These Blackberry Mint Hand Pies bring the taste of spring into an individual-sized pocket of pastry. With fresh blackberries and mint tossed in a little bit of sugar, gin, and lemon, these hand pies are sweet and fresh and bursting with juicy brightness.
I’ve been waiting weeks for the mint to begin growing to make these hand pies. As soon as the leaves were large and fragrant enough, I picked a bunch, rinsed it off, and chopped it up, immediately throwing the pieces into a bowl with some blackberries. The fresh, herby mint enhances the sweet and tart flavor of the berries in these hand pies.
Often overlooked (I feel like they don’t always get the love they deserve), blackberries are one of my favorite fruits. They’re bursting with flavor and when tossed together with mint, sugar, lemon, and gin and left to macerate and break down a bit, they’re impossible to resist. Honestly. I almost started eating this filling straight from the bowl while I was letting the juices activate and waiting for my pastry to chill. I could happily just eat this with a spoon or swirled into a bit of plain Greek yogurt.
Often overlooked (I feel like they don’t always get the love they deserve), blackberries are one of my favorite fruits. They’re bursting with flavor and when tossed together with mint, sugar, lemon, and gin and left to macerate and break down a bit, they’re impossible to resist. Honestly. I almost started eating this filling straight from the bowl while I was letting the juices activate and waiting for my pastry to chill. I could happily just eat this with a spoon or swirled into a bit of plain Greek yogurt.
This filling is what I imagine when I think of spring–sweet, juicy, tart, herby. Wrap it all between two pieces of flaky, buttery pastry, and it doesn’t get much better than that. In these still uncertain times, sometimes you just need a small bite of joy to carry you through. Last week, I hit a peak of anxiety over everything I repressed since the start of this pandemic. I’ve been trying to take this week a bit slower, trying to accept when I haven’t been as productive as I anticipated and just embrace the opportunity to get a bit of rest. I’m still beating myself up a bit when I don’t accomplish everything I set out to do in a day, but I also know that I’ve been desperate for a day or two where I don’t need to wake up to my alarm clock.
Because I’m all about trying to keep things a bit simpler these days, I added the option to use store-bought pastry or to make a chocolate pie dough if desired. The option to use a packaged pie crust is always there, even if I don’t outwardly mention it, but I wanted to reassure that there’s a faster, simpler, still incredibly delicious way to get your pie fix!
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 15-17 minutes |
| Passive Time | 75 minutes |
| Servings |
hand pies
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- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (225 grams)
- 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar (7 grams)
- 2 Tbsp dark cocoa powder (15 grams)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (226 grams) cold & cut into small cubes
- 1 Tbsp vodka
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ice water as needed
- 1 recipe Chocolate Pie Dough* *as above, or use a box of pre-made pie dough
- 1 cup blackberries whole and halved
- 2 Tbsp fresh mint chopped
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 Tbsp gin
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1 squeeze lemon juice
- 1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water for egg wash
- raw sugar for sprinkling
Ingredients
Chocolate Pie Dough
Blackberry Mint Hand Pies
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- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, dark cocoa powder, and salt. Using your fingertips, rub in the cubes of butter until you're left with mostly pea-sized chunks of butter.
- Using a butter knife or your fingers, gently stir in the vodka and apple cider vinegar; mix until fully incorporated. Add the ice water mix 1-2 Tbsp at a time until fully incorporated. You should notice large chunks beginning to form. Use your hands to shape the dough into a ball, there should be some dry bits of flour left still. Use your fingertips to gently pinch these bits together with the rest of the dough. You may need to give it one or two gentle kneads to incorporate these dry bits.
- Divide the dough in half. Lightly flour your countertop or work surface. Roll out each half of the dough into a rectangle, about 12"x4". Fold the top 1/3 of the dough to the center. Fold up the bottom 1/3 of dough to overlap with the top half. Flip the dough 90 degrees and repeat the rolling and folding process. Flip 90 degrees and repeat one more time. Wrap in plastic. Using a rolling pin, gently press down to flatten the dough and bring any remaining dry bits at the edges together. Allow the dough to chill and rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Cut half of the blackberries in half lengthwise. In a small bowl, stir together the blackberries, mint, sugar, gin, pepper, and lemon juice. Allow to sit for 15-30 minutes until the blackberries begin to soften.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the first half of your pie dough until it is about 2mm thick. Using a round cutter, 3.5" across in diameter, cut out your pie dough rounds and set aside. Repeat with the other half of the dough. You should have 14-16 circles of dough. Gently roll half of the circles until they're a little bit larger than the rest--these will be the top pieces of dough.
- In a small measuring cup or a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg with 1 Tbsp of water to make an egg wash. Lightly outline one smaller circle of dough with the egg wash. Spoon a heaping pile of the blackberry mint filling into the center and cover with a larger circle of pie dough. Use a fork to crimp around the edges. Brush egg wash over the top and sprinkle with a bit of raw sugar. Cut two to three slits into the top crust and transfer the mini pie onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remainder of your dough rounds.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer to chill for ten minutes. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 15-17 minutes until the blackberry mint filling bubbles and the pies are fully cooked underneath. Cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Enjoy while still a bit warm or once completely cooled.