Blueberry Hand Pie with Spelt Pie Crust

We wait all year for this month of summer. Our blueberry season has started early. I drove an hour to pick strawberries, but I only had to drive  two minutes yesterday to pick these. We live next to a blueberry farm which is open for summer picking twice a week until they are gone (about 4 weeks).

The “psychologist” in me  enjoys watching people and contemplating our differences and how God made us each with particular skills, talents, temperaments.

I met my neighbor over there who came alone. I had support with twins and a 9 year old neighbor girl. My neighbor and I are very different pickers. She blazed the bushes by herself and drove down the dirt road with 12 pounds of blueberries.   We both had our ladders as I suggested in this post  which gives tips for picking blueberries, but she is a “get it done” person, and, I get swept up in the process.

Two hours later, I barely had 3 pounds of blueberries.  I’m more of a live inside the moment type, which may explain why my white boards are filled with undone “to cook” “to do” and “to paint” items and many drafts.

Blueberry Filling or Blueberry Sauce?

This is a somewhat simple recipe for blueberry filling baked into two-bite pies or mini-picnic pies. I tend to make a lot of hand pies because they only take twenty minutes to bake and are a perfect solution for just a pint of berries or the dessert that travels well in the picnic basket.

These dozen mini pies never made it past the front door. They were literally gone in ten minutes and now hold the record for the fastest disappearing dessert in my kitchen. (Next time, I’m making a triple batch).

I made these with spelt flour, and we loved it. They were tender, flaky and the spelt delivers a nutty taste that pairs well with blueberries. They don’t bake up as pretty as all purpose flour does, but the taste makes up for it.

I usually use a food processor for making pie crust, but decided to do this by hand. It was just as easy. The shaggy heap you see below was quickly wrapped in plastic and made perfect by a short 30 minutes in the refrigerator. The secret to a good pie dough is knowing when to quit adding flour and not overworking the dough. This might look a little sticky, but once it’s wrapped in plastic and chilled for a time, it rolls out nicely, but you will have to flour your hands. I’ve been experimenting with spelt flour and will be returning with more pastry crust recipes.

The pie filling/blueberry sauce will still have some liquid, which is drained and used for future blueberry recipes.  It can be made ahead and will keep in the refrigerator for at least five days, but can also be frozen. We have used it to top angel food cake and ice cream.

I used a biscuit cutter to cut out circles and then rolled those circles into ovals, filled, sealed, brushed with cream (or you can use an egg white) and sprinkled with a little raw sugar.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Blueberry Hand Pie

Hand held blueberry pies made with spelt pie dough, great for taking on picnics or serving in a lunch box.

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• BLUEBERRY PIE FILLING INGREDIENTS
• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 tablespoons lemonade can use water and lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon quick cooking tapioca
• handful frozen strawberries optional
• PIE CRUST INGREDIENTS
• 1 1/3 spelt flour
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 - 4 tablespoons ice cold water
• milk for brushing tops
• raw sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

• BLUEBERRY PIE FILLING INSTRUCTIONS
• Prepare blueberry pie filling by combining all ingredients and cooking on top of stove until thickened, about 15 minutes on low heat. You may need to add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water or lemonade.
• Allow to cool.
• SPELT PIE CRUST INSTRUCTIONS
• Mix flour sugar and salt together.
• cut butter into small cubes, freeze for 15 minutes or more.
• Cut butter into flour with or place in food processor. Only mix until it appears just as the picture shows. Then add cold water one tablespoons at a time, just until it's shaggy. Bring together and wrap in plastic. The dough at this point may seem a little wet. Add flour to your hands and just bring together gently. The plastic and time in refrigerator will bring it together enough to roll out. Chill at least 30 minutes.
• ASSEMBLE
• Roll dough out to slightly thicker than usual pie crust. Cut into circles with a cookie or biscuit cutter. Roll the circles into ovals. Fill each oval with a tablespoon or so of pie filling. Fold in half, press edges together.
• Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes.
• Makes 12

Notes

Blueberries are usually very sweet, but berries lose some of their sweetness in cooking, so use added sugar accordingly. We prefer pies not overly sweet.

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If you love this recipe, please give it five stars. It means a lot. xoxo

See this post for tips on storing and freezing blueberries and tips for picking blueberries.

This is my all time favorite savory blueberry recipe.

Tell me, are you the type of person that keeps your eye on the goal and focuses on getting there, or are you the type of person that lives in the moment?