These easy strawberry hand pies have a cream cheese crust and are filled with homemade strawberry pie filling! This strawberry hand pie recipe is perfect for spring or summer dessert!
You know how inside of each Dove chocolate wrapper there is a ridiculously cheesy phrase? Ah, those are seriously the highlight of my day. I know they’re supposed to be uplifting and encouraging, but they are so incredibly trite that I cannot help but laugh.
Today’s phrase: “Take good care of yourself.”
Thanks, Dove. That’s really insightful and helpful.
I am sharing Strawberry Hand Pies with you all so I guess we all get to heed Dove’s astute advice. 🙂
If we really wanted to heed Dove’s advice, we’d also throw these Strawberry Nutella Turnovers and Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream in the mix. Too much? What’s too much?
Pie is one of my favorite desserts.
I know, I know. I say that a lot. “Cheesecake is my favorite dessert.” “Cookies are my absolute favorite.” “I love brownies!”
I have a dessert addiction.
The therapy for it? Balancing it out with my coffee and comfort food addiction. The key to life is all about balance. That’s why today’s recipe is for hand pies. They’re smaller than a traditional piece of pie.
Balance. 🙂
This recipe begins with a cream cheese crust. Yes, you heard me right. Cream cheese.
This pie dough recipe is one that my aunt uses all of the time. It’s part butter, cream cheese, and flour. The cream cheese gives it a creaminess and unique flavor that sets it apart from a traditional butter crust. And I really love how the cream cheese flavor pairs with the strawberry filling.
Because of the cream cheese, the pie dough does need to be chilled for about 30-60 minutes. And, when rolling it out, it does need a good amount of flour or powdered sugar on the workspace to avoid the dough sticking to whatever surface you’re working on.
The filling is easy as pie–literally. You combine chopped strawberries with sugar, vanilla, a little lemon zest, and cornstarch for thickening, and there you have it. This pie could not be easier. It’s amazing and flavorful and what more could you ask for in summer especially since it’s strawberry season?
I’m pie fiving you all.
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped strawberries
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- zest of half a lemon
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 egg, beaten (for eggwash)
- Extra sugar for sprinkling
- Whipped cream, ice cream, or powdered sugar
- With a mixer, cream butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy.
- Add in flour and mix just until dough comes together.
- Place dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30-60 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350. Place parchment paper on a pan and set aside.
- On a floured or powdered sugared surface, knead the dough a couple of times until it is a nice round ball. Then, roll dough into a circle with a rolling pin, about 1/4" thick.
- Using a 3" biscuit cutter, cut out as many dough rounds as possible (about 5-6). Place dough rounds on sheet pan.
- Form the dough back into a ball, and roll out again. Cut out 5-6 more rounds. The recipe should yield 12 dough rounds, so keep repeating this step until you have 12 rounds (because of the cream cheese in the dough, it will not get tough or overworked like traditional pie dough).
- In a small bowl, gently combine chopped strawberries, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, and cornstarch.
- Fill each pie round with 1-2 Tbsp of filling.
- Take one side of the dough and pull it over the filling. Use a fork to crimp the edges together and poke an air hole at the top of the pie. Do for all pies.
- Brush each pie with eggwash. Sprinkle with white sugar.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until pie is golden brown.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar, ice cream, or whipped cream.
- Enjoy!
dina says
they look so yummy!
Michelle says
Thanks, Dina! They were a hit!
Baby June says
Absolutely delightful! So adorable. 🙂
Michelle says
Thank you so much! I love how tiny they are 🙂
amber says
These are so cute! What lovely little pies. They look really yummy, too! I’ve been wanting to make little mini pies with the kids, but have yet to perfect my pie crust! I guess I better get cracking before strawberry season ends!
Thanks for sharing this! What a fun blog you have- some really great recipes! Going to look around! 🙂
Michelle says
Thanks so much, Amber! I think this recipe would work out great making it with kids 🙂
Katie P says
Okey dokey..just got done baking pies!!!! So yummy..making another batch tomorrow. I love your Aunts go- to dough! PS strawberry ice cream in freezer……excellent! Ty
Michelle says
Thank you so much, Katie! You have no idea how happy it makes me that you tried these recipes and loved them! 🙂
Michelle says
I served these, warm, with homemade vanilla custard. Had some extra berry/cornstarch mixture so I threw in some more berries and sugar and cooked it down on the stove top into a sauce. Two pies, a scoop of custard, a drizzle of the sauce…UNREAL! (I just crimped with my fingers and did not egg wash. Also 375 for 28 minutes)
Karie D says
They were delicious. Thanks for the recipe
Katy says
How small do you have recommend chopping strawberries? Is it in chunks or am I trying to replicate preserve-like consistancy?
Thanks!
Michelle says
Hi Katy, I did mine in chunks! Preserve consistency would work as well, but I prefer bigger strawberry pieces in my pies. Thanks!
Ich says
This recipe is so good because the crust is easy to make and delicious. I had to add 1/4 cup of white sugar in order to make it sweeter (I like very sweet pastries) but otherwise, this recipe can’t go wrong.
Tip: Strain or filter the macerated fruit to eliminate juices. Juicy fruit filling WILL make a mess in your baking sheet.
Becca says
These are so cute! Can they be frozen either before or after baking?
Michelle says
Hey Becca! I’ve never attempted to freeze these, however, I assume they would work just fine either way. If you freeze them before hand, I would suggest allowing them to come to room temperature before baking. 😊
Tessi says
Made these with some fresh strawberries from the strawberry patch. We loved them!
Abby says
Can I make these with a pre-made pie crust?
Michelle says
Yes, definitely!
Suzanne says
This looks delicious, thank you for sharing!
Karli says
These were tasty!! I think my technique needs some work since almost all of them split open, but they tasted great!
Nancy says
These were amazing….. everyone raved about them! I love the pastry dough. It was very forgiving.
Mona says
Hey, I want to make this at school but we got a budget so I wondered if it was possible to drop the cream cheese?😊
Michelle says
Hi Mona! Yes, you can skip the cream cheese, but you might need 1-2 Tbsp of cold water to replace it. 🙂 If the dough feels too dry and crumbly, then add the cold water.