I decided to scare up some hand pies
with October’s arrival
and in anticipation of Halloween!
Some scary hands reached out and grabbed me when I was creeping along the aisles of Target, one of my favorite Haunts, last October. . .
Now these sinister skeletal hands have some pies in their evil clutches. . .
Literal eye candy in the form of Wilton Candy Eyeballs were also watching me from the aisles of Target recently.
Providing smiles and stares, rather than scares, with their appearance on pops, cookies, and cupcakes, and this case. . .
Berry Scary Hand Pies!
I used my Pie Press, but you could use any pie press or cut a circle out of pastry using a bowl as a template, crimping with a fork to make your hand pies.
A store-bought pie crust would make these frightfully simple & quick, or use your favorite pie pastry recipe.
I decided to indulge and make a cream cheese pastry crust from Kraft, quick and easy with a food processor.
Cream Cheese Pastry
2 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened (I use light cream cheese)
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter or margarine
Pulse all ingredients, then divide into two portions.
Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours until firm.
Hand Pie Ingredients:
1 pkg of refrigerated pie crust, or recipe for a double crust pie
(I got 10 pies out of my cream cheese pastry recipe)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 cup fresh fruit*
1 egg beaten
Additional sugar for sprinkling on pastry
*I substituted 2 cups of frozen mixed berries (no thawing necessary) and mixed 1/4 cup of strawberry preserves with 1/4 sugar and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch. That seemed to be the right ratio of filling using frozen berries and for 10 pies.
OR
Save yourself some steps and substitute pie filling instead, since these hand pies will be quickly disappearing.
Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Unwrap refrigerated dough or roll homemade dough into 9” circle. Using back of pie press, cut circle out of pastry dough.
Place dough circle onto top of crimped side of pie press, pressing dough circle down slightly in center.
In small bowl combine fruit with sugar and cornstarch. Spoon 2 tbsp of fruit mixture onto indented portion of pastry circle.
Using a pastry brush, brush edges of pastry circle with beaten egg. With handles of pie press, fold pie in half and squeeze tightly to crimp and seal edges.
Place pies on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush tops with egg mixture and sprinkle with additional sugar. Cut small slits in top of pie to allow steam to escape. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
Cool and place candy eyeballs on pies.
These skeletal hands are much scarier than the pies, but the more slits and filling you use, the scarier with more oozing & bleeding of the berry filling.
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Metamorphosis Monday
Berry cool! Love the pies and those hands are so much fun! The one in the middle pic kinda looks like a crab… I’m really enjoying all of the great Halloween ideas in Blogland so far this year:@)
Frightfully delicious! I haven’t made indie pies in a long time. Life needs to slow down around here, Mary!
Love the creeptastic skeletal hands….so much fun for the season!
I love Halloween! You’ve done it again, Mary! Wonderful berry scary pies. (Target and World Market … what would we do without them?!)
Mary….these are just too darn cute!!!! Gotta make these scary pies!!!
Have a wonderful Monday!!!
Now that’s scary fun!
Blueberries in the freezer are crying to become a scary pie. I’ve looked all around here to find a pie press without any luck so I will be making my own circles. These pies so remind me of my mother whose crust was always the best.
Candy eyeballs! Now I’ve seen it all!!! These are really great, Mary! I have a hand pie maker that a friend sent to me last year that has yet to be used. I am going to give these a try if I can find the eyeballs around this area. SO much fun!
Too, too cute! Bleed-y mouths and bulging eyeballs! Love them!
These are way too cute! The kiddies would adore these. I love your skeletal hands too. We had a big family party last night and the kiddies would have grabbed these so quickly!
Why can’t I open these sites any more ??? HELP ! I love this magazine
Mary,
Hi! These hand pies are cute! I’m sure they taste frightfully good too.
Happy October!
Pat
I stumbled into your blog this morning and can’t tell you how happy it has made me. Starting with the hand pies and ending with the pooches and the lake. Love everything I have seen. Can I be your bff?
These are so cute, Mary. My grands would love them!
These are the cutest, but not so scary that I wouldn’t eat them! haha Your cream cheese crust recipe is a keeper. xo
Is there anyone who has more fun with life than you do? I just smile when I open your posts and see what new creative idea you’ve shared. It’s not just the ideas though, it’s the whole package ~ the clever ideas spotlighted with amazing details through your gorgeous images. “Hands” down, this is a winner! I’ll be craving one of those “hand” pies all day…………Sarah
That’s a hoot and a half with a hand Mary.You are so inventive and really you should be hired by someone for doing all this. xo, olive
I’ll have to share this post with my niece in Greensboro, who goes all out for Halloween.
So cute, Mary!
Not scary – just adorable! I have to find some of those eyeballs and make this for my grandson. As if I need any excuse to go to Target – LOL.
Oh my goodness…these are so cute!! They look really yummy too!!
These are so darn cute! I had to share on two Facebook pages! Now I want to get that little pie crimper!!
OMG, these are so funny and cool. You are such a talented lady. Your blog is always a delight to read!
Hugs,
Kathi
These are so cute! And the way you describe them is hilarious! What a great idea!
The pies look yummy, but I’m in love with those hands!!!
How cute are these?! I LOVE Halloween baking. I also love those little eyes. I’ve not seen them before, but I’ll be heading to Michael’s this afternoon . Very cute and clever post. :-)
I’m so glad that we have you, Mary, to tell us where to get all of these cute things! I have already bought the ingredients to make your Halloween candy centerpiece from last year, and now I can’t wait to run to the store and buy the scary eyeballs too. Your creativity really knows no bounds, lucky for all of us :) The teens will really love this one!
Cheers, Andrea
I love these! So fun…great pics! Come link up on my blog!
Karin
I love these and so will my children!
This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!…saw you at StoneGable.
Your scary hand pies are adorable! I love their funny little eyes. Thanks for sharing them at TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS
Amazing what 2 little eyes and your imagination can do!
– The Tablescaper
how cute!!! thanks so much for sharing all the details. I love all of your original creations, you never cease to amaze me!
I’m going to Target first thing tomorrow. Thanks for another great post.
I do remember these from last year, but I had to have another peak, they are so eye poppin’ cute!
Jenna
Is there an easier way to print your recipes. I had to copy each instruction and paste into an email to myself. Am I doing something wrong? Can’t wait to make these little pies.
Oh these are just so cute! Loving the photo styling too. Pinned! If you fancy it, would love you to link this up to #recipeoftheweek over on my blog. You can find it in on my menu under ‘Food’ > ‘#recipeoftheweek’. Hope to see you there x
So scary I am almost afraid to eat one! Notice I said ~ almost ;-)
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley