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Ham & Cheese Hand Pies

· Leah Leatherby

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At a recent party I was served the most delicious little hand pies. They were soft and buttery, but still had the perfect amount of crispness to them. I simply could not get enough. After the party I was sent home with a to-go bag of hand pies and the recipe. The next week I decided to make some for a brunch I was hosting, and when I looked at the ingredient list I was totally surprised. These tasty little Ham and Cheese Hand Pies have a few secret ingredients, and what is even better, they take almost no time at all to make!

Ham and cheese hand pies with homemade pasty dough - there is a secret ingredient that makes the pastry dough perfect every time!

Ham and Cheese Hand Pies

Most people are intimidated by pastry dough. It can be too crumbly, too moist, too hard to roll out, the list goes on and on. The normal pastry dough needs to be mixed just right, and often times can take years of practice to perfect. This pastry dough contains 3 ingredients, and is mixed up in about 2 minutes! The secret ingredient is cottage cheese. Yes, I said cottage cheese. So I guess it’s not a secret anymore! I promise you, you will be amazed at how easy and delicious this dough turns out to be!

Ham and cheese hand pies with a few secret ingredients!

Pastry Dough Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4th cup unbleached flour
  • 1/2 cup cubed cold butter
  • 1/2 cup cottage cheese

Hand Pie Filling Ingredients:

You can use any filling you want with these hand pies.
Spinach and ricotta cheese stuffing is also delicious!

  • 1/2 cup cubed ham
  • 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
  • 3 tablespoons chopped green onions
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • dash of nutmeg
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 egg (separated, you will use the egg yolk to baste the hand pies before baking)

Ham and Cheese Hand Pie Recipe

1. First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Then, make your simple dough. Add the flour and butter to your mixer. Let it mix for around 30 seconds so it is a bit crumbly. Once the butter begins to crumble into a pebble like texture, you can add your cottage cheese. Watch as it magically balls up in to dough in about a minute!

3. Flour a hard service and roll out your dough. When the dough is rolled you can cut any shape you want for your hand pies. I used a mason jar top as my cutter to make small bites.

4. Next, lay your cut-outs on a cookie sheet.

5. Mix your filling ingredients all together, and put a tablespoonish amount on one side of your circle cut out.

6. Then, brush the edges with egg white, and fold one side of the hand pie over. Use a fork to press around the edges. Continue the process until you have used all your dough!

Don't forget the nutmeg when you are making these hand pies!

7. Lastly, at this point, you can either put them in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes, or freeze them to bake at a later date. If you choose to bake them though, baste the outside with beaten egg yolk. Bake them for about 18-24 minutes — the exact time will depend on your oven and the size of your hand pies. Pull them out when they are golden brown and perfect.

Cottage cheese makes these hand pies SO tasty!

I have become totally addicted to these hand pies, so I keep a batch frozen in the freezer at almost all times. It is a great go-to for a busy night, or busy morning and perfect for parties too!

Ham & Cheese Hand Pies

So, what kind of filling do you think I should try next?

About Leah Leatherby

Hi! My name is Leah Leatherby. I graduated from UC Davis with a BS in Textiles Marketing and Science. Since then, I have had four little ones – three boys and a girl. My life now consists of planning parties, baking cookies, and watching my kids. My husband has 75 first cousins alone, so we pretty much have an event every weekend! It keeps us busy, and lets me get my creative juices flowing.

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Comments

  1. Kingsley Peace says

    Amazing write-up and video. This sure looks very promising – sounds like something worth the time. Thanks for sharing.

    Success to You!! 🙂

  2. Barry says

    Mmmmm yum! Looks delish, excited to try it out later tonight. Might change up the ingredients a bit though, maybe with some diced up chicken breasts!