I saw an online picture of Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Raspberry Hand Pies and needed an excuse to try to make covered pastry without the fork-crimp marks. (As if I ever need an excuse.)

A couple of weeks again I made some Vol au Vents and did not fork-crimp the edges to make the “boat” that would hold the fillings.

I applied the same method on these pastries. Egg wash the edges of the bottom piece, add the filling and place cover on top and press all around the edges. Because the bottom will be larger due to the cover needing to bend over the filling, Tuck any excess puff pastry back into the seam and press it down again.

The recipe specified excessive filling. Next time I will cut the cream cheese etc in half and there may still be too much. (The recipe below was modified.) The alternative, of course, is to make twice as many hand pies.

I also used two batches of Sally’s Rough Puff Pastry rather than the original baker’s source, sorry Pep.

RED RASPBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE HAND PIES

INGREDIENTS
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbl water
• 2 Tbl all-purpose flour
• 1 package puff pastry
• 56 g ( 1/4 of an 8-ounce package) cream cheese, softened
• 1 Tbl granulated sugar or decorating sugar
• 42g ( 1/4 c) white chocolate chips
• ~170 g (6 oz) raspberries
• ~3 Tbl coarse white sugar or decorating sugar

METHOD

1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.
2. Sprinkle the flour on the work surface. Unfold 1 pastry sheet on the work surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 12-inch square. Using a round cutter, cut into 16 (3-inch) circles. I gather the scraps, squeeze them into a ball and re-roll. I know it will lose some rise, but not enough to care. I ended up with 19 circles. Enough to make 9 pastries and fold the odd one in half, fill with desired berry mixture and seat. It’s a great way to test the final bake.
3. Stir the cream cheese and granulated sugar in a medium bowl until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the white chocolate chips.
4. Brush the edges of 12 pastry circles with the egg mixture. Place about 1 tablespoon cream cheese mixture in the center of each. Top each with about 3 raspberries or the equivalent amount of black or blue berries. Place the remaining pastry circles over the filling. Press the edges firmly to seal. Crimp the edges with a fork. 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 2 baking sheets.
5. 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.