Blueberry Lavender Hand Pies

Frozen Oregon Blueberries are a delicious way to bring summer sweetness to your winter recipes.

For me, pie just sings comfort and love. So, for Valentine’s Day I thought why not make adorable little hand pies with perfectly plump and flavorful frozen Oregon Blueberries? This turned out to be one delicious idea.

I adore fresh blueberries, but frozen Oregon Blueberries are the perfect alternative during the winter months. They are frozen at the peak of ripeness and are available year-round in most grocer’s freezer section. They make a delightful, silky and sweet blueberry filling for this dessert.

To compliment the blueberry filling, I created the recipe with my favorite buttery, flaky pastry dough. And, to make this hand pie even more special, I’ve paired the blueberry filling with lavender sugar.

Culinary lavender is a lovely compliment to blueberries and creates a hint of fragrance to the hand pies. Making the lavender sugar couldn’t be easier and it can be stored in the pantry for future use.

The blueberry lavender filling is simple and uses 2 cups frozen Oregon Blueberries, lavender sugar, a splash of vanilla and a little quick-cooking tapioca which makes the filling quite luxurious.  

When making any kind of pie or hand pies, using the right dough recipe is important. My pastry dough recipe uses 1 ½ cups very cold butter and ice water. It’s lightly combined either by hand or in a food processor, formed into a disc and then held in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or longer.

One of the best baking tips I’ve gotten over the years was from a friend, pastry chef, Laurie Pfalzer. Chef Laurie says to always freeze the formed hand pies for at least 30 minutes prior to baking. This will keep the hand pies from seeping too much filling and will keep the pastry nice and flaky. There will always be a little filling that seeps out of the hand pies but freezing the pies before baking will definitely minimize this issue.

Prior to baking the pies, I love to add course sugar to the top for a little extra decoration. Another fun idea is to find a really small heart-shaped cutter and make little button-sized hearts to add to the hand pies.

I used a 3 ½ inch heart shaped pastry cutter which made 11 hand pies and about 8 mini dough hearts to use as decoration. But you could easily use a larger 5-inch pastry cutter for larger pies.

Although this recipe is deliciously simple, it does take a little time to prepare. And it’s absolutely worth the time! I love to spend an afternoon in my kitchen making these Blueberry Lavender Hand Pies. Notably while playing some of my favorite music and chatting with a few of my family or friends. It also makes a fun baking project with children.

Blueberry Lavender Hand Pies

Ingredients

Makes about 10-12 3 1/2-inch hand pies

Pastry Dough

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 ½ cups very cold unsalted butter, diced

• ½ cup ice water (or more if needed)

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 3 ½ inch heart shaped pastry cutter (or a 5-inch heart shaped pastry cutter for larger pies)

Lavender sugar

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon culinary dried lavender

Blueberry Filling

• 2 cups frozen blueberries

• ½ teaspoon vanilla

• ½ cup lavender sugar

• 1 teaspoon quick cooking tapioca

Pastry Dough

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 ½ cups very cold unsalted butter, diced

• ½ cup ice water (or more if needed)

• 1 teaspoon salt

To assemble the pies

• 3 ½ inch heart shaped pastry cutter (or a 5-inch heart shaped pastry cutter for larger pies)

• 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water

• Course or turbinado sugar

Instructions

To make the pastry dough

1. If using a food processor, add the flour, sugar and salt and pulse 1-2 times.

2. Then add the very cold unsalted diced butter and pulse until the butter and flour resemble coarse crumbs.

3. Add the water a little at a time and continue to pulse the food processor until the dough is just combined and pulling away from the side of the food processor.

4. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and shape into a disc.

5. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

If making the dough by hand

1. Add the flour, sugar and salt to a large bowl and stir.

2. Then add the very cold unsalted diced butter and cut it in using a pastry cutter or your hands. I typically use a pastry cutter, so my hands don’t warm the butter.

3. Once the mixture looks like coarse crumbs, slowly add the water and mix with your hands until the dough forms a shaggy looking ball.

4. Transfer to a floured surface and knead the dough just a few times to form a smooth disc.

5. Wrap in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

6. This dough can be prepared a day or two in advance and kept in the freezer until needed. Just thaw in the refrigerator prior to using.

To make the Lavender Sugar

1. Add the sugar and dried culinary lavender to the bowl of a food processor.

2. Mix the sugar and lavender for a minute or two, until the lavender is nicely infused into the sugar. You should see small specks of lavender throughout the sugar.

3. Place the lavender sugar in a glass jar with a lid and store in a cool location for up to one month.

To make the blueberry lavender filling

1. Add the frozen blueberries, vanilla and lavender sugar to a medium sauce pan over medium heat.

2. Stir the ingredients and let them come to a slow simmer. This will take about 8-10 minutes.

3. Then stir in the quick cooking tapioca.

4. Let the blueberries simmer for a few minutes longer or until they begin to thicken or coat the back of a spoon.

5. Let the blueberry mixture cool completely and then refrigerate until needed. The filling is much easier to work with when it’s cold.

To make the heart shaped hand pies

1. Remove the pastry dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and place the disc of dough onto a floured surface.

2. Cut the dough in half and place it back in the refrigerator until you need it.

3. Roll out the first half of the dough to 1/8 inch in thickness.

4. Cut out about eleven or twelve 3 ½-inch hearts and place them to one side on a floured surface. With any remaining dough, cut out tiny 1-inch heart shapes for extra decoration if you like. Repeat with the second half of dough.

5. Once the hearts are cut out, remove the filling from the refrigerator and brush the edges of half the dough hearts with egg wash.

6. Place a heaping teaspoon into the center of the egg washed dough hearts and then gently stretch (just a little) the remaining hearts over the top each filled heart, pressing down on the edges.

7. With the tines of a fork, press around the edges to seal the heart shaped pastries.

8. With a small paring knife, gently cut two small slices into the top of each pastry to vent.

9. Gently place them on parchment lined baking sheets about 1 inch apart. If they stick to the floured surface, I use a very small, thin spatula to pull them up off the surface and transfer to the lined baking sheet.

10. If you have smaller heart cutouts, brush one side with a little egg wash and then place them on the heart shaped pies however you like. I set the hearts to one side on most of my pies.

11. Brush the tops of each hand pie with the remaining egg wash and then sprinkle with coarse sugar.

12. Place the baking sheet or baking sheets in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. This will help prevent the filling from seeping out too much. A little seeping is expected. And it makes the pies look delicious.

13. When you’re ready to bake preheat the oven to 400F. Bake the hand pies for about 8 minutes and then rotate your baking sheet.

14. Then turn the heat down to 350F and finish baking another 5-7 minutes or until the hand pies are golden brown.

15. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the hand pies cool. The filling will be hot.

16. These hand pies hold well in the refrigerator and can be reheated in the oven. Although I don’t think they will last that long.