These Severed Hand Hand Pies are gory and gruesome, but delicious at the same time. They have a buttery, flaky pie crust and sweet raspberry filling but their bright red filling and hand shape makes them look creepy and bloody, perfect for Halloween.
These hand pies are so fun to make, especially because you'll use your own non-dominant hand to trace and cut them out. Don't forget to give yourself plenty of time to make the hand pies, because you'll need to chill them throughout the process to ensure they keep their shape.
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.
Preheat oven to 350º. 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 ice water over the flour 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 piece of parchment, transfer to a cookie sheet and place in the fridge to chill until it is somewhat firm.
Place your non-dominant hand over the dough and spread your fingers apart slightly.
Gently cut around your hand with a knife, being careful not to get too close to your hand. The dough should be cold enough that the knife cuts through it that you don't have to pick it up as you cut.
Reroll the dough as needed until you have a total of six hands, but be careful not to overwork it. Place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and chill them until needed.
While the dough chills, combine the raspberries, sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl until combined. Use the back of a spoon or spatula to gently smash the berries down a little.
Whisk the egg and water together. Brush the tops of 3 of the hands with egg wash and carefully spoon the raspberry mixture onto them, making sure to add a majority to the palm with smaller pieces in each finger.
Cut a few small slits in the centers of the other three hands. Flip them over and coat their undersides with egg wash and then place the egg wash side down over the raspberries.
Press down to seal all of the dough together. Make sure that all of the fingers are lined up and fully sealed. Transfer cookie sheet to the fridge to chill for about 10-15 minutes so the dough can rest.
Coat each hand pie with more egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake hand pies for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!
Severed Hand Hand Pies
These Severed Hand Hand Pies are gory and gruesome, but delicious at the same time. They have a buttery, flaky pie crust and sweet raspberry filling but their bright red filling and hand shape makes them look creepy and bloody, perfect for Halloween.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes
- Yield: 3 servings
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
Dough
- 150 grams (1 ¼ cups) flour
- 1 ½ tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 oz (½ cup) unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
- 2-3 tablespoon ice water
Raspberry Filling
- 6 oz raspberries
- ¾ tbsp sugar
- ¾ tsp cornstarch
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp water
- Turbinado sugar, for topping
Instructions
Severed Hand Hand Pies
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- 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 ice water over the flour 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 piece of parchment, transfer to a cookie sheet and place in the fridge to chill until it is somewhat firm.
- Place your non-dominant hand over the dough and spread your fingers apart slightly. Gently cut around your hand with a knife, being careful not to get too close to your hand. The dough should be cold enough that the knife cuts through it that you don't have to pick it up as you cut.
- Reroll the dough as needed until you have a total of six hands, but be careful not to overwork it. Place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and chill them until needed.
- While the dough chills, combine the raspberries, sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl until combined. Use the back of a spoon or spatula to gently smash the berries down a little.
- Whisk the egg and water together. Brush the tops of 3 of the hands with egg wash and carefully spoon the raspberry mixture onto them, making sure to add a majority to the palm with smaller pieces in each finger.
- Cut a few small slits in the centers of the other three hands. Flip them over and coat their undersides with egg wash and then place the egg wash side down over the raspberries.
- Press down to seal all of the dough together. Make sure that all of the fingers are lined up and fully sealed. Transfer cookie sheet to the fridge to chill for about 10-15 minutes so the dough can rest.
- Coat each hand pie with more egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake hand pies for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. 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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.