Hand pies are such a fun dessert! They are so easy to make and don’t require any special equipment. You can use store-bought crusts or make your own homemade pie crust. I’m a sucker for cherry pie in any form, and I love how simple these are to put together!

Best Cherries for Cherry Hand Pie

Since we’re making our cherry pie filling from scratch, it’s helpful to know which cherry variety is the best for pies. My favorites are sweet cherries: Ranier cherries and Bing cherries. You could use a combination of both!

Of course, you can always use your favorite variety. Many bakers prefer more tart or sour cherries for that rich tang they provide.

You can use frozen cherries as well, but you may need to add a few minutes to the cooking time for the filling.

Ingredients for Cherry Hand Pies

To keep things easy, I’m using two refrigerated pie crusts, thawed and brought to room temperature. In addition, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Homemade Cherry Pie Filling

• Fresh cherries, pitted and sliced in half
• Granulated sugar
• Cornstarch
• Water
• Lemon juice

Egg Wash Ingredients

• Egg
• Water
• Turbinado sugar (raw coarse sugar)

The exact amounts you’ll need are listed in the recipe card below.

How to make Cherry Hand Pies with Pie Crust

This recipe takes a bit of time from start to finish, but it’s simple enough that you can make it even if it’s your first time attempting hand pies!

Prepare

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them each with a piece of parchment paper. 
2. Remove the pie dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for at least 15-20 minutes. If thawed, it must defrost at room temperature for about 90 minutes.

Make the Filling

1. Combine the cherries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. 
2. In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and water. Add it to the saucepan and bring the cherry mixture to a boil, stirring often. 
3. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. This could take about 30 minutes.

Pie Crust

1. Unroll one pie crust onto a lightly floured surface or piece of parchment. Using a 3 1/2″ biscuit or cookie cutter, cut 7 rounds from the pie crust. Gather the dough scraps together and re-roll, then cut out 4 more circles of dough. Repeat with the second pie crust. You should have 22 discs in total to make 11 hand pies.
2. Place 5 of the dough circles evenly spaced on one lined baking sheet and 6 on the other.
3. Lightly beat the egg and water in a small bowl. Using your finger or small pastry brush, dip it into the egg wash and wet the outer ½-inch of each circle on the baking sheets.

Add the Filling and Bake!

1. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the cherry pie filling onto each circle. Dip a finger into the egg wash again and wet the outer edge of the remaining circles before placing one each on top of the cherry filling. Using the tines of a fork, press the edges of the dough together to seal.
2. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the top of each pie with the egg wash. Evenly distribute the raw sugar among the pies and then gently slice an “x” in the top of each hand pie with a sharp knife.
3. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool slightly on a wire rack, then serve and enjoy!

Recipe Tips

• Cherry Hand Pies can be topped with a glaze made from powdered sugar, milk, and corn syrup instead of egg wash and sugar.
• Don’t add too much cherry filling to each pie or it will be difficult to seal and may leak when baking. Try to make sure the filling doesn’t leak over the edges before topping with the second crust as you may have difficulty sealing the edges.
• You can also bake these in an air fryer at 350 for about 10 minutes!
• Add cinnamon, lemon zest, and/or almond extract to bump up the flavor of the filling.
• You can make these in different shapes if you want using themed cookie cutters!

How to Store Leftover Hand Pies

Store any leftover cherry pies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

You can freeze hand pies. First, flash-freeze them on a baking sheet until firm, then wrap them individually in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then store them in the freezer for up to three months.

Reheat hand pies in the oven at 375 until warm throughout, or pop them in the microwave.

More Cherry Recipes

These delicious Mixed Berry Pie Bars combine my favorite fresh berries with a buttery crust and crumble. It’s all the flavor of a pie without the hassle of making a pie crust! 

I used to love smoothies when I was younger but rarely did I make them myself. Luckily cherries are in season so I can make these delicious Cherry Almond Smoothies for breakfast!

My recipe for Frozen Cherry Margaritas combines tart cherries and lime concentrate with sweet liqueur and tequila. It’s the perfect drink for a hot summer day!

Homemade Pie Recipes

If you like sweet OR savory pies, then try one of these recipes next time:

• Apple Pie
• Tomato Pie
• Sweet Potato and Turkey Shepherd’s Pie
• Chicken Pot Pie

Happy baking!

Print

Cherry Hand Pies

Sweet Cherry Hand Pies have a homemade cherry filling made with just 5 ingredients. They're the perfect treat to enjoy all summer at cookouts and pool parties!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Cherry Hand Pies

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Resting Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Servings 11 servings

Calories 210kcal

Ingredients

• 2 refrigerated pie crusts thawed and brought to room temperature

Cherry Pie Filling

• 2 1/2 cups fresh cherries pitted and sliced in half
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Egg Wash

• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 teaspoons Turbinado sugar (raw sugar)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them each with a piece of parchment. Make sure dough is at room temperature for at least 15 minutes.
• Combine cherries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook over 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and water. Add it to the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. This could take about 30 minutes.
• Unroll one pie crust onto a lightly floured surface or piece of parchment. Using a 3 1/2" biscuit cutter cut 7 rounds from the pie crust. Gather the dough scraps together and reroll and cut out 4 more circles. Repeat with second pie crust. You should have 22 discs in total to make 11 hand pies.
• Place 5 of the rounds evenly spaced on one prepared baking sheet and 6 on the other.
• Lightly beat the egg and tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Using your finger or a small pastry brush, dip it into the egg wash and wet the outer ½-inch of each circle on the baking sheets.
• Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the cherry pie filling onto each circle. Dip a finger or small pastry brush into the egg wash again and wet the outer edge of the remaining circles before placing one each on top of the cherry filling. Use a fork press the edges of each pie together to seal.
• Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops of each hand pie with the egg wash. Evenly distribute the raw sugar among the pies and then gently slice a + in the top of each pie with a sharp knife.
• Bake 23-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes

• If using frozen pie crusts, be sure to allow ample time for thawing them before beginning the recipe.
• You will be able to cut a total of 22 circles from the two pie crusts, it will just require you to re-roll the scraps. Be patient – they are worth it!

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 210kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.002g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 133mg | Potassium: 107mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg

This post was originally published June 9, 2016. It has been undated in format and with pictures on July 18, 2024.

The post Cherry Hand Pies appeared first on Easy Recipes From Home.

As you can tell we had a feast for Thanksgiving and it was only 6 of us. But we had some of the best dishes we have ever had! I don’t know about your family but there are a few things that are always required at holidays for the Hall, Higgins, Hansen and Klein families. Seven Layer Salad is a must for John, Green Bean Casserole for my Uncle John, some kind of potato dish for me, and stuffing for Daddy.

Some of the other dishes that were also on the menu were turkey, ham, cranberry sauce, scalloped squash and peppers, grilled veggies, mashed potatoes, chipotle sweet potatoes, and gravy.

My all time favorite pie is cherry but I thought it would be fitting to do an apple pie since our little blueberry the baby is the size of an apple right now. And of course since homemade apple pie is on my food bucket list.

Do you dig into dessert right after the huge meal? None of us could so we of course turned on football and a couple hours later ate the desserts. There was nothing better than warm apple pie and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream to finish off this wonderful meal. Next thing on my list is to make pie crust from scratch.

Menu for the Week

Print

Apple Pie

Ingredients

• 6 apples peeled, cored and cut into wedges
• 2 unbaked pie crusts
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• Dash of salt
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons butter - cut into small pieces
• Extra:
• Wax paper or aluminum foil
• Beans or Pie Beads

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Mix the the both sugars, flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add in apples and make sure they are all fully coated with the sugar mixture.
• Lightly grease the pie plate with non-stick spray before putting in the dough. Place dough in pie dish and trim and crimp edges of dough.
• Line pie dough with wax paper and fill with beans or pie beads. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then remove it from the oven and take out the pie weights and the wax paper liner. This will ensure a non-soggy bottom crust.
• Add pie filling to pie dish. Place pieces of butter all over mixture.
• Cover with top pie crust. Make scalloped edges. Make small slits all over pie crust - I generally do about 6-7.
• Cover with foil to prevent excessive browning. Bake for 40 minutes, then remove foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. After removing the foil be sure to watch the pie - depending on your oven temperature it may take less time.
• Take pie out of oven and let it sit on wire rack for 2 hours before serving (that is if you can wait).

Notes

Depending on the size of the apples, you might need 1 or 2 more if they are small. I typically use 3 granny smith and 3 gala.

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