Cherry Cutie Pies
3-inch cherry hand pies with flaky crust, topped with vanilla icing
Servings
20hand pies
Servings
20hand pies
Ingredients
Pie Crust
Cherry Filling
Icing
Instructions
Pie Crust
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Work the shortening into the flour with your fingertips until it’s evenly dispersed throughout. Work the butter into the flour mixture, creating flat dime size pieces.
  2. In a glass measuring cup, mix the ice water and vinegar together. Sprinkle the liquid over the flour mixture a little at a time, stirring until the dough comes together. You may not need all of the liquid depending on your climate.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Fold the dough over onto itself a couple of times. Do not overwork the dough. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions and form into disks. Wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
Cherry Filling
  1. In a medium-size saucepan, combine the cherries, sugar and cornstarch. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the cherries start to soften and the juices are thickened, about 5 minutes. Transfer the cherries to a bowl. Stir in the almond extract. Set aside to cool completely.
Icing
  1. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, meringue powder, 1 1/2 tablespoons (22ml) of milk, the salt and the vanilla extract. Add additional milk as needed to achieve the desired consistency. (If you decide to omit the meringue powder, you’ll need less milk.)
Assembly
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to about 1/8-inch (.3cm) thickness. Cut out 20-22 3-inch (7.6cm) rounds. Transfer half of the rounds to a baking sheet, placing them about 2 inches (5cm) apart. Using a slotted spoon, place the filling onto rounds to within 1/2-inch (1.3cm) of the edges. Using a small pastry brush or your finger, apply egg wash to the edges. Top with the remaining rounds. Press the edges to seal & crimp with a fork. Brush the pies with egg wash. Cut a small x in the top of each pie.
  3. Bake until golden, about 18-24 min. Transfer the pies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Brush icing on the cooled pies with a pastry brush. When the icing is almost set, top the pies with pitted cherries if desired.