Strawberry Hand Pie

Jessie loves it when I make pie and since I am also a big fan of pie we decided to use all the wonderful fruit we bought at Wilson's Farm and make hand pies. We had a flat of very fresh and ripe strawberries so strawberry pie it was. This recipe is originally from Martha Stewart, but I made a few changes according to my tastes and my lack of all the specialty kitchen implements she referenced in the recipe. I will try and take a picture of the 2 leftover pies tonight if I remember before we eat them up.

Starwberry Hand Pies
The Filling
2 cups of strawberries cut in half or quarters depending on size
2 tablespoons of sugar (I used the Splenda baking blend)
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Dough
Pate Brisee dough (recipe below for the amount needed for this recipe)
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Extra sugar for sprinkling
All purpose flour for work surface

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. Either line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat or prepare other appropriate baking surface. (I baked these in my pie plates, 2 to a plate).
2. In a medium bowl, add strawberries, sugar, and cornstarch; stir everything to combine and set aside to settle.
3. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out a dough disk to about 1/8-inch-thick. You can either fill the dough at this point or transfer round to prepared baking sheet and then fill.
4. Place about 3-4 tablespoons of the strawberry mixture onto one-half of the round. The original recipe called for less mixture, but I really felt that it was off and recommend this greater amount.
5. Lightly brush egg around the edge of the half of the round with filling. Fold remaining dough over to enclose, forming a half moon. Gently press edges together to seal. Brush the top of each pie with egg. (this will give it that nice browned pie look)
6. Using a knife, make 2 to three cuts on the top of each pie. Sprinkle generously with sugar.
7. Repeat process for each hand pie. The recipe makes up to 6 but I opted for 4 more generously filled pies.
8. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer pies to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving. Or let cool completely, and store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.

Pate Brisee Dough
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar (again, I used the Splenda baking blend)
2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces ( like to stick it in the freezer before using)
¼ to ½ cup ice water (literally, I but cubes in my measuring cup)

1. In the bowl combine flour, salt, and sugar. ( You can also do this in the bowl of the food processor, but mine is small so I have to make it in two batches which is easier if all dry ingredients are mixed in a separate bowl)
2. Add cold (must be very cold and hard) butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.
3. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. I do a bit at a time and watch how it affects the dough. This ensures that I don’t over do it on the water.
4. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
5. Divide dough into six equal balls for hand pies. Flatten each ball into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap.
6. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour.
7. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month.