4.95 from 20 votes

Strawberry Hand Pies

Host Zoe Francois' strawberry hand pies, as seen on Zoe Bakes, season 2.

These are the strawberry hand pies I made on the Hand Pies episode of Zoë Bakes on Magnolia Network! When the Minnesota weather turns cold, I stock my freezer with easy, bake-and-take hand pies. In this episode I make both sweet strawberry and savory curry chicken pies, and then visit a local Mexican café called Vivir to prepare empanadas.

Want a savory version? Try these Curry Chicken Hand Pies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZr9hACD3Nc
Strawberry hand pies on a cooling rack
Host Zoe Francois' strawberry hand pies, as seen on Zoe Bakes, season 2.
Host Zoe Francois' strawberry hand pies, as seen on Zoe Bakes, season 2.

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out my chicken curry hand pies recipe as well!

Host Zoe Francois' strawberry hand pies, as seen on Zoe Bakes, season 2.

Strawberry Hand Pies

I stock my freezer with these delicious strawberry hand pies for a fast and easy treat. The pies are sweet and just a little tart, making them perfect little homemade breakfast pastries
4.95 from 20 votes
Course: Breakfast, Desserts

Ingredients

Crust

  • 2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour 
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and well chilled
  • 3/4 cup sour cream

Filling

  • 1 lb strawberries, about 3 cups sliced can be frozen, left whole if frozen
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
  • 2 tbsp 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Topping

  • Egg wash (whole egg mixed with 1 teaspoon water)
  • Sugar for sprinkling

Strawberry Icing

  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 strawberry sliced
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

Dough

  • Blend the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor.
  • Add the butter and blend until the flour/butter mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the sour cream and pulse until the dough starts to form a ball in the machine. Turn out onto a slightly floured surface and press into a rectangle. Divide the dough into two pieces, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight.

Filling

  • Cook the strawberries, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla over gentle heat (you can use a fork to break up the fruit if using fresh strawberries) until they start to break down slightly. Cook until the strawberries are tender and have released their juices.
    Host Zoe Francois makes strawberry filling for her hand pies, as seen on Zoe Bakes, season 2.
  • Whisk together the sugar and cornstarch, then add to the strawberries. Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture starts to thicken and turn translucent. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

To Bake the Hand Pies

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • When you are ready to prepare the hand pies, roll one of the chilled doughs out on a floured surface. As you are rolling, you can straighten out the edges with your hands to create a 10×15-inch rectangle. Using a pastry wheel, cut the dough into 12 equal squares, by cutting 4 strips along the length and 3 strips along the short side.
    Host Zoe Francois rolls out pie dough for her hand pies, as seen on Zoe Bakes, season 2.
  • Put about 2 tablespoons filling in the center of half the squares. Lightly brush the edges of the filled squares with egg wash. Cover with remaining squares. Press the dough together then use a fork to gently adhere them together around the edges. Cut a cross on the top. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. 
    Host Zoe Francois makes strawberry hand pies, as seen on Zoe Bakes, season 2.
  • Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. If baking both trays at once, rotate top to bottom after 15 minutes. 
  • In a small bowl, mash the strawberry with the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and whisk until a smooth icing is formed. Allow the hand pies to cool before drizzling on the strawberry icing.
    Host Zoe Francois adds strawberry icing to her hand pies, as seen on Zoe Bakes, season 2.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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32 thoughts to “Strawberry Hand Pies”

  1. 5 stars
    These were amazing! Easy too. Only tricky part is rolling out the dough to get even size squares – practice will help. I will be making these a lot!!! I’ll try the savory hand pies next.
    I love Zoe and all her recipes!

    1. Hi Karen, whatever your preference is! If you bake and then freeze, you can reheat similar to a toaster pastry. If you freeze before baking, just bake straight from the freezer. They will require a few extra minutes in the oven. Happy baking!

  2. 5 stars
    I made the hand pies and boy are they good, just right on a Sunday afternoon. My 2 grandchildren 5 and 3 just love them. Thank you Zoe! Looking forward to some more recipes to try. 🙂

  3. For frozen handpies – cook from frozen (and if so, how long?) or defrost then follow the recipe instructions? My husband and I are expecting our first baby, so I’m starting to stock up the freezer!

    1. Hi Cynthia, congratulations on your growing family! You could bake them and then freeze and reheat sort of like a toaster pastry. OR you can freeze them before baking and bake from frozen. They’ll just take a few extra minutes to bake from frozen. Enjoy!

  4. 5 stars
    Amazingly flakey crust even after resting in fridge for 2 days. I’m going to use
    it to top my next chicken pot pies! Filling was perfect; not too sweet…I added
    a bit more lemon zest…I could spread this on toast & it would be perfect too.
    I ate one of the frozen hand pies this morning & it was again delicious.

  5. 5 stars
    OMG the crust is so flaky! I combined 1/2 pound of rhubarb with 1/2 pound strawberries, added 1/3 cup more sugar and ended up with a delicious filling. This recipe is a winner for sure.

    1. Hi Carletta, it can be used for a regular pie, but it makes more of a tender, not flaky, crust.

  6. 5 stars
    Loved the Hand pie Recipe, I used cherry’s and they turned out heavenly. Love watching your show and I just purchased Zoe Bakes Cakes ❤️ Best to you and your family

  7. 5 stars
    Lovely recipe! I just watched this episode and had no idea hand pies were so easy! I’ve actually never heard of them before, but I will be baking some now! I can see all kinds of fruit fillings and the possibilities are endless! Thanks!

  8. 5 stars
    Pie crust and me are arch enemies! HOWEVER, this recipe is a godsend. It’s perfect every time. Thank you for this masterpiece! Love watching you on Magnolia network

  9. Made this recipe with apples, but the crust is so flaky, it truly is one
    of the best crusts i have ever made and i bake alot great recipe love
    your show

  10. 5 stars
    A delight and easy to make. We cut out little heart shaped vents for Valentine’s Day. Made adorably delish little baskets for colleagues at work. Love this Zoë!!

  11. Somewhere deep in Zoe’s websites there is a suggestion that if all other forms of contact fail, to make reply on any post and raise the issue this way. I purchased the 2013 version of The New Artisan Bread in 5 book, and set about trying to make bread with all my existing equipment. Three attempts failed to create a loaf that looked like bread. I then purchased everything Zoe recommended – the red lid pot to rise in, the parchment paper, the red star yeast, the very expensive Semolina duram flour, the danish mixing instrument, a digital scale and then twice followed page 143 precisely and diligently. All the while looking at a picture of Zoe and Jeff where Zoe holds a round pot with the dough rising up near the top while mine never got more than about 80% higher than the raw materials after mixing. After a day in the frig a handful pulled from the unrisen dough looks like a mushroom with the stem cut off and hundreds of little rough edged pieces making up the bottom of the handful. I normally do not scream when faced with overwhelming challenge but I seriously considered driving to Minneapolis, bringing my dough sample, and pleading with the boss to say whats wrong. Frustrating is no where near a strong enough word. HELP!! HHEELLPP!!

    1. Hi Herman, We are so sorry this has been frustrating, but we’d like to try to understand the issues, and then hopefully we can figure out a solution. Typically we try to send people to artisanbreadinfive.com because the site is dedicated to recipes and troubleshooting, but we want to make sure you get help!
      1. The dough may not rise all the way to the top of the container. It really depends on the recipe and the temperature of the dough. Given that you are working with Semolina, it may may not rise quite as much, but should at the very least double in size. If this is not happening, it may be that the water you use is a bit cool and more time is required for the yeast to do it’s thing. If your kitchen runs cool, that too can cause the dough to rise slower.
      2. What brand of all-purpose flour are you using? Some have more protein than others and can create a drier dough, which won’t rise as much, especially when baking.
      3. Have you watched our video on shaping the loaves with our wet dough, it really can be helpful to see it coming together. https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2017/04/16/new-video-shaping-the-ball-from-a-very-wet-dough/
      This may help with the shape that you described.
      Let’s start there and see if any of this rings true with what you are experiencing.

  12. Hi Zoe I love watching you bake on tv. I would like to try these & wanted to know does it make 12 pies total. Maybe half savory & half sweet. Thanks

  13. 4 stars
    I made half of the pies with the strawberry filling and half with some tart cherries from our cherry tree that were waiting for a whole year in the freezer for this recipe to appear. Both tasted wonderful but did not come out very pretty this first time. I think I needed to get more flour into the dough when rolling out. I was trying to avoid adding extra flour at this stage.

    Also, I made the savory hand pies twice. Absolutely scrumptious.

    1. Hi Kate, the hand pies can be on the counter for a day, then wrapped and frozen for weeks. Zoë suggests re-heating frozen hand pies in a toaster oven or oven at 350 degrees F. for about 8 minutes. If you ice them before freezing, it may melt when you reheat. I hope this helps!

  14. 5 stars
    I make these all the time! They are delicious and easy to make. Don’t quite look like Zoe’s all the time but the pastry is delicious!

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