Peach Hand Pies

There really isn’t anything that says Summer like these pretty little Peach Hand Pies. It’s one of the many ways to enjoy ripe and juicy summer peaches. Slice them and dice them, encase them in flaky pie dough, and bake them until golden brown. Take them on-the-go with you as a snack, or enjoy them a la mode with a scoop of ice cream. 

Hand pies are fairly easy to make and they adapt well to leftover seasonal fruits for the filling, which makes them super versatile. You can pick up whatever fruits are available at the farmer’s market and turn them into delicious, flaky, satisfying little snack pockets that fit in the palm of your hand. I love this peach version with a scoop of mascarpone ice cream on the side to beat the summer heat.

How to pick and prepare peaches for hand pies

How to pick peaches?

Ripe peaches are the best for eating and baking with. A ripe peach should smell sweet and peachy. It should be firm but with a little give when squeezed gently. If you don’t have access to ripe peaches, firmer ones can continue to ripen at room temperature within a couple of days.

How to peel peaches?

The peel will come off very easily on super ripe peaches. Cut the peaches into quarters and use a paring knife to pull the peel off from the base. On not so ripe peaches, you can peel them with a vegetable peeler, or by blanching them in boiling water.

Peach Hand Pie with chunky peach compote filling

How to make Peach Hand Pies

Peach pie filling and substitutions

You can make a quick peach pie filling, that takes just minutes, with diced peaches, sugar, salt, tapioca flour (okay to substitute cornstarch or all-purpose flour), spices, and lemon juice. Cook the mixture over medium heat in a saucepan until it thickens and allow it to cool before assembling the hand pies.

This pie filling turned out to be exceptionally jammy and delicious once baked. It is super easy to make, but you could also use leftover chunky peach compote, premade peach butter, or peach jam for the pie filling to make it even easier.

Easy fool-proof dough

My go-to pie crust is this all-butter pie crust. It comes together quickly in a food processor. But you can also make it by hand by cutting the cold butter into a mixture of flour, sugar, and salt. Add cold water for hydration and gluten development to bring the dough together.

Peach Hand Pies process photos step 1 – 3

1. Roll the pie dough out to about ⅛” to ¼” thick, and cut into circles using a 4.5” round cookie cutter. Reroll the scraps and cut out more circles. You should be able to get 9 circles.
2. If you want to save a bit of dough for decoration, cut out 7 – 8 circles. With the excess dough, stamp out desired decoration shapes with small cookie cutters.
3. You could also cut excess dough into thin strips with a pizza cutter and create braids.

Assembling peach hand pies

Work with one pie at a time, keeping the rest of the dough and decorations in the refrigerator.

Peach Hand Pies process photos step 4 – 9

4. Use a small rolling pin to roll the top half of the dough circle to enlarge it just a bit. This will help it fold over the peach pie filling.
5. Brush a little bit of egg wash on the edge of the bottom half. 
6. Add a tablespoon-full of peach pie filling on top of the dough.
7. Fold the top half over to cover the filling. Use a fork to seal the edge.
8. If you happen to make a tear on your pie dough as I did, the decorations will help hide the imperfections.
9. Brush the back of the decorations with egg wash and attach them to the top of the hand pies wherever you want to place them.

Peach Hand Pies process photos step 10 – 12

10. Place the fully decorated peach hand pies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. 
11. Brush egg wash over the top and on decorations. DO NOT apply egg wash to nondecorated edges and corners. The egg wash promotes browning and these areas tend to burn if egg wash is applied. 
12. Sprinkle turbinado sugar generously all over the pies and bake until golden brown, 18 – 19 minutes.

Making ahead and Storing

How long will these hand pies last?

These peach hand pies will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Beyond that, you should keep them refrigerated. They will last up to a week in the fridge.

How far in advance can I make these peach hand pies and can I freeze them?

If you plan to serve them right away, you can bake them the day before and keep them at room temperature. Or you can bake them up to 5 days in advance and keep them refrigerated. 

However, the best way to make these in advance is to freeze the unbaked pies and then bake when you need them. Wrap the unbaked pies, without the egg wash and turbinado sugar, in plastic wrap. Place them in a zip-top bag and freeze for up to 6 months. 

How to bake frozen hand pies?

Bake from frozen, do not thaw. You can follow steps 10 – 12 above, and increase baking time by 5 – 6 minutes.

With frozen pies, you want to sprinkle turbinado on top of the pie as soon as you brush the egg wash on top so they stick before the egg wash freezes on the surface. Then poke steam vents with the tip of a knife, make sure it goes all the way through the frozen crust. 

How to reheat hand pies?

You can reheat hand pies quickly in the microwave for 20 – 30 seconds, but this can make the crust soggy. The best way to reheat them is to toast them in the oven at 375°F for 5 – 10 minutes. This will warm up the filling while keeping the crust crisp.

More amazing hand pies

Hand pies are the perfect treats all year long. They’re fairly easy to make and you can switch out the pie filling to suit the season.

• For summer hand pies, try these Strawberry Compote Hand Pies or Blueberry Lemon Hand Pies.
• If you want something a little different, try these Chocolate Strawberry Hand Pies with a chocolate pie crust or these tropical Guava Cream Cheese Mini Hand Pies.
• For autumn hand pies, use apple butter for the filling like these Apple Butter Empanadas.

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment, send me a photo, rate it and don’t forget to tag me @wildwildwhisk on Instagram. I’d love to see what’s cooking up in your kitchen. Cheers!

📖 Recipe card

Peach Hand Pies

There really isn’t anything that says Summer like these pretty little Peach Hand Pies. It’s one of the many ways to enjoy ripe and juicy summer peaches. Slice them and dice them, encase them in flaky pie dough, and bake them until golden brown. Take them on-the-go with you as a snack, or enjoy them a la mode with a scoop of ice cream.

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert, Pie

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 19 minutes minutes

Total Time: 49 minutes minutes

Servings: 9 hand pies

Calories: 270kcal

Author: Trang

Equipment

• Food Processor
• 4.5” Round Cookie Cutter
• Small Cookie Cutters (for bento)
• French Rolling Pin
• Small Rolling Pin
• Pizza Cutter
• Pastry Brush
• Baking Sheet

Ingredients

Pie dough

• ▢ 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (198 g)
• ▢ 2 rounded tablespoon granulated sugar (35 g)
• ▢ ¼ rounded teaspoon kosher salt (3 g)
• ▢ 5 oz unsalted butter - cold (141 g)
• ▢ 3 tablespoon cold water (44 g)
• ▢ Extra flour for rolling

Peach Pie Filling

• ▢ 2 ripe peaches (about 14 ⅞ oz peeled and diced, 420 g)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lemon juice (15 g)
• ▢ ¼ cup light brown sugar (49 g)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon tapioca flour (8 g)
• ▢ A pinch of kosher salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cinnamon (2 g)
• ▢ A pinch of cardamom

Egg wash

• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1 tablespoon of milk (ok to sub cream or water)
• ▢ Turbinado sugar

Instructions

Peach pie filling

• Peel and dice the peaches into bite-size pieces. Add to a medium saucepan along with lemon juice.
• Add sugar, salt, cornstarch, and spices to a small bowl and mix to combine. Sprinkle the mixture over the peaches.
• Bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook until thickens, about 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Set the filling aside to cool.

Pie dough

• Add flour, sugar, and salt in a small bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Then transfer to a food processor fitted with the dough blade.
• Cube the cold butter and add to the flour mixture. Pulse several times until butter is about pea and bean size, variation in size is okay but no smaller than a pea.
• Turn the food processor to “on” position and drizzle cold water over the dough mixture through the water hole, as soon as the dough starts to pull together turn the food processor off. You may need to stop the food processor in between and get a spatula to get the flour at the bottom to mix up.
• Turn the dough out on the counter or cutting board and shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic and rest in the refrigerator for an hour.
• Take the pie dough out of the refrigerator and roll out to between ⅛” to ¼” thick. Use extra flour to keep the dough from sticking to the counter and roller. Cut into circles using a 4.5” cookie cutter.
• Re-roll the scraps and continue to cut into circles. One batch of pie crust should yield 9 circles. Place the circles on a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Optional: If you want to make a few decoration elements, cut out 7 - 8 circles instead and save the rest of the dough scraps. Stamp out small flower shapes or cut into strips to make braids.

Assemble hand pies

• Beat an egg with one tablespoon of milk (can substitute cream, or water) to make the egg wash.
• Take out one of the dough circles from earlier, work with one piece of dough at a time while the remaining rest in the refrigerator.
• Use a small rolling pin to roll the top half of the dough circle to enlarge it just a bit. This will help it fold over the peach pie filling.
• Brush egg wash around the bottom edge of the circle, add a heaping tablespoon of the peach pie filling on top. Fold the top half over to cover the filling. Press the edges together and seal with a fork. Repeat for the remaining circles.
• Optional: To decorate the pies, brush the back of the decoration with egg wash and attach it to the top of the pie. Trim the braided pieces to fit the half-circle. Add cut out shapes to cover the ends of the braids.
• Preheat oven to 425°F, let the pies rest in the freezer (or refrigerator, if there is not enough space in the freezer) while the oven is preheating.
• Just before baking, brush egg wash generously over the entire surface of the pies, including the decorations. DO NOT egg wash undecorated edges and corners. They will burn. Create steam vents on the top by poking holes with the tip of a paring knife. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
• Bake 18 - 19 minutes uncovered until golden brown
• Remove from oven and allow to cool to the touch on a wire rack.

Notes

• The decorations are optional. However, they are fantastic to hide imperfections like unattractive fork tines marks or tears on the surface of the pie crust.
• You can substitute the peach pie filling with chunky peach compote, peach butter or peach jam if desired.
• You can substitute 2 tablespoons of cornstarch or all-purpose flour for tapioca flour as the pie filling thickener.
• Baked peach hand pies will last 2 days at room temperature and up to a week in the refrigerator.
• You can freeze unbaked hand pies, without the egg wash and turbinado sugar. When needed, bake them from frozen (do not thaw!) per the directions, but increase the baking time 5 - 6 minutes.
• When baking frozen hand pies, sprinkle turbinado on top of the pie as soon as you brush the egg wash on top so they stick before the egg wash freezes on the surface.
• When poking steam vents on frozen pies, you’ll need to use a little force and make sure the tip of the knife goes all the way through the frozen crust.
• The best way to reheat peach hand pies is to toast them in the oven at 375°F for 5 - 10 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 111g | Calories: 270kcal

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