Best Fried Chocolate Cherry Hand Pies Recipes

CHERRY HAND PIES

Steps:

• Make the dough: Pulse the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Drizzle in 6 tablespoons ice water and pulse until the dough starts coming together.
• Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and lightly knead to bring together. Form into a disk, wrap in the plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine the cherries, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the cherries are juicy and the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, 5 more minutes. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the juice into a small bowl; stir in the cornstarch until dissolved. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and continue to simmer, stirring, until very thick, 6 to 8 more minutes. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the lemon juice and let cool.
• Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each into a ball. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each ball into a 6 1/2-inch round, using as little flour as possible. Stack the rounds between pieces of parchment paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand 5 minutes. Place 2 tablespoons cherry filling in the center of each round, then fold in half to enclose and crimp the edges to seal.
• Heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a deep skillet until a deep-fry thermometer registers 360 degrees F. Fry the pies in 2 batches, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

CHERRY HAND PIES

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, whisk 4 tablespoons water, sugar, brandy, cornstarch, lemon juice, tapioca, lemon zest and salt until combined. Add cherries. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Set aside to cool., Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough to a 14x9-in. rectangle. Cut out eight 3-1/2 x 4-1/2-in. rectangles. Repeat with remaining dough. , Transfer 8 rectangles to parchment-lined baking sheets; spoon about 3 tablespoons cherry mixture in center of each. Whisk egg and remaining 2 tablespoons water. Brush edges of crust with egg wash. Top with remaining 8 rectangles; press edges with a fork to seal. Brush tops with egg wash; cut slits in tops., Bake until crust is golden brown and slightly puffed, 25-30 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Combine confectioners' sugar, hot water, melted butter, extracts and salt; drizzle over pies. Garnish with freeze-dried strawberries if desired. Let stand until set.

DEEP-FRIED CHERRY PIES

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead 8-10 times. , Divide dough into four portions; roll each into an 8-in. circle. Place 1/4 cup of pie filling in the center of each circle. Fold dough over filling; secure with toothpicks. , In an electric skillet or deep fat-fryer, heat 1 in. of oil to 375°. Fry pies, folded side down, in oil for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn and fry 2-3 minutes longer. Drain on paper towels. Remove toothpicks. Serve with syrup and whipped topping.

CHERRY MITTEN HAND PIES

Steps:

• For the filling: Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Combine the cherries, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cherries are juicy, the sugar dissolves and the liquid begins to thicken, about 10 minutes.
• Stir together the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until smooth. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and continue to simmer, stirring, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the lemon juice and let cool completely.
• For the crust: Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Unroll both pie crust rounds, dust them with flour and roll with a rolling pin just to flatten out any creases and thin the dough slightly. Use a 4-inch mitten-shaped cutter to cut out as many mittens as possible, rerolling the dough once; you should have 16 to 20 pieces in all.
• Arrange half of the mittens on the prepared baking sheets. Beat the egg in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon water. Brush around the edges of the mittens with the egg wash. Spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of each mitten (the amount you use will depend on the exact size of the cutter, but do not overfill). Cover each with a second mitten, pressing to seal with your finger. Brush the tops with the egg wash. Cut one small slit in the top of each mitten to let steam escape. Bake until the crust is golden and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the pies to a rack to cool completely.
• For the royal icing and decoration: Meanwhile, combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 6 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft glossy peaks form, adding 1 to 2 tablespoons water if necessary to make a smooth, slightly thick icing. Remove a third of the icing to a small bowl. Add food coloring to the remaining icing to make a light blue color.
• Transfer the blue icing to a pastry bag fitted with a #6 or #7 round tip. Transfer half of the white icing to a pastry bag fitted with a #3 or #4 round tip and the other half of the icing to a pastry bag fitted with a #103 or #104 rose petal tip.
• Pipe a thin blue border around the edge of each cookie, leaving the cuff plain and uniced. Let set for a few minutes. Pipe a generous amount of blue icing inside the border of each cookie. Using a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the icing to cover the cookie, still making sure to leave the cuff plain. Sprinkle the icing with the snowflake sprinkles. Use white icing with the rose petal tip to pipe a ruffle on the mitten cuff. Pipe stitching around the edge of the mitten using the white icing with the plain round tip. Let the icing harden before serving, about 1 hour.