These Cranberry Orange Christmas Tree Hand Pies are just what you need to get into the holiday spirit. They taste delicious, and I even have a printable template you can use if you don't have a Christmas tree cookie cutter.
Cranberry and orange are two classic Christmas flavors, and they make for a sweet, yet tangy filling. Add a little bit of icing to each hand pie and you've got yourself some fancy, decorated trees.
A FEW NOTES BEFORE WE GET STARTED
- Chilled Butter:
- It's crucial that your butter is very cold. If at any point it or your dough becomes too warm to work with, make sure to place it in the fridge to chill and firm back up before working with further.
- Measuring Your Ingredients:
- I strongly encourage that you use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients and ensure that you have the most accurate measurements possible.
- However, if you don’t have a scale on hand and will be using cup measurements, make sure to use the “spoon and sweep” method when measuring to avoid packing in too much of any dry ingredient.
Marisa Bakes Christmas Tree Template
Preheat oven to 375º F. As the oven preheats, download, print, and cut out the Christmas tree template.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Blend the butter into the flour mixture with your hands or a pastry blender until the butter is about pea sized.
Pour the water over the flour mixture and stir together until it begins to form into a dough. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and chill for another 10 minutes. Place the tree template over the dough and carefully cut around it using a sharp pairing knife. Transfer each tree to a parchment lined baking sheet and place back into the fridge until ready to use.
Repeat this process, rerolling the dough as needed, until you have a total of 8 trees. While the trees chill in the fridge, whisk together the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, orange juice, cornstarch, and vanilla bean paste in a nonstick pan. Let mixture sit for several minutes.
Cook the cranberry mixture over medium heat for 8-10 minutes until it begins to thicken and the berries start to burst. Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and chill.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Brush the tops of 4 of the trees with egg wash before carefully spoon cranberry filling into the center.
Flip over the top trees and coat their undersides with egg wash and then place them egg wash side down over the filling. Gently push down to make sure they adhere. Use a sharp knife to cut off any excess dough.
Coat each hand pie with more egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Chill the hand pies for another 10 minutes before baking them for 25-30 minutes or until they are golden brown.
Once the hand pies have cooled, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk. Spoon the icing into a small plastic bag or piping back. Carefully pipe the icing onto each hand pie to make it look like garland. Enjoy!
Cranberry Orange Christmas Tree Hand Pies
Cranberry and orange are two classic Christmas flavors, and they make for a sweet, yet tangy filling. Add a little bit of icing to each hand pie and you’ve got yourself some fancy, decorated trees.
- Prep Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 4 servings
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
Pie Dough
- 150 grams (1 ¼ cups) flour
- 1 ½ tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 oz (½ cup) unsalted butter, cubed
- 2-3 tablespoon ice cold water
Cranberry Filling
- 99 grams (1 cup) cranberries
- 99 grams (½ cup) sugar
- ¼ tsp orange zest
- 1 tbsp orange juice
- 14 grams (2 tbsp) cornstarch
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Topping
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp water
- Turbinado sugar
Icing
- 85 grams (¾ cup) powdered sugar
- 15 grams (1 tbsp) milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375º F.
- As the oven preheats, download, print, and cut out the Christmas tree template.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
- Blend the butter into the flour mixture with your hands or a pastry blender until the butter is about pea sized.
- Pour the water over the flour mixture and stir together until it begins to form into a dough.
- Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and chill for another 10 minutes.
- Place the tree template over the dough and carefully cut around it using a sharp pairing knife. Transfer each tree to a parchment lined baking sheet and place back into the fridge until ready to use.
- Repeat this process, rerolling the dough as needed, until you have a total of 8 trees.
- While the trees chill in the fridge, whisk together the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, orange juice, cornstarch, and vanilla bean paste in a nonstick pan. Let mixture sit for several minutes.
- Cook the cranberry mixture over medium heat for 8-10 minutes until it begins to thicken and the berries start to burst.
- Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and chill.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and water.
- Brush the tops of 4 of the trees with egg wash before carefully spoon cranberry filling into the center.
- Flip over the top trees and coat their undersides with egg wash and then place them egg wash side down over the filling. Gently push down to make sure they adhere. Use a sharp knife to cut off any excess dough.
- Coat each hand pie with more egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Chill the hand pies for another 10 minutes before baking them for 25-30 minutes or until they are golden brown.
- Once the hand pies have cooled, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk. Spoon the icing into a small plastic bag or piping back.
- Carefully pipe the icing onto each hand pie to make it look like garland.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- If you don’t have turbinado sugar, you can use granulated or coarse sugar.
- If at any point your dough becomes difficult to work with, make sure to pop it into the fridge to chill. You never want your dough to become too warm or the butter will melt. This is why it's also helpful to roll it out on parchment so it's easy to stick a cookie sheet under it and transfer it to the fridge for a break if needed.
- Leftover hand pies should be stored in an airtight container and eaten with the next day or two. They are best eaten fresh but can be reheated slightly in the microwave or oven.
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