With only six ingredients, Blueberry Hand Pies are simple and simply delicious! With a hint of ginger, these hand pies are packed with flavor.

I am thoroughly enjoying the #SummerDessertWeek recipes! Are you following the hashtag in social media? No? Oh my. You’re total missing out! But, luckily enough, I have the list of recipes for each day I’ve posted at the bottom of my post so you can easily click on them and see their delicious goodness.

Y’all did you know there was an American Pie Council? I had no idea until I was researching the history of the hand pie. They show pie seminars, pie festivals, and National Pie Championships. How did I not know about this? You can bet this is one site I’m going to be perusing after this week is over.

Pie starts in Egypt of all places. They whatever grains they had on hand to make free form pie crust that they filled with honey and baked over hot coals. Eventually, they evolved this concept into something made with a bread style dough and they added fruits and nuts.

The Greeks took this wrapping of dough around stuff idea and made it more savory. They would put meats inside this dough. Many believe the Greeks to invent the pie pastry as many references are made to a flour and water paste being used to surround meats for a savory treat.

Of course, the Romans take everything and bring it back home to incorporate and modify for their needs. The same is true with the pie. They invented, and I’m not making this up, placenta cake. This actually sounds like the predecessor to baklava.

The concept if pie traveled throughout the Roman empire and each country modified it to adapt to their ingredients, uses, and tastes. Once it landed in France and Britain, it was then modified to the more present concept of the pie that we have today. Finally, the Brits brought the pie on the Mayflower to the Americas.

Pies in the States were not all that sweet initially. Pie is actually a great way to preserve meats. I mean, thinking about. You have a somewhat thicker than pie crust to surround some meats and vegetables in some gravies. It’s completely sealed so nothing can get inside the pastry to contaminate and spoil the meat.

However, as the pie spread throughout the US, more and more sweet versions were created. In 1796, a cookbook listed 3 types of sweet pies but in the 1800’s those have more than doubled to 8. And by 1947 there’s 65 types. I’m sure there’s way more now, but I do not dare try to count them. I’m too hungry for that right now.

I am always amazed at the story of the foods we eat today. And I’m sure if I dig further the hand pie probably comes from miners or laborers who need something easy to take for lunch. I mean, it only makes sense. I’m sure the pasty and the hand pie are probably intermingled, too. But I’ll save that for another post. I really need to work on a pasty recipe.

Growing up, my dad always talked about fried pies. Yes, I know these are baked. But you easily make these fried blueberry hand pies by cooking them in some hot oil instead of in the oven. It would make the outside even more crispy. But if you do that, you really need to make sure they are sealed because you wouldn’t want the filling to get out into the hot oil.

These blueberry hand pies have a little bit of ginger in there. It’s just enough to taste but not enough to make it spicy. I love adding ginger to fruits like peaches, pears, and even apples. Adding a touch to pies and cakes really elevates your fruit hand pies.

This is a great store bought pie crust dessert recipe. I used a store bought pie crust. I cut 5 circles initially. Then I grabbed my rolling pin and rolled the dough out again to get the remaining 3. You probably could push for 4 for a total of 9, but that would mean rolling the pastry out again and that’s not ideal in my book. Heck, some wouldn’t even roll the pastry out again and would probably grab 2 crusts to make 10. I’m not that wasteful and try to get as much out of the crust as I can.

I’m not a huge glaze person but you could turn these into glazed blueberry hand pies with a little powdered sugar and maybe some of the juices from the cooked blueberries or even some lemon juice. That would be good! Add a sweet tart glaze to these blueberry hand pies.

Just look at that gorgeous blueberry color! Yes. Some opened up during cooking. That’s okay. Those become the cooks samples to make sure the flavors are perfect. And the flavors in this hand pies are perfect! You could keep the filling in the fridge for yogurt or ice cream. It’s that good!

Blueberry Hand Pies

Name: Blueberry Hand Pies
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 3 cups blueberries; 1 cup sugar; 1 teaspoon freshly ground ginger; 1 teaspoon lemon juice; 1 pie crust (about 9 inches); 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Additional Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

With only six ingredients, Blueberry Hand Pies are simple and simply delicious! With a hint of ginger, these hand pies are packed with flavor.

Ingredients

3 cups blueberries
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground ginger
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 pie crust (about 9 inches)
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Instructions

Combine the blueberries with the sugar, ginger, and lemon juice in a saucepan and stir until combined.
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until the blueberries have popped open and the juices have thickened.
Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Or store in the fridge overnight.
Roll out the pie crust and cut into 5 inch circles.
Place 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of blueberries on half of the pastry round.
Using a pastry brush, brush some of the egg on the edges of the pastry. Fold the dough over and press to seal using a work or a dumpling press.
Repeat with remaining dough and blueberries. Re-roll the dough, if desired.
Place the blueberry hand pies on a silpat lined baking sheet and bake at 350 F for 25 to 30 minute or until the pastry is golden brown.
Cool before serving.

Nutrition Information

Yield

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 236Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 23mgSodium 100mgCarbohydrates 44gFiber 2gSugar 31gProtein 2g

Welcome to the 4th Annual #SummerDessertWeek event hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife. We’re celebrating all things summer with a week-long event that is absolutely filled with some of the best summer dessert recipes! Follow the hashtag #SummerDessertWeek on social media to find recipes and make sure to check out the bottom of this post for even more summer desserts!