Search
Homemade Cherry Hand Pies have flaky crust and juicy filling! The perfect cherry pie recipe for Summer parties and barbecues!
Cherry Hand Pies
With Memorial Day just around the corner – and the 4th of July not too far behind it – today feels like the perfect time for us to sit down and share some pie. More specifically, these sweet little cherry hand pies.
These handheld darlings are easy to whip up and perfect for parties, picnics, and beyond. They’re also astonishingly good when topped with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream. If you have a Summer baking bucket list… these should be at the top!
Because really, what is Summer without cherry pie?!
Mini Cherry Pie Recipe
Ingredients:
- all-purpose flour
- salt
- baking powder
- granulated sugar
- unsalted butter
- sour cream
- pitted sweet cherries, fresh or frozen
- cornstarch
- lime juice
- and an egg
Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success:
- The pie dough will look super shaggy and dry when you first start kneading it! Don’t fret – it WILL come together. Just keep at it! And don’t add any excess liquid. I know it’s tempting, but resist. You’ll thank me later 🙂
- Because the pie dough needs to chill for at least one hour, you’ll want to plan ahead time wise for this recipe.
- Keep a close eye on the cherry pie filling after it comes to a boil. After it reaches the boiling point, it begins to thicken fast. So be sure to lower the heat right away and cook it just until it coats a spoon. You want it thick, but still juicy. Does that make sense?
- Don’t skip the egg wash! This helps the crust get that gorgeous golden brown hue.
- These cherry hand pies are best eaten the day they are baked, but will keep – stored in an airtight container – for 3 days.
More Cherry Pie Recipes:
If you try this recipe for Cherry Hand Pies, let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #bakerbynature on instagram! Seeing your creations makes my day ♥
Cherry Hand Pies
Homemade Cherry Hand Pies have flaky crust and juicy filling!
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 sticks (8 ounces) VERY cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup cold FULL FAT sour cream
For the filling:
- 2 and 1/2 cups pitted sweet cherries, fresh or frozen
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
For the topping:
- 1 large egg, beaten
- Turbinado sugar, optional
Instructions
To make the crust:
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Add the butter, working it in with your hands or a pastry cutter, until it's a coarse meal. The butter should still be in large, pea-sized pieces. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the sour cream. The dough will be very shaggy at this point. Turn it out onto a well floured work surface, and bring it together with a few quick kneads.
- Pat the dough into a 10 inch log, then roll it out into a 10" x 12" rectangle. Dust both sides of the dough lightly with flour, and starting with the shorter end, fold it in three - like a letter. Flip the dough over, and roll it again into a 10" x 12" rectangle. Fold it in three again. Wrap the dough in saran wrap, and chill for 1 hour.
To make the cherry filling:
- Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer, stirring almost constantly, until the mixture starts to thicken – about 6 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook for another 2 minutes before removing from the heat. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and cool to room temperature.
Assembly and cooking:
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place a rack on the middle shelf. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside until needed.
- Roll the dough into a large square that’s about 1/8 of an inch thick. With a straight edge and pastry wheel, cut out sixteen 3 inch squares. Place squares on prepared baking sheet. Using a small knife, make three tiny slashes across 8 of the squares. Fill the other 8 squares with two tablespoons of the cherry filling, then match up each one with a vented piece of dough. Lightly brush the edges and tops of each pie and crimp the sides together using a small fork.
- Bake the pies for 20 to 22 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, and cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Tried it and loved it?Snap a picture and share it with me on Instagram @Bakerbynature and by using the hashtag #BakerByNature
These look so cute! The cherries looks so bright and beautiful. They’ll also be perfect for welcoming in the new series of Twin Peaks 🙂 xx
These look gorgeous! Will they freeze well?
Thank you, Emily! I haven’t tried freezing these (they never last long enough haha), but I think they should freeze nicely 🙂
These look delicious! I’d like to make them for memorial day weekend! Did you ise fresh or frozen cherries?
Hi Audrey! I used frozen, but fresh will work.
I used fresh cherries because I had too many that were becoming rather ripe. AH-MAZING!!! Mine were not as pretty as yours but I’ll do better next time. Bravo.
I can’t wait to try this recipe. Can you please explain the instructions for rolling out the dough and folding it 3 times, flipping it over and doing it again? I’m not sure I understand that part. I also wanted to ask if you Ave prepared these with any other types of fruit. Thank you!
Today I made a filling of cooked , slightly sweetened apples slices and made an even dozen. They are delicious.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! All the other recipes online call for the horrid stuff in a can, Yuck! I have just one tiny comment- use sour pie cherries, the flavor will blow your mind. I have not quite enough sour pie cherries for a full pie, so this recipe will fit the bill. I am making them for an undergraduate student that I work with. The poor girl is 20 and has never had cherry pie! This will save her from loosing her baking creds.
I just made these and they turned out pretty great for my first time making a laminated dough! Some hints: the pies in the pictures are 3″x4″, not 3″x3″ square., so I have some dough left over to try croissants. I might refrigerate my dough overnight next time. Don’t make the vent holes TOO long; I put mine on the diagonal and could have gone a little smaller. Make sure you use a cookie sheet, not a pan with edges, and space the pies so that you can fit a fork in between to crimp the edges. Be gentle with your egg wash as it can break your layers and brown really quickly. My oven runs hot, so I decreased the cooking time to 15 mns and they were very golden brown; so a combo of less temp or less baking time may work for my next time. I could barely wait for them to cool down and start sampling. The filling is SO easy to make and isn’t too sweet, so you can really taste the cherries. Also, sprinkle the tops with sugar!
Making these for Christmas! Your crust recipe says 2 sticks (8 ounces) of butter. is that a total of 16 oz or 8 oz total? Thanks!
I made these with dried cherries. The crust is the best I’ve ever made. They were beautiful and delicious.
Wow. This is one of the best hand pie recipes I’ve ever made, and the only one I made in a toaster oven! (My oven is on the fritz,) So glad you called out the shaggy dough – I didn’t believe it would come together but boy, was it deliciously flaky in the end. Added a touch of water as I cooked the cherry mixture as mine quickly lost too much moisture. With the beautiful Coral cherries my family handpicked for our first time, this was an unbelievable May dessert. Thank you so much for sharing!
These were absolutely delicious! The filling was perfectly sweetened and the pie dough was crisp, buttery and flaky! Best cherry hand pie recipe ever!
Oh. My. Goodness!!! These were amazing! I followed the directions exactly and I’m so happy I did!
This is the best pie crust I have every made and i will use it on every pie henceforth. Ive never tried to laminate dough before but it was super easy! I cant wait to use this on a full sized Pie!!!!!!!!!!
The neighbors cherry tree was hanging over in our yard so I picked about 3 cups and make your recipe. The cherries aren’t the sweetest so I added a touch of extra sugar and put on a sugar glaze. Loved the recipe it is going into my favorites file for future use. Will try with frozen cherries next time or apples.
These turned out super delicious. I made a half recipe which yielded 8 turnovers. The pastry is a bit different to work with but is so nice and flakey…I spread a little layer of butter between the folds! I did not cook the cherries as I added sugar mixed with a Bakers starch which thickened them up. I added a splash of Amaretto to the cherry filling and the lime juice. Delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
hi bakerbynature
I made these pies for my family but my brother (who doesn’t like cherries) asked me to make the pies with another kind of fruit and I was wondering if I need to modify the filling recipe for different kinds of fruit.
thanks, dominic
This is, hands down, the best hand pie crust recipe I’ve ever made. I’ve used it with Trader Joe’s cherry pie filling, the pie filling recipe here, and did an apple version. The dough lasts forever in the fridge and still puffs up nicely. Compliments every time.
Can I use store bought pie crust dough instead??
Looks delicious!! One guest cannot eat corn products. Can I substitute with an equal amount of arrowroot or agar agar (or something else)? Thank you!
Hi, my name is Rose, I’m Brazilian and I love your recipes.
I really want to make Cherry Hand Pies, but there is an ingredient that is very difficult to find here in Brazil, which is sour cream. Can I replace it with another ingredient? If so, which would it be?
Thank you and have a great week.
Greek yogurt is a great substitute for sour cream.
Very easy recipe to follow and they were so delicious and would definitely make again!
Crust was great! Time consuming a bit but all good things are. I did not follow the pie filling recipe since I had tart pie cherries. I used 4 cups tart cherries, 1/4 c. cornstarch, 1.5 cups of sugar. Worked great. I also didn’t use the egg wash, I just brushed on water and then sprinkled course sugar and it turn out just the same in my opinion.
Just made these tonight for the first time with fresh cherries, and it was great! The only change was using lemon instead of lime and added the zest of 1/2 a lemon. Really like your take on the pastry. Followed it to a T, and let it rest for like 2 hrs instead of 1. The only issue I had was it split around the edges when I rolled it out. Any thoughts?
Made these and they turned out amazing!!
I baked those today and they were truly delicious!! I love how this recipe thoroughly explained every step and it made baking so much easier. I highly recommend this recipe!
Probably the best recipe I have ever tried. Hands down the best crust as well. It’s so flaky, buttery, and easy to make. I used sour cherries and the flavor is immaculate. My family loves these.
This recipe was so good. The crust was flaky and buttery and so delicious. The filling was easy but also well balanced and not too sweet or one-note. I did not have sour cream but used a thick vanilla yogurt with great results. Also did not have lime juice so swapped it out for lemon juice. You can use the egg wash you made on the edges of the bottom layer to help adhere to top layer too if you want!