Chocolate Almond Hand Pies Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Roll out one pie crust on a work surface lightly dusted with flour and cut into 4 equal wedges with a pizza cutter or knife. Spread 2 teaspoons of cream cheese over each piece, leaving about 1/2 inch bare around the edges. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons chocolate chips over the cream cheese and gently fold the crust over, creating a triangular hand pie. Using a fork, press the edges to seal, and place the pies on a large ungreased baking sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining crust.
• Brush the butter over each hand pie and lightly press the sliced almonds into the tops of the hand pies in a single layer. Brush the almonds with a little bit of melted butter and lightly sprinkle the turbinado sugar over each hand pie.
• Bake until the tops are golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes. Let rest a couple of minutes and serve warm or at room temperature

Steps:

• For the pie dough: Pulse the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor until combined. 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, adding 1 tablespoon of ice water if needed.
• Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and lightly knead to bring together. The dough might be a little crumbly, but it will hydrate as it chills and comes together. Form into a disk, wrap in the plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 1/2 hours. It should feel like very firm modeling clay.
• For the filling: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cherries and sprinkle with the sugar, cornstarch and salt and stir to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, until some of the cherries begin to break down and a jelly-like film begins to form at the bottom of the pan, 4 to 5 minutes. Use the back of a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to smash half of the cherries against the side of the pan. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cherry jam and almond extract, if using. Transfer the filling to a medium bowl and let cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. Then transfer to the refrigerator until fully chilled, about 1 hour. Fold in the chocolate chips once chilled.
• To assemble and fry: Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into 8 even pieces, then roll each piece into a ball. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each ball into a 6 1/2-inch round. If the dough starts to crack in places as you roll it out, pinch and press it together with your fingers and re-roll until the dough is smooth again. Stack the rounds between pieces of parchment paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit for 5 minutes. Beat the egg in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon of water.
• Heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a Dutch oven or deep high-sided skillet until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F.
• Scoop about 3 tablespoons of the cherry filling into the center of each dough round. Brush the edge on one side of the dough round with some egg wash and fold the dough over to make a half-moon shape. Press out the air and seal the edges with your fingers. Use a knife to trim any of the rough edges away, leaving 1/2 inch of the dough around the filling. Crimp the edges with a fork. Keep the formed hand pies on their individual pieces of parchment as you form them to make them easier to handle when adding to the hot oil.
• One at a time, peel away the parchment paper and add 4 of the pies to the hot oil, turning once, until the dough is bubbling in spots and crispy, about 4 minutes. Transfer the pies to a wire rack set over a baking sheet and immediately sprinkle generously on all sides with sugar.
• Repeat with the remaining pies. Allow the pies to cool for 10 minutes, then serve warm.

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. Beat on low speed until well combined, 2-3 minutes. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-in. pie plate. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack., For filling, combine sugar and eggs in a small saucepan until well blended. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture coats the back of a metal spoon and reaches 160°. Remove from the heat. Stir in chocolate and almond extract until smooth. Cool to lukewarm (90°), stirring occasionally., In a large bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add cooled egg mixture; beat on high speed for 5 minutes. Pour into cooled pie shell. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and almonds if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• Make the pies: In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the unsweetened chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate and butter. Fill a pot (relatively the same size as the bowl) about 1/3 full with water and place it over medium heat. When the water simmers, place the bowl of chocolate and butter over the simmering water and lower the heat. You want to melt the chocolate and butter gently together, stirring and scraping the sides (to avoid scorching).
• In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and lemon zest. Set aside.
• Separately, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
• When the chocolate and butter is melted, remove the bowl from the heat; stir to assure it's completely mixed and transfer to another medium bowl. This will accelerate cooling. Allow the chocolate to cool a few minutes. Whisk in the egg mixture. Whisk in the flour mixture. Only whisk until blended, over-mixing can affect the texture of the pies.
• Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray (alternatively, use a piece of fitted parchment sprayed with nonstick spray). Drop the batter in large spoonfuls (keeping the shapes as round as possible) on the baking sheet. You are aiming for rounds that are about 2 inches in diameter. Take care to leave some room (about 2 inches) between each one to allow for spreading that will occur as they bake.
• Place the tray in the hot oven and bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Check the pies. Leave in the oven an additional minute or two if they seem under baked. The dough will lose some of its shiney-ness and no longer look wet but will still feel soft. Remove the tray from the oven and allow them to cool for about 5 to 10 minutes before gingerly lifting them off the baking sheet and onto a flat surface.
• Make the filling: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk to a simmer and add about 3/4 of the cup of the toasted almonds. Reserve the remaining almonds. Shut off the heat and allow the almonds to "steep" in the milk, for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain the milk and pour it back into the same pan, discarding the almonds from the milk.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the sugar, flour, cornstarch and egg yolks until thick and smooth, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Pour some of the hot milk mixture over the eggs and whisk to blend. Pour the egg mixture back into the milk; turn on a low to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the almond extract. Continue to cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, stirring to make sure it doesn't cling to the bottom of the pan and burn, until very thick. Pour the cream into a clean bowl. Stir in the remaining almonds. Cover tightly with a layer of plastic so the cream doesn't form a skin. Allow to cool.
• Assemble: "Sandwich" some of the cream in between two of the chocolate rounds. Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
• Place the graham crackers and almonds in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture forms fine crumbs, about 15 to 20 seconds. Add the butter and pulse until incorporated. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
• In a small saucepan, whisk the cream and honey together over low heat until the honey has dissolved. Increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to just below a boil. Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until the mixture is smooth. Pour the chocolate filling over the prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours or preferably overnight.
• Loosen the tart from the sides of the pan by running a thin metal spatula around the edge. Unmold the tart and transfer to a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve.