These cranberry hand pies are the perfect festive holiday dessert. They are made with a homemade pie crust (or buy store-bought for an even quicker dessert!) and packed full of an orange-scented cranberry filling. This is the perfect sweet and tart dessert!
Do you need the cutest and most festive holiday dessert?
Why not try these adorable little cranberry hand pies?!
They are packed full of orange-scented cranberry sauce and wrapped up in a quick homemade sour cream pie crust pastry.
To keep them extra special I cut them out with Christmas tree-shaped cookie cutters but you could use whatever shape cutters you happen to have on hand.
This is also a great use for any leftover cranberry sauce you happen to have on hand.
Trust me, the whole family will fall in love with this simple sweet, and tart holiday treat!
Table of Contents
Can I use store bought dough?
Of course!
Making homemade pie crust is either something you love to do or you hate to do.
And that is 100% fine!
For this recipe, I whipped up a quick and easy sour cream-based pie dough but if happen to have pre-rolled pie crust on hand you can easily use that instead.
You will follow the same directions just skip all the steps related to making the dough.
Could I use store bought cranberry sauce?
Yes, store-bought cranberry sauce will work great here!
You’ll want to make sure to use the canned whole berry sauce and NOT the jellied cranberry sauce.
I also think if you’re going to use canned you might want to jazz it up a little by stirring in some orange zest to brighten up the flavor.
I made a quick and easy cranberry sauce for this recipe which you can make days in advance if you’re short on time on assembly day.
What would I serve with hand pies?
The joy of a hand pie is that they tick all the dessert boxes – flakey crust, yummy filling, and sweet drizzled glaze.
In my opinion, it’s the dessert that has it all in a fun handheld form.
For my family, I serve them alongside coffee or whatever after-dinner drink my family happens to be craving.
If you’re looking at me I might pair it along with some aged eggnog.
How do I store leftover cranberry hand pies?
I like to store them in an airtight container and eat them within 3 days.
If you want to crisp the pastry back up you can pop it into an oven or toaster oven for a few minutes to just help it crisp up again.
Love these cranberry hand pies?
Why not try a few of my other delicious holiday desserts?
- Love all things pie, cake and cheesecake? Try my Christmas Piecaken.
- Want a good cake to eat for breakfast? Try my Vanilla Cranberry Buttermilk Cake.
- Craving a festive classic treat? Try my Soft Gingerbread Cutout Cookies.
- Need the perfect Christmas cake? Try my Cream Sherry Bundt Cake.
Cranberry Hand Pies
Ingredients
For cranberry filling:
- 10 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 orange zested
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pie dough:
- 2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter cold and cubed
- 1/2 cup full-fat sour cream plus more if needed
- 1 large egg beaten
- Coarse sugar
For orange glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons orange juice
Instructions
For cranberry filling:
- Combine all the ingredients except vanilla in a small saucepan.
- Cook the filling over medium-high heat, until the mixture starts to thicken, about 5 minutes.
- Add vanilla, stir and leave it to cool to room temperature.
For the pie dough:
- Take the butter from the fridge, cut it into cubes and let it sit for a few minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar.
- Sprinkle the cubed butter over the flour and squish it with your fingers.
- Work the butter into the flour until you're left with pea-sized lumps of butter.
- Add the sour cream and using a fork incorporate it into the mixture.
- Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and bring it together with a few quick kneads until you get a smooth ball, consistency of a Play-Doh – don't worry about over-working this dough.
- Split the dough in half, press each half into a disk and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.
- Once the dough is wrapped into plastic, using a rolling pin, roll it over the dough to close any cracks.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
For assembly and baking:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Take one half of the dough from the fridge and let it rest on the counter for 10-15 minutes, it will be easier to roll out.
- Lightly flour the work surface and the rolling pin, and roll out the dough to about 1/8-inch thick.
- Using a larger tree cookie cutter (mine was 5 inches high and 3.5 inches wide), you can use a star-shaped, or simple round cookie cutter if desired), cut out as many trees from the dough as you can.
- Re-roll any scraps of dough and cut more.
- On half of the cut trees, put about 1-2 teaspoons of filling straight through the middle (make sure the filling is not all over the edges), brush a little bit of water along the edges, then press all around the edge with your fingertips to seal then use a fork to crimp.
- Poke each pie 3-4 times in the middle with a toothpick, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes (depending on the size of the pie itself), or until golden brown.
- Repeat the process with the other half of the dough and the filling.
- If desired, drizzle with glaze and sprinkles.
For orange glaze:
- In a small bowl add powdered sugar and orange juice and whisk to combine.
- If you want a thinner glaze add in more orange juice.
- If you want a thicker glaze add in more powdered sugar.
Nutrition
