Strawberry Hand Pies

Anyone out there interested in participating in the Vegan Month of Food 2013?  (VeganMoFo) The fun starts in September. You can see my VeganMoFo2012 posts by clicking here. 

Let’s play a simple game. Who among us has not ‘liked’ and ‘shared’ random recipes that filter through our Facebook page? I can usually resist, but I must admit that there is some mighty great looking food streaming past my eyes all day long (not that I’m on FB all day long, but you know what I mean).  I ‘liked’ and ‘shared’ a really interesting pasta creation the other day….basically you just add all kinds of veggies, a can of tomatoes, lots of veggie broth and broken pasta….heat, cover, simmer, stir and voila! You have dinner. Intriguing, right?  I’ll try it and let you know.

This recipe for hand pies was going around the internet last month and I couldn’t resist. They seem so old-fashioned and comforting to me. I totally veganized them – swapped out the butter, cream cheese and cream. I also left out an egg, which I have done before with absolutely no noticeable difference. It must have been too much swapping, or my dough was too moist or too dry or too something, because I was not too successful with the crust; it was too tender and broke apart after the first day, but we didn’t mind.  Not so much HAND pies…. more like FORK pies. Maybe you need the egg to stabilize the dough?

Here’s what you need:

3 C flour

¼ t baking soda

1 t baking powder

½ t salt

1 stick Earth Balance (or dairy butter)

1 C sugar

3 oz cream cheese (I used Tofutti brand)

3 T almond milk (or cream)

1 t vanilla

(you could also add an egg to the dough)

4 C strawberries, washed, hulled, sliced

2 T cornstarch

1/3 C sugar or to taste

1 – 1 ½ C powdered sugar

3-4 T almond milk

Here’s what you do:

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In a mixer, combine the butter, almond milk (or cream) and sugar and mix well. (This is where you could add the egg, if using.) Add in the cream cheese and vanilla. Beat well. Add the dry ingredients. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for an hour or more.

Right before assembling, prepare the fruit by mixing the berries, cornstarch and sugar. Mix well and allow to sit and get juicy.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly flour work surface. Roll out dough to 1/8” , lifting and rotating to prevent sticking. Use a round cutter or a bowl to create 5-6 inch circles. Transfer the circles of dough to a parchment lined baking sheet. Place several spoonfuls of fruit mixture on ½ of the circles. Fold dough over and crimp to seal edges.

Before placing in oven, you may give the pies an egg wash and sprinkle them with sugar. (I omitted this step.) Also, poke them with a sharp knife to release steam while baking.

Bake 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until brown. Remove to wire rack to cool.

Create a glaze by mixing the powdered sugar and almond milk. It should be thick enough to stick, but thin enough to drizzle from a spoon.

(printable recipe)