The Story of Quick Strawberry Nutella Hand Pies:
Once upon a time there was a girl who is now a woman, but still calls herself a girl. In her head she is the kind of person who makes everything from scratch, it is her dream to make her own bread. The only reason she doesn't is because she would eat it all. She pins the same Strawberry Nutella Hand Pie recipes over and over ooh-ing and aah-ing over the variations in crust. She has done this for two years.
And then one day she does something scary: she walks into a store and buys a premade pie crust. After that something wonderful happens - with five minutes of work she makes these delicious little hand pies, cute as a button, their flaky crust oozing with strawberry and nutella, their tops crackly and finished with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. One bite and she stops judging herself, but just to be safe she took two (hand pies not bites) and now plans to live happily ever after. The Beginning. 
I guess by now you have probably figured out who the girl woman in question is huh?
It is summer you guys and summer needs to be easy and it needs to be fun and summer baking needs to be totally doable especially for my 2 and 5 year old. These Strawberry Nutella Hand Pies are perfect for that, easy and delicious and totally picnic friendly! Just toss into a box and take them wherever summer takes you.
The Cinnamon Sugar may sound like overkill, but trust me when I say it's not. Here is why: store bought crusts are inherently more savory than most you would make at home and the strawberry nutella mix which is sweetly delicious on a spoon loses its aggressive sweetness when it's baked. The cinnamon sugar adds a little needed sweetness and rounds out the flavors of this easy summer treat.
Happy Canada Day weekend to my fellow Canadians and a Happy 4th of July to those South of the Border!
- Pre made pie crusts - pack of 2
- ¼-1/3 cup Nutella
- ¼-1/3 cup diced strawberries
- beaten egg for an egg wash
- 2 tbsp sugar + ½ tsp cinnamon
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- Preheat the oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
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- Unfurl a pie crust and using a 2 inch round cutter (look at notes below) cut out a dozen circles per pie crust/sheet
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- Put a teaspoon full of nutella on the base of a dozen crusts, top with a teaspoon of diced strawberries.
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- Score an X into the middle of the remaining pie circles
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- Place a scored circle on top of the pie bases and using the tines of a fork crimp the edges
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- Add a splash of water to a beaten egg and brush over each pie crust
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- Bake for 12-15 minutes until each pie is golden
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- Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar while warm
If you don't have a round cutter then look around your kitchen - I have used everything from washed out cans to the tops of jars. The yield will vary when you do this, but that's fine. Just don't make them too small because then you won't have any room for the filling!
Ohhhhhh my oh my! Haha.. yeah I think I will do these 😀 but about that store bought crusttt.. so I have 2 bricks of butter sitting in my freezer, 2 frozen mangoes, way more lime than I normally use, a tub of mascarpone, Lotttss of flour.. all sitting in my fridge/freezer for...longer than I care to admit.. because I have been "planning" to make some mango curd and use that to fill a layered sponge cake with whipped mascarpone frosting.. in my head its yummy and luscious and not too much work at all.. so yeah.. maybe the store bought pie pastry isnt such a bad idea after all 😉 nobody's judging!
hahahah you are such a kindred spirit because THAT IS EXACTLY SOMETHING I WOULD DO!!!! I had two sticks of butter sitting in my freezer for a week before I finally admitted to myself that I am never going to make this pie crust! I have to be honest my 5 yo and resident food critic wasn't particularly enamored until the cinnamon sugar came into the picture - and I do attribute that to store bought crusts being salty.
I have never made or eaten hand pies but like you I keep pinning and oggling on them. Maybe I need to start a story of my own soon. Love these.
Can these pies be frozen? To bake when needed?
I would think not because the defrosting would make the strawberries watery...