I love pie, but in my family we only ever make it for the holidays – usually around Christmas or Thanksgiving. The problem is with a 9” tin, unless you have a party (or a really hungry family) half the pie just goes to waste or sits in the fridge getting soggier by the day. The solution? Hand pies.

The tradition of hand pies dates all the way back to Europe in the Middle Ages. Some of the first pasty (pronounced Pass-tea) recipes recorded can be found in 14th century French cookbooks like Le Viander or Le Menagier de Paris. The first were savory pies, and they were intially very popular among royalty and the upper classes. Toward the 17th and 18th centuries, however, pasties – such as the famed Cornish Pasty, filled with beef, potatoes, rutabaga and onions – became increasingly popular with the working classes. These pocket pies were often made for husbands to take with them to work, as miners, fishermen and farmers.

The pastries are made by filling a circular piece of pie dough, folding it over and then crimping it shut with a fork. They can be pan fried, deep fried or baked, and stuffed with sweet or savory fillings. Traditional American hand pies (with origins in the South) are fried and filled with reconstituted dried fruit (in order to avoid soggy pastry from wet filling). I opted for neither in my own recipe, using fresh fruit (which I cooked down into compotes) and baking my pastry in a conventional oven. I like to use fruit that’s almost too ripe for the compotes, and for the apples I recommend a combination of golden or red delicious and honeycrisp.

I love that these pies are perfectly portioned and sturdy enough to be transported. They are the perfect dessert to bring on a summer picnic, and they taste especially good while the peaches and strawberries are in season.

For the dough:

Ingredients:

6 tbsp butter

6 tbsp Crisco

4 tbsp ice cold water

2 cups of flour, sifted

1 tsp salt

Preparation:

1. Fill a small bowl with ice and more than enough water and set aside.

2. Combine flour, salt, butter and Crisco in an electric mixer. Beat until dough is sandy and chunks of butter/lard are no larger than a pea.

3. Add in water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together. You may not need to use all of the water, or you may need a little extra.

4. Form dough into a ball, then flatten down as much as possible into a disk. Wrap in plastic and set in the fridge to be shaped later.

For the fillings:

For the peach filling:

Ingredients:

4 peaches (2 ½ cups), diced

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp water

1/8 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp lemon zest

a pinch of salt

1 tbsp maple syrup

Preparation:

1. Cut two incisions into the bottom of each peach, forming an x’s. Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil, then submerge peaches for 1 minute.

2. Remove from boiling water and set aside until cool. The skins should easily peel off and then the peaches can be diced.

3. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, water, ginger, lemon zest and salt.

4. Add in diced peaches and stir well, coating each piece.

5. Pour into a wide and shallow pan on low heat. Spread out the peaches so they overlap the least amount as possible and leave for at least 15-20 minutes.

6. At this point, stir periodically (every 5-10 minutes or so) until most of the liquid has evaporated out of the compote. Do not let the pan get too hot or it will burn the fruit.

7. When the peaches come together and have lost most of their juices, remove from heat and set aside.

For the strawberry filling:

Ingredients:

2 cups of overripe strawberries, diced

2 tsp granulated sugar

½ tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp water

2 sprigs of basil

a pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl, combine strawberries and sugar. Allow to stand and macerate for 5-10 minutes, then add in water, lemon zest and salt. Stir well.

2. Pour into a wide and shallow pan on low heat. Spread out the strawberry chunks so they overlap the least amount as possible and add in basil sprigs to infuse flavor. Leave for at least 15-20 minutes.

3. At this point, stir periodically (every 5-10 minutes or so) until most of the liquid has evaporated out of the compote. Do not let the pan get too hot or it will burn the fruit.

4. When the strawberries come together and have lost most of their juices, remove the basil sprigs, remove the pan from heat and set aside.

For the apple filling:

Ingredients:

2 apples, cored and diced

½ tsp vanilla

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp granulated sugar

½ tsp lemon zest

½ tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp water

1 tsp butter

a pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, water, vanilla, lemon zest, cinnamon and salt.

2. Add in diced apples and stir well, coating each piece of apple.

3. Melt butter in a wide and shallow pan on low heat, then pour the coated apple chunks into the pan. Stir well to coat apple in butter, then arrange pieces so they overlap the least amount as possible. Leave for at least 15-20 minutes.

4. At this point, stir periodically (every 5-10 minutes or so) until most of the liquid has evaporated out of the compote. Do not let the pan get too hot or it will burn the fruit – be especially careful with the apples in butter.

5. When a knife goes through the apple chunks easily and the liquid has evaporated off, remove from heat and set aside.

Finishing the pies:

1. When you are ready to fill the pies, flour a surface for rolling and cut the dough into quarters.

2. Roll out each quarter until two approximately 5″ circles can be cut out using the rim of a bowl or a large cookie cutter. Place finished circles on a tray in the fridge so they do not melt before you can mold them.

3. Coat the inside of each circle with egg wash (one whisked egg), one at a time as you plan to fill them. I also coated the inside of the peach pies with a little bit of maple syrup.

4. Place two heaping tablespoons of filling on the side of each circle, then fold over and crimp the sides shut using the teeth of a fork.

5. Coat outside with egg wash and sprinkle with your choice of sugar (I used plain for the strawberry turnovers, ginger and sugar for the peach ones and cinnamon and sugar for the apple).

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges brown and the fruit begins to sizzle. Serve with a scoop of ice cream and enjoy!

The Recipe