). Spray the tops of the pies with more cooking spray, and sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar.
• Cook in the air fryer until golden brown, about 9 minutes.

Steps:

• Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir cornstarch and 1 1/2 tablespoons cold water in a small bowl to blend. Combine fresh cherries and next 4 ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cherry juices are released, about 5 minutes. Add cornstarch mixture; bring to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
• Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to an 18x15" rectangle. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into nine 6x5" rectangles. Whisk egg white and 1 tablespoon water in another small bowl for egg wash.
• Working with 1 pastry rectangle at a time, place on a work surface and brush edges with egg wash. Scoop 3 tablespoons cherry mixture onto one side; fold dough over filling so that short ends meet, forming a 5x3" packet. Crimp edges with a fork to seal. Using a sharp knife, cut a few slits in top of pie to vent. Place on prepared baking sheet; repeat with remaining dough and filling.
• Brush tops with egg wash, then sprinkle with raw sugar. Chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake pastries until tops and bottoms are golden brown, 30-40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet. Transfer to wire racks; let cool completely. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Let stand at room temperature.