Blueberry Vanilla Cream Hand Pies
 
 
Juicy sweet blueberry vanilla cream hand pies with the flakiest of crusts and fruitiest of fillings.
Yield: 15-16 hand pies
Ingredients
For the pie crust
  • 2½ cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2½ sticks unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
  • ¼-1/3 cup cold water
For the vanilla cream
  • ¾ cup whole milk
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
For the pie
  • 3 cups blueberries, rinsed and dried
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • sugar, for dusting
Instructions
  1. For the pie crust, put the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse once or twice to combine. Drop the butter through the feed tube and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand. Slowly add water, 1 tbsp at a time, pulsing after each, until the dough starts to come together.
  2. Remove the dough from the food processor and form into 2 equal disks. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
  3. While dough is chilling, make the vanilla cream. Combine the milk, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla bean paste in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, egg yolks, and cornstarch. Slowly stream in the hot milk mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the vanilla cream back into the pan and cook over medium-low heat until thickened, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter.
  5. Pour cream into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pushing it against the cream so that it doesn't form a skin. Refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.
  6. When you're ready to bake the hand pies, heat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  7. Remove one disk of dough from the refrigerator and place on a cool, floured surface. Roll the dough out to ⅛-inch thick.
  8. Using a 4-inch ring mold, cut out rounds and place on one of the lined baking sheets. Reserve the scraps. Refrigerate cut out circles until ready to use. Repeat with the second disk of dough. If you have fewer than 15 rounds, refrigerate the dough scraps until firm and cut out more rounds.
  9. Remove the first sheet of dough from the refrigerator. Spoon 1 tbsp of vanilla cream onto it, leaving a border. Add 4 to 6 blueberries onto one of of one round. Using a pastry brush, brush the beaten egg around the edges of the dough. Lift the side that doesn't have any blueberries over to meet the blueberry side so that the two edges meet. Gently press the edges together and use a fork to crimp and seal them. Repeat with remaining rounds. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  10. Brush the top and edge of each pie with the beaten egg and dust with coarse sugar. Slash the top of each pie with a sharp knife to create a vent.
  11. Bake for 20 minutes. Rotate pans and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the pies are golden brown and oozing. Cool completely before serving.
Notes
Recipe from Sweet
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 hand pie
Recipe by Joanne Eats Well With Others at https://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2015/04/blueberry-vanilla-cream-hand-pies.html