These cheerful little hand pies are portable pastries that taste like lemon bars. The buttery, tender flaky crust filled with sweet-tangy homemade lemon curd is a delightful combination. The lemon icing adds a vibrant finishing touch. Don’t be tempted to use store-bought pie crust since this crust recipe is one of the best you’ll ever taste and you don’t want to miss it!
Lemon Hand Pies
Tender, flaky hand pies filled with lemon curd and glazed with lemon icing
Ingredients
Lemon Curd
- 3 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (85ml) lemon juice
- Zest of 2 medium lemons
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, cubed
Pie Crust
- 2 2/3 cups (340g) all purpose flour, sifted
- 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup (46g) vegetable shortening
- ¾ cup (170g) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
- ½ cup (118ml) ice water
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
- Egg wash: 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon (15ml) of water
Lemon Icing
- ¾ cup (90g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- 2-3 tablespoons (30-45ml) lemon juice
Instructions
Lemon Curd
- In a large heat-safe bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, sugar lemon juice and lemon zest until well blended.
- Place the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly until it thickens and reaches a temperature of 160ºF (71ºC). The mixture should be able to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove the bowl from heat and stir in the butter until it's completely melted and thoroughly combined. Strain the lemon curd through a sieve into a shallow medium-sized bowl.
- Cover the surface of the lemon curd with plastic wrap or parchment paper and let cool to room temperature. Chill the covered lemon curd in the refrigerator until set, at least 3-4 hours, preferably overnight. Store in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.
Pie Crust
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Work the shortening into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it's evenly dispersed throughout. Work the butter into this mixture with your fingertips, creating flat dime-sized pieces.
- Mix the ice water and vinegar together. Sprinkle it over the flour mixture a little at a time, stirring just until the dough comes together. You may not need all of the liquid, depending on your climate.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Fold the dough over onto itself a few times. Do not over work the dough. Form the dough into 2 disks. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out 12-13 4 1/2-inch rounds.* It's important to keep the dough cold throughout the process. If at any point your dough becomes soft or hard to work with return it to the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes, then continue with the recipe. Place the dough rounds a couple of inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Place about 2 tablespoons of lemon curd onto each round, making sure to leave a 1/2-inch border.
- Using a small pastry brush, apply egg wash to the edges of the dough rounds. Fold the dough over and press the edges together to seal. Crimp the edges with a fork. If any filling oozes out, wipe it up with a paper towel or it will burn.
- Brush the hand pies with egg wash. Cut a 1/2-inch ventilation slit in the top of each hand pie. Bake until golden brown, about 18-23 minutes. Transfer the pies to a cooling rack.
Lemon Icing
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, salt and 1 tablespoon (15ml) of lemon juice. Add additional lemon juice as needed to achieve the desired consistency. Whisk until smooth. Using a pastry brush, brush a thin layer of icing over the cooled lemon hand pies.