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Bourbon Pecan Cherry Hand Pies. Fresh summer cherries made into a sweet cherry-blueberry jam and wrapped up in flakey, buttery pecan pie dough. These cherry pies are not average cherry pie…they are so much better. Perfect summer dessert to go along with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Believe me, your summer needs these!
How about something fun and sweet to make your Tuesday a little more exciting? I don’t know about guys, but I’m all about making Tuesday a little sweeter. Especially today, since it’s a travel day for me and I hate days spent at the airport and the car.
Finally heading back home today, and while I am happy to be going home, I’m sad to be leaving NYC behind. I had an amazing event with Anthropologie on Sunday, it was so fun talking summer tablescapes with you guys. I really hope to do more workshops like this in the future. Let me know if this is something you too would be interested in seeing more of from me.
I’ll do a full recap of my time in the city on Sunday in my Favorites Post. I have some fun photos to share!
For now, let me tell you about these cherry pies that I am in LOVE with.
As if you could not tell from the photos, I made these cherry pies with the 4th of July in mind. I honestly cannot believe that the 4th is only a week from tomorrow. I have zero plans as of right now, but that’s OK because I am looking forward to a laid back 4th after a crazy fun family vacation…
The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays to create food for. I mean, I don’t love it more than Thanksgiving or Christmas, but I love gathering with family and friends for a fun carefree day. It’s hands down the best summer holiday.
In previous years, I’ve made cakes, tarts, and plenty of ice cream, but I’ve never made hand pies, so clearly I needed to change that.
Enter these fun cherry and blueberry hand pies.
Aren’t they so cute? I’m very excited about them, and not just because they are cute, but also because they taste amazing. What’s not to love about buttery pie dough wrapped around cherries and blueberries?
Absolutely nothing.
The Details:
Start with the jam. I was really going for the red, white and blue feel, so I combined sweet red bing cherries with vibrant blue blueberries. To assure that the hand pies didn’t leak out too much of the filling while baking, I cooked down the fruit into a jam infused with just a smidge of bourbon for flavor. So delicious!
You’ll most likely have a little leftover jam, which is beyond good on some morning toast or biscuits.
If you’re not a fan of bourbon, or just prefer not to use it, swap out the bourbon for vanilla extract. That will be great too!
The filling for the pies is the really star of this recipes, but the crust is not to be overlooked. Instead of doing an all white flour crust, I incorporated in some finely ground toasted pecans for a nutty flavor. For whatever reason, the sound of pecans and cherries really appealed to me, so I went for it, and you guys?
One word, YUM!
Since I was making these for the 4th, I of course I had to make them extra cute.
I’m really not a pastry chef, so I didn’t want to do anything too difficult. I simply cut stars out of my dough and then placed them over the filling, brushed on an egg wash, and finished with a sprinkle of coarse sugar.
So super simple and easy. Trust me, if I can do this star design, so can you.
The combo of cherry, blueberries, and the buttery pecan pie crust is too good for words.
The crust melts in your mouth, while the sweet filling is bursting with flavor. I’d say more, but actually, that’s really all you need to know.
Oh and one tip? If you can, serve this a little warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream…SO GOOD!
If you make these cherry pies, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every one of you. Oh, and of course, if you do make these summery cherry pies, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram so I can see! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Bourbon Pecan Cherry Hand Pies
Servings: 16 pies
Calories Per Serving: 137 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Bourbon Cherry-Blueberry Jam
- 3-4 cups fresh cherries, pitted
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1-2 tablespoons bourbon
Pecan Crust
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 3/4 cup finely ground toasted pecans
- 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled salted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/3 cup ice water, plus more if needed
- 1 whole egg, beaten
- coarse sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- 1. In a medium saucepan, bring the cherries, sugar, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling use a potato masher or fork to break down and mash the cherries. Continue to cook for 8-10 minutes or until the jam has reduced and thickened by 1/3. Stir in the blueberries and cook another 5 minutes.2. Remove from the heat and stir in the bourbon. Let cool completely before filling. 3. To make the crust. Add the flour pecans and butter to a food processor and pulse until the mixture is combined and resembles peas. Add the ice water and mix with a wooden spoon, drizzling in more water as needed (no more than 1 tablespoon at a time), until dough just comes together (a few dry spots are ok).4. Divide the dough in half. Shape each piece into a circular disk. At this point you can cover the dough and place it in the fridge for up to one week OR continue on with the recipe...yes, no chilling needed!5. Roll the dough out into a 1/8-inch thickness. Cut the dough into rectangles, about 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches. If desired, use a small star cookie cutter to cut stars out of half of the rectangles (see above photo). 6. Place a tablespoon of jam on one half of the rectangle. Lay the other half of the dough over the filling and seal the edges by crimping with the back of a fork. Repeat until you have used all the dough, you may have leftover jam. Place the pies on parchment lined baking sheets. Cover the baking sheets and place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to chill.7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Brush the pies with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden in color. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tuesday cherry pies for the win!
Hello! We’ve just discovered we have Nanking cherries in our new yard… Any idea if they would taste okay in this recipe in place of the red bing cherries? I think they are more tart, right?
Hey Bri,
Sure, I don’t see why those wouldn’t work for you!! Let me know how the recipe turns out, I hope you love it:) xx
Hi Tieghan, I tried the recipe today! I screwed a few things up (just user error having never made pie-type dough before) and even though they are not pretty, they sure are delicious! Thanks for your response!
Thanks so much for making them! As long as they taste good thats all that matters right?!
Can you use frozen cherries/blueberries to make the jam? Or do you think that the water content would be too high? Thanks!
Hi Valerie,
Yes that is fine to do. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hello! With what could I replace the egg?
Hi Vidya,
You could use buttermilk in place of the egg. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan