To Peach His Own Hand Pies
Makes: 10-12 Hand Pies Prep time: 1 hour Baking time: 15 to 18 minutes
Ingredients
For the pie dough
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon fresh baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar, ( I use Dixie Crystals)
2 sticks very cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup sour cream, (not low fat)
1 egg for sealing pies and brushing on top
Glaze
2 and 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, ( I use Dixie Crystals)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, ( I use Ballard Extracts)
1/2 cup plus 4 tablespoons half and half
Filling
10 ounce jar of Jamnation, To Peach His Own Jam
Directions
Make the dough
In a medium sized bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. With a pastry cutter, cut in the cold cubes of butter until the mixture looks like the size of peas. Blend in the sour cream with a spatula or large spoon, just until completely incorporated. The dough will be soft and tender, but should come together nicely. With floured hands, place on a floured board and roll until a ball, then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour, or until very cold. Whisk the egg in a small bowl and set aside. This will be the glue to keep the pies closed and will be used to brush on top so they are nicely golden brown. Preheat your oven when the dough comes out of the fridge to 425 degrees.
When the dough is properly chilled, on a well floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. You are going to be able to get about 10-12, 4 inch pies out of the dough. Prepare 2 baking sheets by lining them with parchment or silicone baking sheets. Using a 4″ inch round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut as many circles as you can out of the dough. You may need to re roll it a few times, but if it gets too soft, place it back in the fridge for a few minutes. Place 6 circles of dough per baking sheet. Dip your finger into the egg and go around the edge of each piece of dough. Place a tablespoon of jam in the center of each piece. Fold the dough over carefully and crimp the edges with a fork. A little jam may ooze out while you are trying to do this, and that is ok. Remember that too much jam isn’t a good thing when you are making hand pies, because it will end up all over your baking sheet. When you have finished filling and folding all the pies, place them back in the fridge for another 15 minutes. They need to be cold before baking, as you will be able to see how soft the dough is getting.
When the pre baked pies are nicely chilled, prick each top a few times with a fork to let out steam while baking. Brush the tops with the egg wash.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. The pies should be nicely golden brown when they are baked. Take them out and move them to a baking rack after about 10 minutes.
Cool completely before dunking them into the glaze.
Glaze
Whisk all glaze ingredients together in a smaller bowl until smooth. You want it to be deep enough to be able to dunk the whole pie in it. After you dunk the pies, place them on a wire rack with some parchment or foil underneath to catch the drippings. Let them sit out for about 20 minutes to allow the glaze to harden.