These blueberry hand pies are my favorite way to take the flavors of fresh blueberry pie on the go! This easy recipe combines a flaky, buttery homemade pastry crust with sweet blueberry pie filling and bright citrus glaze.
These mini blueberry hand pies are so much fun. They have jammy blueberry pie filling wrapped in homemade pastry dough that’s flecked with orange zest and crammed with butter for soft, flaky pockets of goodness. I personally love how the gooey baked fruit leaks outside the pastry shell. So pretty! I top these golden-baked mini pies with a citrus-infused glaze for the perfect finishing touch. The best part? My hand pie recipe is very adaptable. I can’t wait to make apple hand pies loaded with sautéed apples in the fall!
Reasons to Love These Blueberry Hand Pies
- Simpler than a traditional pie. My mom is a fabulous pie maker (her peach pie is my absolute favorite). I, unfortunately, did not follow in her footsteps when it came to making beautiful pie crust. That’s why I love hand pies. They taste just like my favorite recipes, in a much more manageable format. If I can handle it, you can, too!
- Take them to go. Hand pies are essentially a portable slice of pie, so you can grab them and go. They’re great for picnics, cookouts, and parties. Plus, I always say that fresh pie makes the best breakfast!
- Flexible. Make this pie recipe with fresh or frozen blueberries, or change up the fruit any way you’d like. Apples, peaches, strawberries, and just about any seasonal fruit goes great in a homemade hand pie.
What You’ll Need
All you need for these sweet little blueberry hand pies are fresh blueberries and oranges, plus a few baking staples! I’ll cover these along with some ingredient notes below. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for the full list with amounts.
Pastry Crust
- Dry ingredients – These are your basics like all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt.
- Unsalted butter – Make sure it’s cold from the fridge.
- Ice water – The key to making pastry is to keep the dough cold. Ice water helps to keep the butter in the dough from warming and melting. As the dough bakes, this creates pockets of flaky texture.
- Orange zest – You could also use lemon zest.
- Egg white – You’ll beat the egg white with water for a simple egg wash. Brushing the pies with an egg wash helps the pastry brown up beautifully golden in the oven and gives the pies a glossy finish.
- Cinnamon – Or another spice, like nutmeg, cardamom, or allspice.
Blueberry Pie Filling
- Fresh blueberries – There’s nothing quite like fresh summer blueberries, but you can also make this dessert year-round with frozen blueberries. If you’re using frozen, be sure to thaw the blueberries and drain them.
- Orange juice – Freshly squeezed is best.
- Brown sugar – Granulated sugar will also work here, plus a pinch of salt.
- Cinnamon – Like the crust, feel free to use another warm spice. You can also use pumpkin or apple pie spice.
- Cornstarch – To thicken the filling. You can use all-purpose flour in a pinch.
Citrus Glaze
- Powdered sugar – Also called confectioner’s sugar or icing sugar.
- Orange – Fresh orange juice and orange zest, or you could substitute lemon. Zest the citrus before you squeeze it!
How to Make Blueberry Hand Pies
These fresh fruit hand pies are fun to make, with only 30 minutes of hands-on prep. Follow the steps below showing how to make your hand pies from scratch, and scroll to the recipe card for the printable instructions.
Prepare the dough
- Make the dough. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl, and cut in the butter until you get pea-sized crumbs. Then, drizzle in the ice water and mix until the dough comes together.
- Chill the dough. Next, divide the dough in half. Using your hands, pat each half into a disc. Wrap the discs separately and place them into the fridge to chill for an hour.
- Prepare the toppings. Meanwhile, beat the egg white with water for the egg wash. In a separate bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon to make the cinnamon sugar. Set both aside for now.
Assemble and bake the pies
- Make the blueberry filling. Now, take out a new bowl and stir the blueberries and orange juice together. Then, mix in the sugar and cornstarch. Set the filling aside while you take your pie dough out of the fridge.
- Roll and cut the dough. Unwrap and roll the first dough disc into a 9×12″ rectangle. Afterward, use a pizza cutter, pastry cutter, or a sharp knife to cut the dough into 3″ squares. Arrange the squares on a parchment-lined baking sheet and give them a light brushing with the egg wash.
- Assemble the pies. Add blueberry filling to the center of each square. Then, roll out and cut the remaining dough into squares, and place these over the blueberry filling. Crimp the dough together at the edges with a fork. Lastly, cut an X on each pie and brush the tops with egg wash. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
- Bake. Bake the hand pies at 375ºF for 25 minutes, until they’re golden outside and bubbling inside. Let the pies cool completely before you glaze them.
- Add the glaze. Finally, mix the glaze ingredients and drizzle the glaze over the pies. Leave that to set for a bit, and dig in!
Tips for Success
- Add additional ice water. If necessary, add a bit more ice water to get the pastry dough to come together.
- Ensure the edges are sealed. While it’s normal for some blueberry filling to ooze out at the edges, you want to prevent this from happening too much by gently but firmly pressing down on the dough edges to seal them. I use a fork, which also leaves a nice pattern.
- Try this with other berries. This recipe is pretty adaptable to use with raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries. Sweet (pitted) cherries would also be great! Chop larger fruits to about the size of a large blueberry.
Serving Suggestions
I always love slices of pie when they’re still a bit warm from the oven, and the fruit is fragrant and tender. The same goes for a freshly baked blueberry hand pie. I’ll serve mine with a scoop of vanilla or blueberry ice cream for a hand pie à la mode. Or, add a dollop of crème fraîche or whipped cream. These make a great breakfast to go, or I’ll bake them for picnics as a sweet finish after our pinwheel sandwiches and pasta salad.
How to Store
- Refrigerate. Hand pies are best eaten the day they are made (they rarely last long in our house anyway!). However, you can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days.
- Reheat. A baking stone does a great job of reheating hand pies, giving you that just-baked texture. Set the stone in the oven and preheat to 275° F. Place the hand pies on the stone and warm them for 5 to 8 minutes. You want them warm, not super hot as the glaze will melt.
- Freeze. You can freeze these blueberry hand pies. Allow them to cool completely then place in freezer-safe containers, with layers separated by parchment paper. Freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat the pies straight from frozen following the method above.
More Blueberry Recipes
Blueberry Hand Pies with Orange Glaze
Yield: 12 hand pies
These blueberry hand pies combine a flaky, buttery homemade pastry crust with sweet blueberry pie filling and bright citrus glaze. They're so much easier than baking a whole pie!
Print
Ingredients
for the pastry:
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- orange zest from 1 large orange
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2” pieces
- 6 tablespoon ice water
- 1 large egg white beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
for the blueberry filling:
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 2 teaspoon freshly squeezed orange juice
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
for the orange glaze
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- orange zest from 1 large orange
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
Instructions
for the pastry:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and orange zest. Cut in the butter with a rigid pastry cutter or 2 forks until you get pea-sized crumbs. Drizzle in the ice water and mix with a wooden spoon until dough comes together. Add up to an additional tablespoon of water, if too dry.
- Gather dough into a ball, divide in half, and pat each half slightly into a disk. Wrap each half separately in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour before rolling.
- Prepare the egg wash. In a small bowl, beat together the egg white and 1 tablespoon of water with a fork. Set aside.
- Prepare the cinnamon sugar sprinkle by combining the 2 teaspoons sugar and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
for the blueberry filling:
- While dough is chilling, prepare the filling. In a small bowl, gently stir the blueberries and orange juice. Add the dry ingredients and gently fold until well combined. Set aside.
to assemble the hand pies:
- Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Remove dough from refrigerator. On a well floured surface, roll out one of the disks into a 9” x 12” rectangle. Using a fluted pastry wheel or a plain pizza cutter wheel, cut dough into twelve 3” squares.
- Transfer dough squares to prepared baking sheet. Gently brush tops of dough squares with the egg wash. Give the blueberry filling a stir to thoroughly combine, and then divide between the 12 dough squares, centering the filling in the middle of each dough square.
- Roll out the remaining dough disk into another 9” x 12” rectangle and cut into twelve 3” squares with a fluted pastry wheel. Top the blueberry filling with these dough squares, gently pressing the dough together at the edges. Use a fork to gently press the dough together all the way around each pie. With a sharp knife, cut an "X" into the top center of each pie. Brush the egg wash lightly over the entire top of each pie. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Bake for about 25 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and the blueberry filling is bubbly. Let pies cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
for the orange glaze:
- Stir together all glaze ingredients and drizzle over cooled hand pies. Let glaze cool to set.
Hand pies are best eaten the day they are made. However, they are very good the next day, or after being frozen, when warmed up on a baking stone in the oven. Just set the stone in the oven and preheat to 275° F. Set hand pies on the stone and warm for 5 to 8 minutes.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1 Calories: 313kcal Carbohydrates: 40g Protein: 4g Fat: 16g Saturated Fat: 10g Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g Cholesterol: 56mg Sodium: 215mg Fiber: 2g Sugar: 17g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a comment below. And share a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #afarmgirlsdabbles or tag @farmgirlsdabble!
This post was originally published in 2013, and then updated in 2021.
5 star
These hand pies look absolutely lovely! Anything pie is fantastic but even better when made into smaller, grab-and-go form.
Yummy ~ these look delish! This is my first time to your site, the fact that you are from South Dakota, grabbed my attention right away! Will definitely be back :)
Thank you, Wendy! Are you from SD?
Yep, I’m originally from Sioux Falls, my husband is from a small town by Mitchell.
Cool. I grew up in the northeast corner of the state, just north of Sisseton. My parents have since retired and moved from the farm, and now live just outside of Watertown, and so does one of my sisters. I have another sister that lives near Sioux Falls. Great to hear from you! :)
These look so perfect, especially with that glaze! Blueberries are so good this time of year, and these hand pies are a perfect way to celebrate them!
Thanks bunches, Mercedes! xo
I love blueberries and these look fantastic! I like the new format too!
Thank you, Sandy! :)
I love blueberries! I dont think that I have ever picked any..( unless it was a long time ago.. ) =)
But I absolutely love desserts made with them!
Yours looks delicious!
If you ever get the chance to pick blueberries, do it. They are just so awesome!
These are so cute and the thought of the glaze made my mouth water more than a little! (And once again, your photography is absolutely stunning.) I also love the term “hand pie.” I mean, who wouldn’t want to eat a hand pie?!
Thank you so much, Hillary!
These hand pies are a clear sign that summer is not over yet!! Can’t wait to make!
Yay!!!!
We did a load of blueberry picking – but I’ve been trying to think of all the things I can make with them – and these hand pies are TOTALLY on the list now!
Excellent! Aren’t those fresh blueberries the best?! Please let me know what you think, Megan.
Oh how I love hand pies and these look fantastic with that citrus glaze!
Thank you, Kristen! :)
HAND PIE!!!! So, since I have two hands, that means I need two right!
Absolutely!!
I feel the same way about pie dough, Brenda…I feel your pain. It looks as though you absolutely nailed these hand pies!
That’s very comforting, Dara. I’m in good company. ;)