I welcome thee

In just 4-5 months, we'll be first-time parents to a lively kicking baby boy. I'm taking a moment to pop on here today and pull away from the Internet comparisons of strollers, cribs, loungers, bouncers (do we need one?), irresistibly cute footed pajamas, how birth works, how we plan for the future, to boast about pie. It's ok with me if it's ok with you. For, the first thing I thought when diving into this whole mom-and-dad-to-be thing is, there's no "right" way. Do we really not know what to do? Or do we simply have a plethora of opportunity to watch what others are doing and second guess if we are or will be doing it well enough?

Here's to the second pies of the season. The first were strawberry-rhubarb. What do I love about hand-pies? Everything. You can customize your batch size, make the components in increments, and not have to worry about cutting off pieces. We ate two for dessert last night and had the remaining for breakfast, because starting the day with an upscale pop tart is bound to produce good vibes. The filling here is nothing complex: blueberry, cornstarch slurry, lemon juice, a hint of rosemary (my choice). Summer of pie, I welcome thee.

Blueberry Hand Pies

Yield: 4

Notes: Don't be alarmed if, when you take the pies out of the oven, you see leakage. There is bound to be a bit (see pic 2) but it hardens and is easy to cut away once cool. Just be sure to seal the pies nicely to keep everything in there. 

Assembly:

1/2 batch of your favorite pie dough (this is a good one and this one but this time around I used a half batch of Smitten Kitchen's Sour Cream dough because I had sour cream) See below. I like the dough.

Beaten egg + extra sugar, pre-bake

Filling:

1 cup blueberries

2 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Pinch salt

Pinch vanilla powder (optional)

A few snips rosemary (optional)

1 Tbsp water 

1 tsp cornstarch

Dough (barely adapted from Smitten):

1 1/4 cup flour, plus more for rolling

1.5 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick salted butter (if using unsalted increase salt to 1/2 tsp)

3 Tbsp water

4 Tbsp sour cream

Method:

Make dough: Whisk flour, salt, sugar together. Cut in butter to pea size. Stir cream and water together then drizzle on top of flour mix. Carefully mix with a spatula to just come together. Dump onto plastic and fold over itself a few times. Press the crumbs together, wrap and refrigerate 30 mins to 2 days or freeze. Use half for this recipe.

Make filling: In a saucepan combine 3/4 cup of berries, sugar, lemon juice, salt, rosemary and vanilla if using. Cook at medium heat a few minutes as the berries release juices. Stir water and cornstarch in a bowl, then add to the saucepan. Stir another minute to thicken and bubble, remove from heat and immediately stir in remaining berries. Pour into a bowl and cool completely.

Assemble: Roll out dough, cutting into 4 equal squares or moons. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and spoon a few spoonfuls filling into each, and seal.  Put the pan in the freezer as you preheat the oven. 

Bake: Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, cut a vent in each, and bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes until golden. Cool.