Easter Hand Pies Recipe

Southern Living Easter Hand Pies on a platter to serve — Photo:
Molly Bolton

Active Time:

45 mins

Chill Time:

2 hrs

Total Time:

3 hrs 15 mins

Yield:

12 to 15 pies

It’s no secret we love pie. But hand pies cut out in cute spring-themed shapes? We’ll take them all!

Equally adorable and delicious, these Easter hand pies are the perfect springtime dessert—tender, buttery short crust pastry wrapped around a simple jam filling that’s baked to pie-perfection. We’ve fallen in love with these delightfully springy handheld treats.

Tips for the Best Easter Hand Pies

Don't skip the decorative vents: The cutout shapes on the tops of our hand pies serve a dual purpose: Yes, they are adorable, but they also serve as a vent, which allows the hand pies to release steam while baking. We used mini cookie cutters, like the ones you'd use for Linzer cookies. If you don't have mini cookie cutters, no problem! Use the small end of a round piping tip, cut out shapes by hand, or simply use a knife to cut a few slits in the top half of your hand pies.
Go bigger with cookie cutters. For best results (and to avoid jam spillage), we recommend using larger cookie cutters for these hand pies. We used a 3-inch egg-shaped cookie cutter and a 4-inch bunny-shaped cookie cutter for our Easter hand pies.
Chill the pastry: One of the most crucial parts of working with pastry is to keep it cold and let it rest. Using cold ingredients and allowing the pastry to rest in the fridge ensures a tender, flaky, buttery pastry for your hand pies. Trust us, it's worth the extra time.
Pick a jam: Any flavor of jam will do — we used strawberry and apricot. But other flavors like raspberry, grape, orange, or fig jam would be equally delicious.

How To Store Easter Hand Pies

Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature. Gently rewarm in microwave, if desired. If you're gifting these, layer them between sheets of wax paper so the jam doesn't stick to other pies.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. table salt
1 cup (8 oz.) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
1 large egg yolk, cold
2 Tbsp. milk, cold
1/2 cup jam (we used strawberry and apricot)
Sparkling or turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
1 large egg + 1 Tbsp. water, lightly beaten, for egg wash

Directions

Make the pastry dough:

Add the flour, powdered sugar and salt to the bowl of a large food processor and pulse until ingredients are combined.

Molly Bolton

Add the cold butter to the bowl. Turn the processor on high speed, mixing until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs, about 15 seconds. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and milk. Drizzle the egg mixture into the food processor over the flour/butter mixture. Let the processor run on low speed until the ingredients are just combined and the dough starts to come together, about 30 to 45 seconds. The dough will be crumbly, but should hold together when pressed.

Molly Bolton
Chill the pastry dough:

Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface. Gently fold the mixture onto itself and press together until a cohesive dough forms, being careful not to overwork the dough (You might think the dough is too dry at first, but be patient- it will come together!). Divide the dough into 2 equal halves, and shape each half into a disc about 1-inch thick. Wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight (for longer chill times let the dough sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before rolling out).

Molly Bolton
Roll and cut out the dough:

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove 1 disc of dough from the fridge and place on a moderately floured work surface. Roll the dough into an even 1/8-inch thickness. Using a large cookie cutter (we used a 3-inch egg-shaped cutter and 4-inch bunny-shaped cutter), cut the dough into as many shapes as possible. Gather and re-roll the scraps of dough, cutting into shapes until you've used up all the dough. Be sure to cut out the shapes in pairs. Place the cutouts on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining disc of dough.

Molly Bolton
Prepare the tops and bottoms:

Separate the cutouts into pairs. For each pair, create a vent in one of the cutouts using a mini cookie cutter, the small end of a round piping tip, or by simply cutting a few slits- these will be the tops of your hand pies. Brush the remaining solid cutouts with egg wash, making sure to brush all the way to the edges- these will be the bottoms of your hand pies. Set the egg wash aside.

Molly Bolton
Assemble and chill the hand pies:

Spoon 1-2 teaspoons of jam in the middle of a solid, egg-washed cutout. Next, place a vented cutout over the jam and use your fingertips to press the edges together to seal.

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Use a fork to crimp and further seal the edges. Repeat with the remaining cutouts. Place the assembled hand pies in the fridge to chill for 60 to 90 minutes

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Apply egg wash and bake:

Brush the tops of the chilled hand pies with egg wash and sprinkle with sparkling or turbinado sugar.

Molly Bolton

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Molly Bolton