Cherry Hand Pies are simpler than they look with fresh or frozen cherries and puff pastry. An easy dessert or breakfast treat that's hard to resist, even better with a drizzle of icing.
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Prep Time: 50minutes
Cook Time: 30minutes
Ingredients
1 ½tablespoonscornstarch
2cupsfresh cherries(stemmed and pitted and cut in half)
⅔cupsdried cheeries
½cupsugar
2teaspoonslemon juice
1teaspoonvanilla
⅛teaspoonsalt
14ouncepackage Dufour puff pastry
egg white
coarse sugar
Instructions
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl stir together 1 ½ tablespoons cold water and cornstarch. In a saucepan, combine fresh and dried cherries with sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add cornstarch mixture and bring to boil. Remove from heat and let cool, stirring occasionally.
Roll out pastry sheet onto a lightly floured surface. Cut into 8 rectangles. In a small bowl, whisk egg white with 1 tablespoon of water.
Place each rectangle on a floured surface and brush edges with the egg white mixture. Scoop about 3 tablespoons of cherry mixture onto one side and fold the dough over the filling. Crimp edges with a fork to seal. Cut a couple of slits in the top and brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375º. Bake until golden brown, about 30-40 minutes. Let cool.
Optional Icing: Combine 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1-3 tablespoons of milk or cream. Stir until it is smooth and the consistency you want.
Barbara's Notes + Tips
You can use 16 ounces of frozen cherries instead of fresh
Try Dufour puff pastry or the Trader Joe's brand
Roll out the pastry before cutting it into rectangles
Serve these at room temperature or refrigerate and heat up in the oven
If you don't have a cherry pitter, place the cherry on top of an empty wine bottle and use a chop stick to push the pit into the bottle