My maternal grandmother was a wonderful baker. She was not intimated the least bit by the amount of time it took to measure, mix, rise, roll, knead or bake anything. She was especially good at making cookies.
Starting around Thanksgiving, my grandmother would begin her annual baking extravaganza in preparation for Christmas. My sisters and I would always look forward to visiting Grandma, because we knew the walls of her entire house would literally be lined with TV trays, holding aluminum pans, brimming with cookies. Even more importantly, there was no limit to how many cookies we could eat. As far as Grandma was concerned, that is. My own human frailty prevented me from eating to my little heart’s content, and there were many Christmases where I went home from Grandma’s with a very upset tummy.
Unfortunately, I did not inherit Grandma’s patience for baking or her knack with the rolling pin, however there are a few sweet treats that I enjoy baking, including these delicious and super easy blueberry hand-pies.
Ingredients:
All-purpose flour (for dusting)
2 cups blueberries (about 10 ounces)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg, whisked with 1 teaspoon water
1 tablespoon raw sugar
Prepared, refrigerated pie-crust dough
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375°.
2) Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a 15×12-inch rectangle. Cut into 6 rectangles.
3) Combine the blueberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.
4) Brush edges of each rectangle with water and mound some blueberries in center of each rectangle.
5) Fold the dough over forming a triangle and press edges to seal.
6) Place the hand-pies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush with the egg wash.
7) Cut a small slit in the top of each rectangle and lightly sprinkle them with raw sugar.
8) Bake the hand pies in the oven, rotating the sheet halfway through, until juices are bubbling and pastry is golden brown, 35–40 minutes (juices will run onto parchment).
9) Transfer hand-pies to a wire rack and serve warm.