Blueberry Hand Pies
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup full-fat sour cream
2 large egg yolks, beaten to blend
Splash of heavy cream or milk for egg wash
1 cup sanding sugar or coarse sugar, for garnish
Preheat oven to 350.
Pulse flour, salt, baking powder, butter, and sour cream in a food processor until the largest pieces of butter are the size of a nickel and a loose dough starts to form. If you can grab a handful and the dough sticks together when squeezed, it’s done. If not, pulse several more times until it starts to come together or until the sour cream is more incorporated.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a rectangle, roughly 8x10. Be sure to press together so that no dry or loose dough is left on top or sides. Chill dough (the video says freeze, but chilling is all that’s necessary) for at least one hour, preferably overnight.
Let dough slightly come to temp- it should be easy enough to roll out but still cold to the touch. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and roll dough out until into a large rectangle, roughly 24x12.
Begin laminating, or layering, your dough by doing a tri-fold—starting from the left, fold the dough halfway to the center, and then fold from the right over top of the first fold. Press down to make sure dough is compact and then rotate dough 90 degrees. Roll out again to make a large rectangle shape and then fold the dough from the top down, halfway, and the bottom up, covering the first fold. Again, press dough down and reshape into a rectangle. Rotate 90 degrees again and roll out into what will be your final rectangle. Dough should be about 1/4” thick.
Cut dough out into roughly 3x5 rectangles. They can be made smaller, closer to 3x4, just as long as all the rectangles are the same size. You should end up with very little extra dough, but if you do, it can easily be rechilled and rerolled.
Lay out half of your pastry pieces and lightly egg wash the edges. Fill the center of one pastry with about 2 tablespoons of your desired filling. Use one of your remaining pieces as a top and gently press the two pieces together enough that a seal forms but not so hard that the edges are flattened. If you press too hard or make the pastry edges too thin, they will likely burn. If your filling does not run out the sides, your filling measurement is correct and you should continue assembling the rest of your hand pies. If the filling comes out so much you can’t close the pastry, adjust for the remainder of the pies and avoid a mess or ruining all your hard work. Use a fork to crimp the edges and then poke a series of small holes in the top to allow air to escape when baking. (At this point, tarts can be wrapped and frozen for up to one month. When ready to bake, egg wash and sugar fully frozen and put them in the oven. Add bake time as necessary. )
Mix egg yolks and heavy cream with a fork until blended. Lightly brush the tops of hand pies with mixture and cover with coarse or sanding sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 30-35 minutes, rotating halfway through.
Blueberry Filling - This is the original filling recipe we used at the shop, but you do not have to use this to make successful pop tarts. Feel free to use jam, store-bought pie filling, chocolate, savory fillings, etc.
2 cups frozen blueberries
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Stir all ingredients together in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring, until the blueberries burst and sugar is dissolved and the liquid forming in the bottom of the pan starts to simmer. Reduce heat and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon without running off. Transfer mixture to a bowl and cool completely in the refrigerator until ready for use.
Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie
2 sticks cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Flaky sea salt (for topping cookies before baking)
Using an electric mixer and a medium bowl or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat butter on low speed until it loses its shape. You do not want to cream the butter in any way - just simply paddle it until its slightly broken down.
Using a spatula, scrape down sides of bowl. With mixture on low speed, add sugars and mix until just combined. With the mixture of low speed, add the dry ingredients at an even pace. Once all dry have been incorporated, the mixture should look dry, almost like a crumble.
Add in chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed.
In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla together. With the mixer on low speed, stream in eggs and vanilla mixture until all dry pieces have disappeared and are combined. At this point, the mixture should resemble a traditional chocolate chip cookie dough.
Roll dough into large, 6oz balls, or approximately 1/2 cup of dough for each cookie. Place in freezer until fully frozen.
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or spray lightly with non-stick spray. Arrange fully frozen cookies on a baking sheet about 2" apart. Sprinkle each cookie with a generous pinch of sea salt.
Bake for 20 minutes, rotate cookie sheet, and bake for an additional 10 minutes. When done, cookies should have a browned, crunchy bottom and a slightly firm top. The middle of the cookie will look underdone- they will continue to bake as they cool. The most important and most difficult part of this cookie is that you must allow them to cool 10-15 minutes, before eating in order for the middle to set properly.
Do ahead: Rolled balls of cookie dough can freeze, wrapped tighly in plastic wrap, for up to 1 month. Balls of dough can be touching when freezing.
Buttermilk Biscuits with Salted Honey Butter
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 large egg yolks, beaten to blend
Preheat oven to 375. Pulse baking powder, salt, sugar, baking soda, 2 cups flour and chilled butter in a food processor until largest pieces of butter are the size of a nickel. Transfer to a large bowl with the remaining flour and toss together until butter appears evenly distributed. Add buttermilk over entire mixture all at once and knead mixture until a shaggy dough forms and almost no dry is left at the bottom of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and pat into roughly a 12”-14” thick rectangle.
Begin by doing a tri-fold, starting from the left, fold the dough halfway to the center, and then fold from the right over top of the first fold. Press down to make sure dough is compact and flatten out again to make a rectangle shape. Rotate dough 90 degrees and fold the dough from the top down. Again, press dough down and reshape into a rectangle. Rotate 90 degrees again, and fold from left to right. Repeat the process 2 more times, ending with a fold from left to right.
Using a rolling pin, adjust dough to desired thickness, about 3/4 of the height of your biscuit cutter. Dip biscuit cutter into the flour to prevent sticking, and then cut straight up and down, careful not to twist the biscuit cutter. You should get about 4 biscuits out of your first rectangle.
Press remaining dough together and reshape into a small rectangle. Cut out 2 additional biscuits. Repeat as many time as necessary until only a small amount of dough remains.
Mix egg yolks and heavy cream with a fork until blended. Brush tops of biscuits lightly with mixture and place on a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 30-35 minutes.
Honey Butter
1 stick butter
1 cup honey
In a small saucepan, melt butter and honey until combined. Brush a generous amount over biscuits while both the honey butter and biscuits are hot. Sprinkle tops with generous amounts of sea salt.