Spiced Pear Hand Pies

Who agrees that pie is one of the most underrated desserts ever? They're so delicious, and perfect for so many occasions. But what if I told you that there was a way to make pie even better? Well, there is. Making pie into HAND PIES! These hand pies are small individual pies, perfect for a small portion or dessert on the go. They are also stuffed with the most delicious spiced pear filling. I promise you, you are going to love them!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR SPICED PEAR HAND PIES

These spiced pear hand pies are super easy to make. For this recipe, we're keeping things simple and using store-bought pie crust! So to make them, you'll need pie crust, plus just a handful of other ingredients to make the spiced pear filling. Here's your shopping list:

• Store-bought pie dough

• Fresh pears

• Light brown sugar

• Unsalted butter

• Spices

• Salt

MAKING SPICED PEAR HAND PIES

These hand pies come together in just a few steps! Here's what you'll need to do:

Step 1: Make your spiced pear filling
To start the filling, you'll need 2 cups of fresh chopped pear. This is usually about 2 medium/large pears. Peel and dice the pears into small bite-sized pieces and add them to a pan. Add in the brown sugar, spices, butter, and salt. Cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes until the mixture is saucy and the pears are a tender, but not mushy. Turn off the heat and allow your pear filling to cool completely.

Step 2: Prepare and cut your pie dough
Store-bought pie crusts usually come with 2 sheets of dough that have already been rolled out to the proper thickness and are ready to use. Use a 3.5" round cutter for the pie crusts, and cut out the crusts one sheet at a time. You should be able to get about 7-8 cutouts from each sheet. *Note: You can to re-roll out some of your scrap dough to get up to 9-10 hand pies.

Place the circles from the first sheet of dough onto a cookie sheet. Repeat the same steps for cutting out the second sheet of pie crusts. These will be used for the tops of the hand pies. Once they're all cut out, carefully make small slits in the middle of the circles. You can make an "X" or two parallel lines next to one another in the center of each one.

Step 3: Filling and prepping the hand pies
Spoon 1- 1 ½ tablespoons or so of pear filling into the middle of each bottom crust, making sure to keep space on the edges. Repeat for all of the hand pies.

Now, brush the inside edge of your pie crust with egg wash. For the egg wash, beat together one egg with one tablespoon of milk in a small bowl. Brush the edges of the pie dough around the filling with egg wash. Place the top crust on and gently seal with your fingers. Lastly, use a fork to crimp the edges of the pies. Brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Pop the hand pies into the refrigerator to chill while your oven preheats.


Step 4: Baking the hand pies
Preheat oven to 400°F. Take the pies out of the refrigerator and bake for 16-18 minutes, until the tops of the pies are nice and golden brown.

TIPS FOR THE BEST HAND PIES

While these hand pies are super simple to make, here are a few tips to make the process even easier.

♦ Use firm pears. I recommend using pears that aren't fully ripe and that are still a bit firm. This will help make sure the filling pie filling doesn't get too mushy when cooking it.

♦ Don't overfill the pies. If you've made hand pies before, then you know how easy it is to overfill them. When adding the filling, I use a tablespoon measuring spoon This will leave plenty of room when sealing and crimping the edges.

♦ Sprinkle sugar on the pies before baking! This is an absolutely optional step, but I love sprinkling sugar on the pies to add a little extra crunch. For these, I used a mix of 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon.


If you give this recipe a try and love it, be sure to leave a comment and star rating! Be sure to tag @thehungrykitchenblog on Instagram so I can see all of your delicious bakes! Happy baking! ♥