You can take the boy out of science, but you can’t take science out of the boy.
Blackberries were on sale this week and, of course, I couldn’t resist. I had no idea how to use them, but knew something would come to me.
I also had some plain yogurt left over from a Blueberry Cake I made recently and wanted to use it up. I also had a pie crust frozen in the freezer left over from a Banana Cream Pie and a piece of puff pastry that was ending its useful life.
I decided to make Berry Hand Pies – half with pie crust (for the first time) and half with puff pastry. I also made half of each with fillings made with yogurt or cream cheese.
I preferred the puff pastry version while QC liked the pie crust variety. Both the yogurt based and cream cheese based filled were equally delicious.
Berry Hand Pie
INGREDIENTS
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 sheet Trader Joe’s puff pastry, thawed but cool.
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoons granulated sugar or decorating sugar
• ¼ cup white chocolate chips
• 3 ounces berries
• 2 tablespoons coarse white sugar or decorating sugar
METHOD
- Stir the cream cheese and granulated sugar in a medium bowl until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the white chocolate chips.
- Cut large berries in half.
- Sprinkle the flour on the work surface. Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 12-inch square. Using a round cutter, cut into as many 4 -inch circles as you can.
- Brush the edges of the pastry circles with the egg mixture. Place about ½ tablespoon cream cheese mixture in the center of each. (Don’t overfill.) Top each with about one small or two halves of a large berry. Fold the circles in half, pinching the edges together. Crimp both edges with a fork. If you don’t seal them adequately or have to much filling it will leak out of the sides of the finished pastry.
- Brush the pastries with the egg mixture and sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Using a sharp knife cut small slits in the tops of the filled pastries. Place the pastries onto a silicone or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Remove the pastries from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes.