GF Mini Heart Pies
These flaky and tender hand pies filled with cherries are sure to be a hit this Valentine's Day.
GF Mini Heart Pies
Ingredients
- For the pie crust: Use Perfect Pie Crust from Better Batter to make Mini Heart Pies. For best results, use a kitchen scale for measuring the flour.
- 2 1/2 c (10 oz) Better Batter All-Purpose Flour, plus a little more for rolling
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 4 Tbl butter, chilled
- 5 Tbl vegetable shortening (we like butter flavored), chilled
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp cider vinegar
- 3 ice cubes
- 1/2 c cold water
- Store-bought cherry pie filling
- 1 egg, beaten
- Granulated sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
Make the Pie Dough. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, 1 tsp sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add the butter and shortening and process until the flour has coated the butter and has a coarse appearance with pea-sized bits of butter.
Beat Ingredients. In a measuring cup beat together the egg yolk, vinegar, ice cubes, and water. A little at a time pour some of this mixture over your pastry mix . You may use all of the mixture depending on how dry or humid it is in your house - I used about half, so drizzle it in slowly. The dough should hold together and not have a dry consistency at all.
Dump the dough out onto a length of plastic wrap and gently knead once or twice to bring the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 4 hours.
Preheat and Prepare. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Roll and Cut. When ready to bake, remove the chilled pie dough from the refrigerator and cut into two pieces. Roll out half of the crust and cut out heart using a large heart-shaped cookie cutter (I tried this with two different size cutters as seen in the photos. One was approx. 3 in wide and the other was approx. 6 inches wide.)
Transfer each heart to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spoon filling in the center (my little hearts held two cherries each and the large hearts held about 6 cherries each plus the sauce).
Roll out the other half of the pie dough and cut out additional hearts for crust toppers. Place a second heart on top of each one with filling.
Crimp the edges with the tines of a fork to seal closed. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops begin to brown and the dough crisps up. Cool 5 minutes and serve warm. Store extras, after cooling the pies completely, in an airtight container for up to three days.
Adapted from The Gracious Wife and Better Batter
