Jam-Filled Hand Pies
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8-9 pastries
 
Adorable hand-held pies filled with your favorite homemade, or store-bought jam. Perfect for feeding a crowd or just treating your family.
Ingredients
  • 4½ cups all purpose flour
  • 2 TB sugar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 14 oz cold unsalted butter, preferably European-style
  • 1 cup ice water
  • 2 TB red wine vinegar
  • 16 oz best quality jam, homemade or store-bought
  • 1 egg
  • Turbinado sugar (optional)
Instructions
  1. Cut the butter into small cubes and place half of the cubes in the freezer. Return the other half to the refrigerator until needed.
  2. Combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add the chilled butter from the refrigerator to the dry ingredients and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
  3. Add the frozen butter to the food processor and pulse until the butter is in small but still visible pieces.
  4. Combine the vinegar and ice water and add ten tablespoons of the mixture to the ingredients in the food processor. Pulse several times until combined. Pinch a bit of the dough and if it holds together, you do not need to add more liquid. If it is still dry, add more of the liquid, one-half tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough to a bowl or a well-floured board.
  5. Knead the dough until it forms a ball. Divide the dough into four and wrap each half well in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator to relax for at least a half-hour and preferably for several hours or overnight.
  6. If your dough was chilled for longer than thirty minutes, remove one piece from the refrigerator and allow to soften for ten to fifteen minutes before rolling it out.
  7. Prior to rolling out the dough, strike it with your rolling pin to flatten. This will soften it further.
  8. Preheat the oven to 350 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat the egg with 1 TB of water.
  9. Liberally dust a pastry board or mat and your rolling pin with flour. (if your board has a tendency to move around, place a kitchen towel underneath it - a great trick!)
  10. Roll the dough out in a rectangle, rotating it and turning it frequently and adding more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking, until it is ΒΌ inch thick.
  11. Cut dough into four rectangles, each 4x7 inches. (If necessary, you can piece together one of the rectangles from odd-sized scraps.)
  12. Lay two of the rectangles on the baking sheet and place approximately two ounces of jam in the center of each, leaving a border around the edges.
  13. Cover with the two remaining rectangles. Seal by pressing the tines of a fork along the edges. Cut three to four slits in the top to act as vents.
  14. Brush the tops of the two pies with the egg wash and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar, if using.
  15. Chill for at least 20 minutes prior to baking to prevent leakage.
  16. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
  17. Repeat with remaining dough.
  18. (You may be able to combine the scraps after forming eight pies to make one additional pie.)
Recipe by West of the Loop at https://www.westoftheloop.com/2015/06/30/jam-filled-hand-pies/