Pear Hand Pies Recipes

Steps:

• Crust:Combine flour, salt, butter, and cream cheese in a food processor; pulse until pea-size clumps form.
• With machine running, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture just comes together when pressed in your hand. Divide in half; shape each half into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes.
• Filling:Whisk together eggs and 2/3 cup granulated sugar in a medium bowl until thick and pale yellow. Whisk in flour, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
• In a shallow saucepan, heat 1 stick butter, vanilla seeds, and ginger over medium-high until butter foams and browns, about 5 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve into bowl with egg mixture, discarding solids. Whisk until well combined.
• Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add pears and remaining 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring, until pears are soft, about 5 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes. Fold pear mixture into egg mixture.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of dough to a scant 1/8 inch thick. Using a 5-inch round cutter or a paring knife, cut out 5 rounds. Repeat with remaining disk. Gently press rounds into 10 cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin, making pleats around edges and gently pressing to seal. Fill each with 1/4 cup filling. Refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake until crust and filling are golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer tin to a wire rack; let cool about 20 minutes. Unmold; let pies cool completely on rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Steps:

• Combine the peaches, water, vanilla seeds and pod, granulated sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook until syrupy and the peaches are soft and just beginning to break down, 12 to 18 minutes. (Add more water if the mixture is too thick.) Discard the vanilla pod and mash the peaches; let cool.
• Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Gather the pie dough into 2 small compact squares; roll out each into a 12-inch square. Cut each in half, then cut each half into thirds to make twelve 4-by-6-inch rectangles.
• Arrange 6 rectangles on the baking sheet and top each with 3 tablespoons of the peach compote. Cover each with another rectangle of dough; crimp the edges with a fork to seal. Cut a small vent into the center of each top; brush with the beaten egg. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

Steps:

• In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the pears and the thyme and cook until the pears are tender and any juice has evaporated, 4 to 6 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a plate to cool completely.
• Working with 1 sheet of puff pastry at a time, on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 10-by-15-inch rectangle. Trim about 1/8 inch off of each edge. Cut the dough into 6 equal squares. Transfer the squares to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Brush a 1-inch border of egg on each square. Divide the cheese among the 12 squares. Then divide the pear mixture among the squares. Fold the squares over into triangles and press to seal with a fork. Transfer the pies to the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Brush the tops and sides of the pies with the egg. Cut a slit in each pie to allow steam to escape. Bake the pies until deep golden brown and puffed, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating halfway through. Transfer to a rack to cool slightly and serve warm.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350*F In a medium sized bowl, combine sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Mix well Add diced pears to sugar mixture and mix gently until well coated. Roll pie crust out. Using a bowl as a pattern that is approximately 4 - 5 inches in diameter, cut out round circles for your hand pies. Reroll excess dough to create more crusts. Place crusts onto a lined baking sheet. Place a small amount of pears in the center of one cut pie crust - leaving approximately 1/2 inch space around sides. Dot pear mixture with a small amount of butter. Sprinkle with few drops of lemon juice. In a small bowl beat egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush egg around the edge of the circle. This will act as a glue. Fold circle in half enclosing the pear filling. Crimp edges with a fork to ensure a good seal. Brush egg mixture on top of each hand pie. Slice slits on top and dust with course sugar if desired. Place on a lined cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

Steps:

• Make the dough: Pulse the flours, sugar and salt in a food processor to combine. Add the butter and pulse again until the flour looks like cornmeal, then pulse in the egg until the mixture clumps together. Knead the dough a few times, press it into a disc and wrap loosely in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.
• Make the filling: In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla seeds, honey and lemon zest. Stir constantly for 5 minutes. Add the pears and cook, stirring from time to time, until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Let cool.
• Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Line a baking sheet small enough to fit in your freezer with parchment or wax paper. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thick and cut into circles with a 4-inch cutter. Gather the unused dough into a ball and repeat until you have used all the dough. You should have 8 to 10 circles. Place on the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 15 minutes.
• Working quickly, make the pies: brush the outer 1/2 inch of a pastry circle with the egg wash, then spoon a heaping tablespoon of pears onto the circle, off center. Top the pears with as much of the liquid from the pan as will fit without spilling out, about 1/4 teaspoon. Lift the edge opposite the pears with a spatula and fold the pastry to cover the pears, making a half-moon shape. Crimp the edges with the tines of a fork to seal the pie. Transfer to the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pastry circles. (If the dough starts to tear, chill it.) Freeze for at least 3 hours.
• Shortly before serving the pies, in a large, heavy skillet set over high heat, add enough oil to rise 1/2 inch up the pan and heat until it reaches 350 degrees or a pinch of dough immediately bubbles and starts to brown. Fry 3 or 4 pies at a time, turning them once, until both sides are golden, 4 to 5 minutes. If they start to turn dark brown, lower the heat a little. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on brown paper bags. Repeat with the remaining pies. Serve warm, with ice cream.