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.
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.