For a brilliantly simple Christmas pie, this Christmas hand pies recipe is so full of flavour and is fun to make. It’s an easy recipe using canned pie filling or frozen fruit to make pretty pie bites.
If you’re looking for easy recipes using canned pie filling then I have the perfect idea for you… Hand Pies! Lovely little parcels of pastry and joy, I loved making these cute bite sized pies.
Top Questions
What is a hand pie called?
Are empanadas hand pies?
What’s the difference between turnover and hand pies?
What is the most popular dessert pie?
Why you’ll love this Christmas hand pies recipe
This Christmas hand pies is an easy recipe for using up your leftover pie filling and perfect for when you want a quick cherry pie as you can use pre-made pastry too.
They are perfect for wrapping in tinfoil and taking on winter walks. They warm your hands and the flaky pastry is the best motivator to keep walking in the winter wind.
Christmas is the perfect time of year to make blackberry hand pies, the warm fruity filling makes for a wonderful Christmas Pie flavour.
Ingredients
For the full recipe and instructions scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe card.
SHORTCRUST PASTRY
Either homemade or pre-made, pastry is a key ingredient in this recipe for mini Christmas hand pies. It’s easy to make the shortcrust pastry yourself but to make the cherry hand pies quickly I suggest using pre-made pastry.
FROZEN FRUIT
Frozen fruit is a perfect for pie filling, frozen berries are washed and prepped, ready for baking.
The fruit will defrost in the oven while they cook so no need to get them out early to defrost when you want to make the Christmas hand pies.
CANNED FRUIT
If you don’t have frozen berries or frozen fruit you can always use canned fruit in your bite-sized cherry pies.
I love using pre-prepared canned fruit in my dessert recipes as the syrup sweetens the fruit and makes this an easy recipe using canned pie filling.
How to make Christmas hand pies – step by step
Roll out your short-crust pastry and cut it into rectangles, make sure you have two halves for each pie.
Add your pie filling to one side of each of the pastry halves, be sure to keep it in the middle and not overfill your pastry base.
Lay the second half on top, crimp the edges and wash with an egg wash.
Bake your Christmas pies and enjoy one the pastry is golden brown.
Top Tips
Cut a star into the lid of your Christmas hand pie to make it even more festive! Before you lay the lid on top of your filled pie, cut a little star into the top and then follow the recipe as normal.
Brush your pastry with egg or milk to help the pastry lid brown as it bakes.
Don’t forget to crimp the edges of your blackberry hand pies. This will help the pie lid and base come together and stops the filling from escaping from the Christmas pies.
Serving Suggestions
Christmas hand pies are the perfect afternoon snack for Christmas eve or between Christmas dinner and your late-night snack of leftovers. They can be served warm with ice cream or on their own.
To make your Christmas pies extra fancy you could dust them with icing sugar.
Equipment
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- Knife
- Spoon
- Pastry brush
- Kitchen Scales
Substitutions and variations
Chocolate Orange Hand Pies
Instead of using frozen berries why not zest half an orange and spread Nutella on your pastry base.
You could even melt a segment of Terry’s chocolate orange for that extra festive flavour.
PUFF PASTRY CHRISTMAS HAND PIES
If you don’t have any shortcrust pastry to hand you could swap it out for wonderfully flaky puff pastry.
I love recipes using pastry and Christmas hand pies go perfectly with puff pastry instead of shortcrust.
Easy recipes using canned pie filling
What I love about this recipe is how it is be adapted. One of the best ways you can change this recipe is by using canned pie filling instead of frozen fruit.
It is aneasy recipe using canned pie filling as you only need the fruit and short crust pastry.
Storing Christmas hand pies / Making ahead of time options
Hand pies with Cherry filling can be made the day before serving but I recommend re-heating your hand pie in the microwave. The pastry is always better warmed.
They can also be frozen for up to 2 months. Just be sure to let them fully defrost first and then reheat them for perfectly served Christmas hand pies
FAQS
What is a hand pie called?
A hand pie is called a hand pie, or sometimes a pasty or a turnover. But they are all small pies that can be eaten with your hands.
Are empanadas hand pies?
Yes, empanadas are a type of hand pie. They are small pastry-wrapped fruits or pie filling. Traditionally the Spanish empanadas are filled with savour filling much like a Cornish pastry.
What’s the difference between turnover and hand pies?
There is only a small difference between a turnover and a hand pie, turnovers are often made with folded puff pastry (like a calzone) whereas a hand pie is traditionally made of two pieces of short-crust pastry filled with fruits or canned pie filling.
What is the most popular dessert pie?
There are so many popular dessert pies. I think the most popular dessert pie is a Christmas hand pie with cherry and blackberry filling. It’s a warm, fruity pie that can be eaten with ice cream or pouring cream.
Other Recipes you might like
If you want to make these at other times of year why not try these Halloween hand pies.
Pin this Christmas hand pies recipe to enjoy later
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Recipe
Christmas Hand Pies
Equipment
- Spoon
Ingredients
- 320 g (1 ⅓ cups) shortcrust pastry (approximately 1 sheet)
- 100 g (3 ½ oz) frozen fruit
- 1 tbsp (1 tbsp) lemon juice
- 1 tbsp (1 tbsp) sugar
- 1 (1) egg
- 0.5 tsp cinnamon (optional)
Instructions
- Remove the shortcrust pastry 30 minutes before you are ready to start so it can warm and soften. It will make it a lot easier to cut and work with.
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC / 180ºC fan/gas 6 /428ºF.
- Slice the shortcrust pastry sheet into 8 equal pieces.
- Add the 100g frozen fruit to a bowl with a squeeze of lemon (approximately 1 tablespoon) and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Plus the cinnamon if you want.
- Lay 4 of the shortcrust pastry pieces onto a prepared baking tray.
- Spoon the frozen fruit onto 4 pieces, leaving a border of about a finger's width around the outside.
- Using alphabet cutters or carefully using a knife cut out shapes onto the pieces without the fruit. These will be the top of the Halloween hand pies.
- Lightly beat the egg and brush the border of the fruit-covered pieces.
- Gently place the top of the pies on top of the frozen fruit. Using a fork or crimper, crimp the edges of the shortcrust pastry to stick the pieces together.
- Brush the pies with the beaten egg and bake for 15/18 minutes until golden brown.
Video
Notes
- Best served straight from the oven when still warm. However cold is also very tasty.
- Add cinnamon for a lovely winter spice addition.
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
These are ADORABLE! They will make such lovely gifts. Thanks for sharing all the variation info. Great recipe.
You are most welcome. What a lovely comment.
Your Christmas Hand Pies are gonna be great for me and my kids! Thanks for sharing!
You are most welcome. I hope they enjoy them.
This is such a cute idea! I love how easy they are to make and how easy they are to change by just switching out the filling.
So easy and great for using up leftovers too. Cranberry sauce hand pies are a delicious thing to make at Christmas.
Fun, festive and sooo easy to make! Perfect holiday dessert!
I couldn’t agree more! Merry Christmas