Food and Recipes Recipes Blueberry-Lavender Hand Pies You're never too old to enjoy a hand pie. By Pam Lolley Pam Lolley With 30+ years of experience in the culinary field, Recipe Tester & Developer Pam Lolley, has created and tested 1000s of recipes for Southern Living. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on April 14, 2021 Print Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis Active Time: 30 mins Chill Time: 4 hrs Total Time: 5 hrs 15 mins Yield: 12 Jump to recipe If you're searching for a back-pocket dessert, we have quite the handy solution for you (pun intended). At fall tailgates, you'll find us snacking on Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies, which are easy to pack up and transport. The warm-weather version? Our Blueberry-Lavender Hand Pies. They're the perfect grab-and-go dessert (or, let's be honest, breakfast) for the summertime. These crisp, flaky pastries are filled with a chunky berry compote flavored with just a hint of lavender. When buying the herb, make sure that it's labeled "culinary," not just dried. You can find it at Whole Foods Market, at Trader Joe's, or on Amazon. A lower cook time helps the blueberries maintain their shape while also developing a thick, jammy consistency, and a simple vanilla glaze is the ideal counterpart for these whimsical pastries. Since this is a very tender crust, be sure it chills for at least 4 hours and up to 24 before handling. Since you can make the dough ahead of time and freeze it, this dessert is easy to make in advance for events. You can even freeze a batch, unbaked, and take out 1 or 2 and bake when you want them. Call it a snack emergency. Ingredients Dough 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 teaspoon kosher salt ¾ cup cold butter, cubed 4 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening, cubed ½ cup ice-cold water Filling ¼ teaspoon dried culinary lavender 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided 1 tablespoon cornstarch ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup fresh blueberries (from 1 [6-oz.] container) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Glaze 1 cup powdered sugar 4 teaspoons whole milk ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract Directions Prepare the Dough: Place flour, sugar, and salt in bowl of a food processor; pulse until combined, about 3 pulses. Scatter butter and shortening over top of flour mixture; pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, 7 to 8 pulses. Add ice water; pulse until mixture starts to clump together, about 8 pulses. Scrape mixture out onto a lightly floured surface; knead just until it comes together, 2 or 3 times. Divide Dough in half; shape each half into a flat disk. Cover each disk in plastic wrap, and chill 4 hours. Prepare the Filling: Process lavender and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a spice grinder or food processor until finely ground. Whisk together lavender mixture, cornstarch, salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk in ¼ cup water, and bring to a boil over medium-high, whisking often. Cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat, and stir in blueberries and vanilla, lightly crushing half of the berries. Let stand until completely cool, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°F with oven rack in upper third of oven. Roll 1 chilled Dough disk to ⅛-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; using a 5-inch round cutter, cut out 4 or 5 circles. Repeat procedure with remaining disk. Reroll scraps; cut out 2 or 3 more circles until you have 12 circles total. Spoon 1 tablespoon Filling in center of each circle. Moisten edges halfway around each circle with water. Fold circles in half over Filling; crimp edges with a fork to seal. Cut 2 to 3 (½-inch) slits on top of each pie. Place pies on a parchment paper-lined large rimmed baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack, and cool 30 minutes. While pies cool, prepare the Glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle Glaze over slightly warm pies. Serve warm, or let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Print