Skip the forks in favor of your fingers with a quick and easy recipe for Strawberry Nutella Hand Pies starring sour cream pie dough pockets stuffed with berries and chocolate.
Hand pies, you have my heart. But this is no new love affair. Long before there were Strawberry Nutella Hand Pies, there were Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies. Gone now are the tender chunks of cinnamon-dusted apples topped with chewy caramel and a pinch of sea salt. And in their place? Juicy strawberries scattered over a schmear of creamy Nutella.
There’s just something extra-enticing about desserts enjoyed sans forks, from boozy fruit popsicles and homemade waffle cones to cheesecake brownie bites and chocolate cake pops. Add the on-the-go versatility of hand pies to the equation, and your summer picnic prayers have just been answered.
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Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup cold sour cream
For the filling:
- 3/4 cup Nutella
- 2 cups diced strawberries (See Kelly's Notes)
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg, whisked with 1 Tablespoon water
- Crystal sanding sugar
Instructions
Make the dough:
- Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.
- Add the cubed butter to the bowl and use your fingers to work the butter into the flour until the mixture is the consistency of wet sand.
- Stir in the sour cream (the dough will be very wet), and then turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface.
- Knead the dough a few times until it comes together, adding more flour, 1 teaspoon at a time, if the dough is too sticky to handle. Roll the dough into an 8x10-inch rectangle and dust both sides with flour before folding it into thirds as if you were folding a letter.
- Rotate the dough 90º and roll it out again into an 8x10-inch rectangle. Fold the dough again into thirds then wrap it securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes while you make the filling.
Make the filling:
- In a small bowl, combine the diced strawberries with the flour, tossing to combine. Set aside.
Assemble the pies:
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and unfold it onto a well-floured surface, rolling it out to a 14x14-inch square. (See Kelly's Notes.)
- Using a 3-inch circular cookie cutter or cup, cut out as many circles as possible. Re-roll the scraps and continue cutting out circles until you run out of dough, ensuring you end up with an even number of circles. (You should have approximately 20 3-inch circles.)
- Place six of the dough circles on a Silpat or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Spread a portion of the Nutella in the centers of half of the dough circles leaving a 1/4-inch border around the edges. Spoon a small portion of the strawberries atop the Nutella. Place a second dough circle atop each filled circle then use a fork to crimp the edges together, sealing each pie.
- Whisk together the egg with the water to make an egg wash. Brush each pie with the egg wash, and using a sharp knife, cut two or three vents on the top of each pie. Sprinkle the pies with crystal sanding sugar (optional).
- Bake the pies for about 15 minutes, or until they're golden brown.
- Remove the pies from the oven and allow them to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Repeat the filling and baking process with the remaining dough circles.
Kelly's Notes:
- The diced strawberries should be no larger than the size of corn kernels to ensure they become tender during the quick 15-minute bake time.
- If the dough is too firm to work with after refrigerating, allow it to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before cutting out the circular shapes.
- If the sour cream in the dough makes it too sticky at any point in the rolling out process, just simply sprinkle a pinch of flour atop the wet areas and continue rolling.
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Dough recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour.
Can these be made a day in advance? If so, how to reheat?
Absolutely, Shelly! They’ll still be good the next day if you store them in an airtight container at room temp. I’ve never tried rewarming them so I’m not certain what the time/temp would be. If I had to guess, I’d say start really low (250F) and go from there.
Can you use purchased pie crusts for this recipe?
Absolutely, Christy!
This recipe is a keeper! The pies are absolutely delicious.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Rachel!
What is the yield on this recipe?
Hi Josh! This recipe yields 10 (3-inch) hand pies. Updating the recipe now!
When making the filling how much flour do you mix the strawberries with? Sorry, that part has me confused. I can’t imagine mixing and coating the strawberries with flour.
Hi Skylar! The diced strawberries get combined with 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour. Hope that helps to clarify!
Can the strawberries be frozen or they should be fresh?
Hi there! Frozen fruit might release a lot of moisture when baked so I’m not sure if that would work. And you’d likely need to increase the bake time.
I tried to make these and they didn’t turn out right I followed the instructions but it went wrong when I added the sour cream any tips to help the issue I’m having
Hi Angelica – Did you use cold sour cream and butter?
I would love to make these hand pies, wondering if I can use puff pastry instead of your dough recipe…. :->
Hi there! I’ve never tried this recipe using puff pastry, however you’ll want to adjust the bake time to ensure the pastry is evenly browned.
They look so delicious! I don’t know what I did wrong, but my dough was… sour… Maybe too much sour cream. :(
Lovely recipe! I’m definitely going to try it. But, can I leave the sour cream or is there any substitute for it? Thank you.
The sour cream is what really binds the dough together and makes it very moist and flaky!
can i use blueberries instead and no nutella I just want to make little blueberry pies
I did that and they turned out wonderfully! :D
I just made these and they are fantastic! I’m wondering if they need to be refrigerated overnight or if they’re better left at room temperature. Please let me know if anyone has tried it! :)
Awesome! Nope – no need to refrigerate. Just make sure you keep them in an airtight container :)