I love all things home — renovations, fixer upper projects, holidays, decor, movie + game nights, baking, hosting… truly anything that involves making a house a home + creating memories with my littles + beloved family + friends. With that comes a lot of time in my kitchen while trying out new recipes. And on this day in particular my girls (plus the baby in my belly) + I blasted Disney music while we made an absolute mess + some delicious cherry hand pies!!
I found this recipe while I was watching Magnolia Table one night with my husband. Not only did the process look fun, but the end product looked delectable. So, on a day that my girls were home with me we added “bake cherry hand pies” to our to do list.
I thought it would be fun to not only bake, but capture the process on my film camera. So I set up my tripod + got to work. Man, am I SO GLAD that I captured this afternoon. It’s not often that I’m in photos with my girls, I really do try to be better about this so that my girls have memories of what our life looked like when they were little. I will forever treasure these sweet images + highly recommend trying out this recipe, especially as fall approaches + the temperatures begin to drop. I have a feeling we’ll be making these again but after a trip to the apple orchard so we can substitute cherries for apples!!
You can check out the recipe below!
Cherry Hand Pies by Joanna Gaines
Total 2 hours and 20 minutes (includes chilling and cooling times)
Active 50 mins
Makes 8 hand pies
Ingredients
Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cubed
2 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed
1 large egg
Cherry Filling
1 cup canned cherries
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Streusel Topping
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup almonds
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
Egg Wash
2 tablespoons milk
1 large egg
Directions
For the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, and salt. Scatter the butter cubes over the flour. Using either a pastry blender or clean fingers, cut the butter into the flour until it is thoroughly coated and the biggest pieces are the size of small peas. In the center of the flour mixture, make a “well” and add the milk and egg to the center of the well. Gradually incorporate the flour mixture into the milk mixture. Knead until the dough comes together, adding more milk as needed.
For the filling: Drain the cherries, reserving 2 tablespoons of juice. In a large saucepan, combine the cherries and reserved juice, granulated sugar, and cornstarch. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and simmer until the juice begins to thicken, about 7 minutes. Stir in the butter and almond extract, and set aside to cool to lukewarm.
For the streusel: In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, oats, almonds, and butter. Using your hands or a pastry blender, work the ingredients together until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use.
For the egg wash: In a small bowl, beat the milk and egg together.
To assemble: Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, and roll it into a rectangle, about 12 x 16 inches. Using a pizza roller, cut the dough into twelve 3 x 4-inch pieces. Reroll scraps and cut out 4 more pieces of the same size, for a total of 16.
Brush the egg wash over the edges of 8 pieces of dough; these will form the bottom of each hand pie. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each bottom piece, then top with a piece of the remaining dough. Use your fingertips to press firmly around each pocket of filling, sealing the dough on all sides. Press the tines of a fork around the edge of each hand pie. Lightly brush the tops of the hand pies with egg wash. Then gently press some streusel into the top of each.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Gently place the hand pies on the baking sheet, about 3 inches apart. Prick the top of each pie 4 times with a fork, to allow the steam to escape during baking.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Chill the hand pies for 30 minutes.
Bake the pies until light golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow them to cool for 30 minutes before serving.
These images were captured on 35mm Kodak Portra film + was scanned + processed by PhotoVision.