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 heart shaped strawberry hand pies have homemade strawberry filling sandwiched between two layers of my perfect flaky pie crust! They're the perfect Valentine's Day treat!
You might also like these heart shaped linzer cookies, these strawberry macarons, or the rest of our fun Valentine's Day recipes!
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Ingredient Notes
You just need a few simple ingredients to make these heart shaped strawberry hand pies!
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!
Strawberries - I prefer fresh strawberries but frozen will work too! Just note that frozen strawberries release more water so you may have to simmer the jam slightly longer to get it to thicken.
Lemon Juice and Zest - This is optional but adds some extra brightness and acidity to the jam!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
Homemade Strawberry Jam
In a large bowl, smash strawberries with a potato masher until coarsely crushed (or just chop into small pieces).
In a large pot over medium heat, add strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until thickened.
Let cool to room temperature and then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Make sure the filling is completely chilled before assembling the hand pies.
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 strawberry 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 ¼ inch heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts of dough (re-roll the scraps 1 time). You should end up with about 36 hearts total. (18 if you're working with half the dough)
Lightly brush egg wash around the outside edge of each heart. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of strawberry filling into the center of half of the hearts.
Don't overfill the hand pies! It's tempting to just load them up with that strawberry sauce, but you want to leave at least ½ inch around the edges so that you can get a good seal.
Then top with the remaining hearts, egg wash 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.
Bake at 400°F for 18-22 minutes or until the hand pies are golden brown.
Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
Drizzle the icing over the cooled heart shaped hand pies and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Since both the pie dough and strawberry 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 filling can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
These strawberry heart shaped hand pies are delicious on their own or with icing, but they're also great with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!
Tips for Flaky Pastries
Use cold ingredients! For most baked goods you want to use room temperature ingredients, but for flaky pastries (like scones, biscuits, or pie crust) the ingredients need to be very cold! Keep any butter, eggs, milk, etc. in the fridge until right before you need to use them!
Chill before baking! Chilling the dough for at least 15-20 minutes before baking helps ensure the butter in the dough is nice and cold and helps the pastries hold their shape. Cold dough + hot oven = perfect flaky pastry!
Don't overwork the dough! You want to mix the ingredients until just combined so that there are still distinct pieces of butter in the dough. This is what gives you those buttery, flaky, air pockets!
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping certain baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature. Some ovens also take longer than the standard "preheat" time to actually come up to the proper temperature.
Recipe FAQ's
Yes absolutely! Just note that some store-bought jam can be watery, so be sure to strain out any excess liquid before assembling the hand pies.
Store the baked hand pies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days (store in the fridge if iced).
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Valentine's Day Recipes
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Recipe Card
Heart Shaped Strawberry Hand Pies
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cold & cut into cubes
- 2 cups pastry flour , substitute all purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening
- ¼ cup water, cold
- 1 large egg, beaten for egg wash
Strawberry Filling
- 1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, sliced
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest, optional
Strawberry Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon strawberry filling
Instructions
Pie Crust
- Note: check out my post all about how to make perfect pie crust for more tips and tricks!
- 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.
Strawberry Filling
- In a large bowl, smash strawberries with a potato masher until coarsely crushed.
- In a large pot over medium heat, add strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until thickened.
- Let cool to room temperature and then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- Make sure the filling is completely chilled before assembling the hand pies.
Hand Pie Assembly
- 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 strawberry 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 ¼ inch heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts of dough (re-roll the scraps 1 time). You should end up with about 36 hearts total. (18 if you're working with half the dough)
- Lightly brush egg wash around the outside edge of each heart. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of strawberry filling into the center of half of the hearts then top with the remaining hearts, egg wash 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.
- Bake at 400°F for 18-22 minutes or until the hand pies are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
Strawberry Icing
- In a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar and milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until your desired consistency is reached.
- Add in a small amount of the strawberry filling to tint the icing pink.
- Drizzle the icing over the cooled hand pies and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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Janet says
They are delicious!
Melissa says
They turned out so cute!!!