The perfect summertime hand pie, featuring blueberry pie filling baked inside of the flakiest pastry. These Blueberry Hand Pies are easier to make than you might think, and this recipe contains step by step-by-step photos, video and tips!

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Easy Blueberry Pastry Pies

You will be the star of any cookout or BBQ if you show up with these flaky Blueberry Hand Pies. This recipe takes all of the deliciousness of a blueberry pie and bakes it into a handheld pastry crust. These hand pies are filled with juicy tart blueberry filling and have the flakiest, most tender crust.

The best part? Hand pies freeze really well! So, go ahead and make a double batch to have some for now and some for later.

So, let's get to making it, shall we? The text below offers tons of tips and helpful notes, or you can scroll to the bottom to grab the recipe and get started!

More of a visual person? Check out the video of me making it below, located right above the recipe!

Ingredients Needed

Here is an overview of the ingredients needed for this recipe. The full recipe is listed below in greater detail.

1 batch All Butter Pie Crust
frozen wild blueberries or fresh blueberries
granulated sugar
cornstarch
fresh lemon juice
blueberry, cherry or orange juice (only if using fresh blueberries)
vanilla extract
butter

Tools Needed

Here is a list of some of the primary tools I use in this recipe. You won't necessarily choose to use them all, but they are exactly what I used. Any links may contain affiliate links.

food processor
rolling pin
pastry brush
circle cutters
baking basics: bowl, spatula, sheet tray, measuring cups

What Kind of Blueberries to Use

Hands down, my favorite type of blueberry to use for any blueberry pie is wild blueberries. I almost always have a big bag of frozen wild blueberries in my freezer. They are available year-round in the store, or if you time it right, you can get a large crop of them in the summer and freeze them. I love using the frozen ones because they have excess juice that makes the blueberry pie filling nice and lush, which I think creates a better flavor than that of standard blueberries.

However, using standard grocery store fresh blueberries will also work well. The recipe indicates that you'll need to add some additional liquid to the mixture if you are using fresh blueberries. If you can find blueberry juice in the store, that would obviously be a great addition. If not, another all-fruit juice such as cherry or even grape juice can work. You can also use something like orange juice, and it will add a nice orange flavor to the blueberries which totally works. In a pinch, water can work too. Just know that the flavor won't be as good.

Blueberry pie filling for hand pies not yet cooked.

Making the Blueberry Filling

Hand pies bake quickly, which means there might not be enough time for the filling inside to bake by the time the pie crust is finished cooking. For this reason, the blueberry filling must be made ahead of time.

Making the blueberry filling is super easy. Essentially, blueberries are mixed with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch and then cooked. I wrote a whole post dedicated to making Blueberry Pie Filling, so be sure to check that out for more tips.

The recipe makes about 1 pint of blueberry pie filling. You likely won't use all of it for the hand pies. You can enjoy any leftover filling over ice cream or yogurt. It also freezes well.

Steps Needed to Make Blueberry Hand Pies

There are a few steps needed to make hand pies. Luckily, the steps can be broken down and spaced apart, so in the end, it will seem very easy.

First, you have to make the pie dough. The dough needs to chill overnight. If you are new to making pie dough, check out this comprehensive guide on making butter pie dough.

Next, the filling needs to be prepared. This can be done up to 7 days ahead of time. Just make sure it is chilled thoroughly before you assemble the pies.

Like any pie, you'll need to roll out and cut out your dough. This recipe is based on a 4″ round hand pie. To simplify things, I recommend buying a 4″ circle cutter, especially if you plan to make hand pies of any variation in the future; I think you'll find it to be a "go-to" tool in your kitchen. If you don’t want to buy one, you can cut out a 4-inch circle of parchment paper and use it to trace and cut out the circles.

Keep in mind, if the dough gets too warm, it might need to be chilled between cutting out the circles and assembling the hand pies, as this step will take significantly longer without a circle cutter. Just be sure to keep an eye on your dough as you progress forward.

Once you have your dough rolled, it’s time to assemble: brush an eggwash around the edges of one circle of pie dough. Place about a ¼ cup of the blueberry filling in the middle. Place a circle of pie dough over the top and press down on the edges to seal the two pieces together. Crimp the edges of the bottom to the top, which will seal the pie and add a decorative touch.

Place the pies on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining dough circles. When finished, place the sheet pan inside a freezer to chill, while your oven preheats. This helps the dough keep its shape while it is baking.

Troubleshooting Tips

If at any point your pie dough is getting too warm, simply place it in the refrigerator or freezer to chill until it is easy to work with
Filling the hand pies requires a delicate balance of not overfilling them, and not underfilling them. If you find that you are having trouble closing the hand pies without the blueberry filling spilling out, then use less filling.
It's best to chill the hand pies briefly before baking, or you can chill them overnight and bake them the next day! Hand pies can even be frozen unbaked, and then later baked straight from the freezer.

How to Bake Them

Before being baked, the hand pies can be optionally brushed with an egg wash and sprinkled with turbinado sugar for a beautiful color and crunch.

Because the filling is premade, I find it unnecessary to poke holes in the pastry to let steam escape. However, if you'd like to make holes in the pastry for aesthetic reasons or if you feel you might have trapped a lot of air in your pastry when filling it, it's fine to do so.

To bake, pre-heat the oven to 400ºF and set a rack to the second-lowest position in the oven. This small step will ensure a crisp bottom crust of the hand pies. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the pie dough is lightly golden all over. If you are baking from frozen, you may need to bake for an extra 10 minutes or so.

Freezing Hand Pies

These can be frozen, unbaked, for up to 3 months. Assemble the hand pies up to the point of the final egg wash, and then freeze them flat on a sheet tray for 24 hours. Then, transfer to a bag with as much air removed as possible. Freeze for up to 2 months. The pies can be baked from frozen. Doesn't get much easier than that! Bake them as directed plus 10 additional minutes or so.

More Blueberry Recipes:

More Hand Pie Recipes:

Full Recipe

Blueberry Hand Pies

Print Recipe

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Author: Kelli Avila
Prep Time: 00:25
Cook Time: 00:45
Total Time: 01:20
Yield: About 8
Category: Sweet Pies
Method: Bake

Ingredients

For Pie Dough:

2-9″ Pie Dough Disks (1 batch)

For Blueberry Filling:

3-½ cups (about 16 ounces) frozen wild blueberries (see note about fresh)
⅓ cup (70 grams) sugar
2 tablespoons (15 grams) cornstarch
2 tablespoons (15 grams) lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons (25 grams) cold unsalted butter, diced (optional)

For Egg Wash:

1 large egg
1 teaspoon water
Raw sugar (for the tops of the hand pies, optional)

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Instructions

Make pie crust and rest in the refrigerator preferably overnight, or at a minimum of 4 hours.
Add blueberries, sugar, and cornstarch to a large bowl and toss to coat. Mix in lemon juice and zest. Let sit until the sugars have started to dissolve, about 15 minutes.
Transfer all ingredients to a large pot.
Turn the heat on to medium and cook, stirring frequently until the filling is bubbling throughout. Turn off the heat and stir in vanilla extract and butter.
Pour into a shallow container and let cool completely (this will take several hours or overnight).
Make egg wash by whisking together the egg and the water together in a bowl.
Line a 12x18” sheet pan with a piece of parchment.
Roll out 1 disk of pie dough to about ⅛” thickness. Stamp out at least six 4” circles from the dough. Pile the dough scraps on top of one another and roll out one more time, enough to get at least 1-2 more circles. Repeat this process with the other dough disk to yield roughly 16-18 dough circles.
Brush the egg wash around the edges of 1 circle of pie dough. Place about ¼ cup of cooled blueberry filling in the middle. Place a circle of pie dough over the top and press down on the edges to seal the two pieces together. Crimp the edges of the bottom to the top to further seal the pie and to add a decorative touch.
Place the pies on the sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining dough circles. When finished, place the sheet pan inside a freezer to chill, while the oven preheats.
Preheat the oven to 400ºF and set a rack to the second-lowest position in the oven. Remove the pies from the freezer, brush the tops with an egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar.
Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the pie dough is lightly golden all over.

Notes

To use fresh blueberries, start the blueberry filling this way: In a medium pot, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Add in ½ cup fresh blueberries and lemon juice and mash the mixture with a fork until the blueberries have released some juices. Stir in the remaining blueberries. Then cook as directed in step 4.

The blueberry filling can be made up to 5 days ahead of time.

If at any point your pie dough is getting too warm, simply place it in the refrigerator or freezer to chill until it is easy to work with again

Filling the hand pies is a delicate balance of not overfilling them, and not under-filling them. If you find that you are having trouble closing the hand pies, then use less filling.

It's best to chill the hand pies briefly before baking as the instructions direct, or you can chill them overnight and bake the next day!

These can be frozen, unbaked, for up to 3 months. Freeze them flat on a sheet tray for 24 hours. Then, transfer to a bag with as much air removed as possible. The pies can be baked from frozen. Follow the instructions, but the total baking time will increase by about 10 minutes.

There will likely be some leftover blueberry filling. You can serve it over ice cream, or with yogurt.

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