In A Baking Mood

1/2 tsp baking powder

 Some Sunday mornings are quiet for me, and one particular Sunday recently I felt like baking.  I decided to make fruit hand pies.  You know, the kind Hostess sells near the checkout stand at the market.  I had blueberries, apples and lemon curd in the house, and decided to make some of each.  Oh, were they good, especially the crust.  Here's the basic recipe.

                                                Fruit Hand Pies

Crust:

2 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

16 Tablespoons cold butter

1/2 cup cold sour cream

Mix dry ingredients, then add cold butter and mix in mixer until butter is the size of large peas.  It's alright to have bigger pieces of butter in there too.  Add sour cream, and mix until dough comes together.  Turn on to a floured board, knead a few times, then shape the dough in a large log.  You can refrigerate at this point, or divide the dough and just use half and freeze the rest for another time.

Take a 6 inch cookie cutter and cut round of dough that have been rolled to pie crust thickness.  Fill with your choice of fruit.  Do not overfill the pies, as the liquid will run out.  Fill with fruit, then fold pastry over, and crimp edges well.  Top with egg wash, and cook for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees, or until pastry is golden brown.  After they have cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Enjoy.

Filling

If you're lazy, you can buy a can of pie filling, any fruit you like, and use that.  If you want to make your own, peel and core and apple, sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, a little cornstarch and lemon juice, and cook until partially done.  Use that as a filling.  Another great filling is lemon curd, right out of the jar.  

These pies can be frozen, but be sure to wrap tightly.  They're right in the freezer whenever you want a sweet treat.