A sweet way to celebrate Pi Day
In preparation for Pi Day, this coming Monday, 3.14, I made these lovely jam and cream hand pies. These pies are inspired by Miami’s Cuban pastelitos de guayaba – flaky, sweet pastries filled with guava paste and cream cheese.
What is a hand pie?
A hand pie is a miniature pie that contains a yummy sweet or savory filling. They are known by many different names – empanadas, pasties, and even Pop-Tarts.
Hand pies differ in the types of doughs and fillings used. They can be baked or fried. They can be shaped in half moons, squares, triangles. But the one commonality is they are portable and can easily fit in your hand.
Making jam & cream hand pies
These pies are more similar to empanadas than pastelitos because they are made with a pie dough rather than a flaky (puff) pastry. I readily admit to using a shortcut with store-bought pie crust. I admire those, especially in the heat and humidity of Hawaii, who make beautiful pie crust dough. I am not one of those people so I take advantage of ready-made crust at the grocery store.
Because store-bought pie dough comes in rounds and these hand pies are rectangular, I cut off pieces of the pie dough to make rough squares before filling and sealing. This is optional, you could shape them as rough triangles instead – it’s up to you. You just want to be sure to have a shape that can be sealed to hold the filling.
I also cut the venting slits for the pie before I fill them. It’s easier than cutting the crust once the pie is formed.
Rather than using guava paste, I used my Papaya Ginger Jam. The jam keeps with the tropical theme and is a perfect match for the lightly-sweetened, lemon-scented cream cheese. Any jam you have on hand would work too (think fruity cheesecake flavors like blueberry or strawberry). You may need to experiment with the amounts of jam to cream cheese filling. You may need less jam if it’s assertive like my papaya ginger jam.
The pies are glazed with an egg wash to give them a nice golden brown color. And to add a little sweetness and crunch, the hand pies are sprinkled with some turbinado sugar before going into the oven to bake.
To serve
Serve the hand pies warm or at room temperature. To gild the lily, as it were, drizzle a little coconut caramel sauce over the pies before serving.
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Jam and Cream Hand Pies
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
These jam and cream hand pies are inspired by Miami’s Cuban pastelitos de guayaba and are filled with your favorite jam and a lightly lemony cream cheese.
Ingredients
For the cream cheese filling
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 egg, scrambled and separated
For the hand pies
2 pie crusts (premade or homemade)
1/2 – 1 cup jam, to taste
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, combine all the filling ingredients using only half of the scrambled egg. Set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, divide each pie crust into quarters. Optional: For each quarter, cut off one corner and re-attach to the other side to form a rough square.
On one half of the crust, cut three slits for venting. This will be the top of the hand pie.
On the other half of the crust, place one heaping tablespoon of cream cheese filling. Top with a tablespoon of jam (or more, if desired).*
Fold the side with the cut slits over the filling. Seal the edges by crimping with a fork. Transfer the pies to the prepared baking sheet. Use reserved half scrambled egg to brush the top of each pie and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
Let sit on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
*If you have a strong-flavored jam you may want to use a little less. Find a balance that tastes best to you.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Inactive Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Pies
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Calories: 380.86
- Sugar: 21.52 g.
- Sodium: 322.50 mg.
- Fat: 17.73 g.
- Saturated Fat: 11.12 g.
- Carbohydrates: 49.98 g.
- Fiber: 1.50 g.
- Protein: 2.97 g.
- Cholesterol: 36.69 g.
Keywords: store-bought pie crust, jam, cream cheese
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