Breaking news! I got a bicycle! If you read my recent post about Settling In, you already know I was on mission to get my hands (and feet) on one. Hubby made it easy. He just showed up with one the other night. Now I just need to practice not bumping the bell when I use my brakes. I already draw enough attention around here, I definitely don't need to be ringing my bell too.
Bluebell. She's blue and she has a bell. Mind-blowing name choice, right?
The town we are living in here in Italy is, well...small. The variety of food and grocery items within bicycling distance to our apartment is very limited, which means I have to try to be extra creative on days when it is storming and there is no way I'm dragging Bluebell (my Italian biccicleta with a basket) outside to pedal around town in search of an elusive pantry item (baking powder, I'm talking to you). Yesterday I was desperate to bake, but wasn't about to leave the apartment in the storm, so I set out to make good use of the 4 peaches, or "pesche", that were laying on my counter. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty sure that it was going to be a disaster since it was also my first time trying out the tiny Celcius convection oven in our apartment. I am pleased to report that the oven and I got along just fine and Hubby and I were munching happily in no time.
The good news is, these Peach Hand Pies are so easy to make. If I already have all the ingredients in this apartment, then you definitely have them at your house--well, you might need to go pick up peaches, but the rest are pantry staples. No fancy equipment needed either, since I don't have a mixer or anything here. Just a bowl and a fork work great. I also couldn't resist making some mini pies as well, using my little tart pans I got on our first day in Italy. This pastry recipe is similar to my Homemade Pop Tarts recipe, but the pastry is a little bit more delicate and flaky.
Peach Hand Pies
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 hand pies or 8 mini pies 1x
Ingredients
For the pastry:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (or "00" in Europe)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ tablespoons milk
- 1 additional egg, beaten, for brushing pastry
For the Peach filling:
- 4 large ripe peaches, peeled and diced, about 3 cups (white peaches are my preference)
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- pinch of salt
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, gently combine the diced peaches, flour, sugar, salt, vanilla,and cinnamon. If mixture seems very runny, add up to another tablespoon of flour. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender, food processor, fork, or your fingers until the butter is incorporated and is the size of small peas.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the whole egg and the milk. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon, then bring the dough together and knead a few times by hand.
- Divide dough in half. Wrap one half in plastic wrap and set aside while you roll out the other half.
- On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough into a large rectangle. Try to roll it quite thin, but not so thin that it will fall apart when forming the hand pies.
- Cut twelve rounds of dough (about 4-inches in diameter) and arrange them on a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet.
- Brush the rounds of dough with the beaten egg. (This will be the inside of the pop tart. The egg wash helps the filling not to get the bottom crust soggy, and also helps to seal the top and bottom pieces of pastry together.) Do not discard the rest of the egg wash yet.
- Spread about 1-2 tablespoons of the prepared peach filling in the center of each egg-brushed round of dough, leaving about ½-inch border.
- Roll out remaining dough and cut 12 more 4-inch diameter rounds. Gently lay a dough round on top of each of the filled rounds, pressing around the edges with your fingers to seal in the filling.
- Crimp the edges of each pastry with a fork.
- Brush the tops of each pastry with the rest of the beaten egg.
- Using a toothpick or a paring knife, poke a few holes in the top of each pie to allow steam to escape during baking.
- Refrigerate assembled hand pies for 30 minutes (or place in freezer for 10-15 minutes if you're in a rush).
- While the hand pies are chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Bake 20-25 minutes until golden. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a rack to cool.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Variation: You could also make mini lattice-top pies. Simply line 8 mini pie tins with dough, fill with 3 tablespoons of peach filling, and top with thin strips of dough layered in a basket-weave pattern. Chill and bake as directed above, adding about 5 extra minutes to baking time.
huntfortheverybest
these are so cute and look yummy!
Mandy
Thanks so much! I love miniature desserts.
CakePants
Oh these are adorable!! Peach hand pies sound like little pieces of heaven :)
twoOregonians
I'm making these for a surprise for my husband tonight. It's his last night (ever!) of grad school classes, and he'll love coming home to these little treats.
Sara L
I finished making these and they are perfection. Very little leakage, good structure to the dough. Did use a lot of flour to roll them out, but absolutely perfect once baked. The dough has great texture and flavor. I made 6 hand pies and used extra filling and dough to make 3 mini cobblers with the dough on top.