Back to school, back to reality.
This past weekend made gearing up for the first day back to school an especially rough one. We took advantage of our last summer road trip by languishing in late night swims under starlit skies, lots of outdoors music amid the red rocks of Utah’s spectacular natural scenery and plenty of play time skipping about and acting like kids.
And then the alarm went off. And just like that, summer was over.
Suddenly it was all about getting breakfast on, where are her shoes, oh man we’re out of yogurt, oh wait there’s one at the back, but I don’t want mustard, hair ties, wait no hair ties, pull it over to the side. No! Pull it back. But I don’t want my hair to be poooooooffffyyyy, where did your backpack go??
After she somehow successfully traipsed off to meet her new teacher and continue to grow into someone other than the bald little baby I snuggled in my arms, I baked her a special first-day-back after school snack.
When I was in college I worked at a Hostess plant. Yep, I was a Twinkie packer, and proud of it. It was the most grueling job I’ve ever had and yes it did look a lot like this especially when the old lady veterans thought they’d show this newbie temp a thing or two and speed up the line so Twinkies or Ding Dongs went a flyin’.
I hope they got their laughs.
But one of the best parts was the pie cooling line, a conveyor cooling rack that snaked its way through the ceiling of the entire plant. It started at the Hostess Pie deep fry line. Cherry pie, apple pie, lemon. And it wound its way right past the stairs that led to the women’s break room.
Once in a while a pie may have made its way right into my weary little hand. Weird how that happened.
A few weeks ago I made Ham and Cheese Hand Pies that Smudge went gaga over. They’re definitely going to be making their way into her lunch bag.
They were so easy, I figured they’d be super tasty with fresh cherries and cream cheese.
Smudge likes everything mini. Especially small food she can carry about. And since her favorite thing these days is pie, I knew a spin on cherry pie would be a treat we could both dig into.
And this time I didn’t even have to swipe them from the line.
Cherry Cheese Hand Pies
PrintIngredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ pound 2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 4-5 tablespoons water
- 2 cups or about 10 ounces cherries pitted and halved
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 ½ tablespoons water
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ cup decorative or large crystal sugar
Instructions
- In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, pulse flour, butter, salt and sugar 10-12 times or until butter is consistency of small peas. Add water and pulse 5-7 more times or until dough starts to come together. Turn out onto a floured surface and shape into 2 round discs. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- In a medium saucepan, bring water, cornstarch sugar and cherries to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
- With a handheld mixer, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and almond extract until smooth.
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Roll out dough to ¼-inch thick and using a 5-inch biscuit cutter, cut round discs for pies. Layer each round with a slather of cream cheese mixture and mound with about ¼ cup cherry mixture. Lightly brush edges of circles with egg, fold in half and crimp edges.
- Place pies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with egg wash and sprinkles of decorative sugar. Bake for 15 minutes or until crust is golden. Serve immediately or eat at room temperature.
Related Posts (this roundup brought to you my Smudge!)
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Baked Apple Cuplettes
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Tonya Talone
Made these for a family brunch last week & they were a huge hit! Thanks for a great recipe.
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Mervin
I couldn’t agree more! I mentioned the same thing to my
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I do not have an engagement or wedding ring. I get the notion
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him willingly, however he fails to own me and have to brand me.
Generally people understand I’m married, since I’m a
stay at home mom with three youngsters in tow. On some occasions, I’ve been approached
by someone I only say I am married.
J.S. @ Sun Diego Eats
As much as I love pictures of just pristine food whenever it looks a little messier – like with this outrageously dark red cherry juice oozing out of the breakfast pastries – it just looks that much more irresistible :)
Jessica
Thank you, Heidi, for sharing. I made these last weekend and they were incredible – it was hard to stop licking my fingers as I filled the pockets. Everyone raved about them, from crust to filling. I’ll definitely be making them again!
Daniela @ food recipes HQ
Simply adorable.
angie w d'lish
she is adorb! cute hand pies too….
sarah
These are beautiful! I love that first picture.
Your daughter is gorgeous. We start preschool here next week…anxiety is already at an all time high. Fingers crossed. :)
Annalise
Holy yum! These are right up my alley!
Melissa @ Best Friends For Frosting
I’ve been a fan of you for quite some time… but I have to admit, I have the utmost respect for you after learning that you were a Twinkie Packer. I love it! PS. Those pies look delicious!
Audrey Graham
I can’t wait to try out the dough. They look really awesome, and delicious. http://www.maxworkoutsexposed.com/
Julie @ Table for Two
uh, i love your daughter’s glasses!! and her style!! and these cherry pies are the perfect on the go meal!! love it
carrian
3rd grade!! Can you believe it? I feel like time is flying by and I have to keep reminding myself to take it all in. Loverly recipe too. Probably should pin it. :)
JulieD
Ooh these look great, Heidi!!
Jen @ Savory Simple
Oh yum! I wish we still had fresh cherries here. Might have to hit the freezer section so I can make these!
Heather @ Heather's Dish
what a sweet momma she has :) these handpies look delicious!
Julia
Making her mini hand pies on her first day of school, you’re fantastic!
I love the filling oozing out of the pies!
Mother Omega
Sweet Pea!!!!
Ashley @ Wishes and Dishes
Awwww what a good mom :) I love hand pies
Delishhh
Oh they look so good and your daughter is ADORABLE. Ella just turned 6 months :)
Kathryn
I never really thought how weird the first day of school must be for parents – pie seems like an excellent solution for her and for you!
Jessica@AKitchenAddiction
These are both delicious and adorable! What a fun treat!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
What adorable little pies, love!!
Brooke
Umm yum! Thank goodness we are neighbors, I’ll be right over! Do I follow this recipe to make the ham and cheese pies? Obviously omitting the cherries and cream cheese for ham and cheese.
The recipe for the ham and cheese hand pies is here http://goboldwithbutter.com/?p=1366. I need to bold my links :)
Stefanie @ Sarcastic Cooking
I am going crazy over those little ham and cheese guys! They look great! One pie for lunch and one for dessert!
Susan
Our cherries are just so wonderful here in Washington and these pies look amazing! You’re such a great mom baking a special treat for that first day of school. BTW, your daughter has a great fashion sense…something I bet she got from you! XOXO
Melissa // the faux martha
You are one good mamma! And Smudge has some mad cool style. Can she help me?
All she needs is an infiniti scarf. *hint :)
Alyssa | Queen of Quinoa
Yum! What a delicious treat – perfect for breakfast or a late afternoon snack. I can’t believe the summer is almost over – we have to celebrate these fruits as long as we can!
Kalyn
Oh my, she is so darn cute! What a great treat for after school!
Meg
These look amazing! My little girl started 5th grade this year and I have no clue how we got here. I must have had a 4 year long blink of an eye. *sigh* I am always looking for special treats to have waiting for her when she returns home and I will be adding a gluten-free version of these to the list! Thanks!
Would love to hear how you adapted the recipe for gluten-free if you’d like to post the link here!
Jennifer
These look great! I can’t wait to try out the dough :)
The dough is so easy thanks to the food processor, and rather forgiving too :)
Emily
I’m so making ham & cheese hand pies this weekend!!!!
Kelley
Will you come make these for E’s first day of school? They look amazing. In fact, I want them both for breakfast. I’m diggin the ham and cheese one. I love a savory pie. And I spy mustard in the background!!
We should totally make hand pies together! I miss you!
marla
Heidi, this post is so beautiful and really touches the heart. Our girls are the same age ~ my daughter starts school tomorrow. Smudge is just precious (LOVE those stylish black glasses) I have no idea where the time is going.
I am not ready for summer to end in a *snap*
Thank goodness for homemade hand pies. They look amazing!
Isn’t it just terrible that they have to grow up? I can’t stand it! Wouldn’t it be great to get our two babies together sometime? XO
Liz@HoosierHomemade
I hate how fast Summer goes! Wishing you a great school year! Love the pies!
~Liz
Janet Rudolph @ DyingforChocolate
Love these.. hand pies are so much fun–great for a snack for kids and adults.. terrific recipe and photos.
Maria
I can’t believe summer is over already! Smudge is so adorable! I hope she has a wonderful school year! I love making and eating hand pies too! Such a fun treat!
Lori @ RecipeGirl
Adorable…both the pies and smudge. Wait ’till she goes to middle school. You’ll be in puddles of tears! My baby… off to middle school. Argh! Lovely little pies you made :)
Oh Lori, I am NOT looking forward to that day. Middle school and all the drama that goes with it!
Averie @ Averie Cooks
They’re just oozing with goodness….mmm, soo messy, soo good!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
Mmm these sound awesome!
Rachel @ Baked by Rachel
I love how they’re oozing! Delicious!