I don't know about you, but my favorite part of pie is the buttery, flaky pie crust. So what's even better than a slice of pie? Mini hand pies!! These cute little cranberry hand pies have a tart cranberry filling sandwiched between two layers of my perfect flaky pie crust! They're the perfect holiday treat!

mini cranberry hand pies on baking sheet

If you love cranberry season as much as I do, you might want to check out the rest of our cranberry treats!

Ingredient Notes

I use my homemade flaky pie crust and super simple cranberry sauce for these mini hand pies!

Pastry Flour - I always use pastry flour in my pie crust because it yields a lighter, more tender crust. However, all purpose flour will work great if that's all you have!
Butter - The most important consideration for making pastry dough is cold butter!! If the butter gets too warm while you're making the dough, the crust won't be as flaky.
Vegetable Shortening - I like to use a small amount of shortening with the butter to help keep the crust stable and super flaky. But you can substitute with more butter instead!
Cranberries - I prefer using fresh cranberries if possible but frozen cranberries will work too!
Cornstarch - I use cornstarch to help thicken the filling, but you can also substitute flour or clear jel. This is a great guide for making those substitutions!

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Add all of the filling ingredients to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the cranberries begin to split open.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

Remove the cinnamon stick, then transfer to a bowl and chill until ready to use.

Make sure the filling is completely chilled before assembling the hand pies.

How to make perfect pie crust

I've included the recipe for my perfect flaky pie crust in this recipe, but I also have a whole blog post dedicated to just pie crust! I break down my 5 main tips for making perfect pie crust and have links to all my favorite products that I use!

If making pie crust intimidates you at all, you need to check it out!!

Cut butter into small cubes and place in the fridge to firm up while you get the rest of your ingredients together.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Add the shortening and combine with your hands (or a pastry cutter) until coarse crumbs form. After the shortening is fully incorporated, add the cold chunks of butter and work them into the dough until you get pea sized crumbs.

Add in the cold water and combine until dough forms a nice ball but is still slightly sticky.

Take the formed ball of dough and separate into 2 equal sections and shape into slightly flattened disks (you can keep it all together but I find it's easiest to work with only half the dough at a time). Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour. This is important to keep the butter from melting so that the crust will be nice and flaky. The chilled dough is also much easier to roll out.

How to assemble the hand pies

Note: I like to work with half the dough at a time. So make half of the hand pies then let those chill in the fridge while you make the other half. Then the second batch can chill in the fridge while the first batch is baking.

Once both the dough and cranberry filling are chilled, preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (you may need a second baking sheet).

Lightly flour your work surface and roll out dough to about ¼ inch thick. Use a 3 ½ inch biscuit cutter* to cut out circles of dough (re-roll the scraps 1 time). You should end up with 20-24 circles (10-12 if you're working with half the dough).

*I use a 3 ½ inch biscuit cutter to cut the hand pie circles, but you could make them in a variety of shapes! Almost any shape of cookie cutter will work, just make sure there's at least 3 inches

Cut a small X into the top of half of the circles. On the other half, spoon about 1 tablespoon of the cranberry filling.

Don't overfill the hand pies! It's tempting to just load them up with tangy cranberry sauce, but you want to leave at least ½ inch around the edges so that you can get a good seal.

cranberry sauce in half the pie dough circles

Lightly brush egg wash around the outside edge of each circle, then top with the remaining circles, egg was side down. Press the edges together and then seal by crimping the edges with a fork.

Place the hand pies in the fridge to chill 15 minutes before baking.

Remove from the fridge and light brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado or sparkling sugar.

cranberry hand pies topped with egg wash and turbinado sugar

Bake at 400°F for 18-22 minutes or until the hand pies are golden brown.

cranberry hand pies with ice cream on top

Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.

These cranberry hand pies are delicious on their own, but they're also great with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

Recipe Notes

Since both the pie dough and cranberry filling have to chill, I recommend making them the night before you want to assemble the hand pies. Then the next day you just have to roll out the dough, assemble, and bake!

Both the dough and the cranberry filling can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the fridge before assembling the hand pies.

Store the baked hand pies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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