These Strawberry Hand Pies are one of the cutest summer treats. The cream cheese pastry is soft and tender, and the fresh strawberry filling is so juicy. Each pie gets a sparkly coarse sugar top before baking.
The cream cheese is the food science move here. Its fat and acid coat the flour to give you a soft, tender dough. It also adds a gentle tang that balances the sweet berries.
If you love hand-held fruit desserts, also try my rhubarb hand pies. They use a different dough but the same fold-and-fill method. For more easy strawberry recipes, I have plenty more to share.
Strawberry Hand Pie Ingredients
Here’s what goes into these little berry pies.
Cream Cheese Pastry Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Sugar: Granulated, for the dough.
- Butter: Softened. I use unsalted, but salted works if you skip the added salt.
- Egg
- Cream cheese: Full-fat brick style, softened. Avoid the whipped or low-fat versions.
- Cream, milk, or buttermilk: All three work. Buttermilk adds a slight tang.
- Pure vanilla extract
Strawberry Filling Ingredients
- Fresh strawberries: Ripe and fragrant. Wash, hull, and quarter them.
- Sugar
- Cornstarch: Thickens the juices so the pies don’t leak.
For Topping
- Egg white: For a golden, glossy finish without burning.
- Coarse or raw sugar: I love the sparkly crunch. Regular sugar is fine.
Full recipe quantities listed in the recipe card at the bottom of the article.
Variations and Substitutions
A few easy ways to switch things up.
- Different berries: Swap in raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries. Frozen berries work if thawed and drained well.
- Stone fruit: Try diced peaches, plums, or nectarines for late summer.
- Strawberry rhubarb: Replace half the strawberries with diced rhubarb. See my strawberry rhubarb pie for proportions.
- Cream cheese glaze: Skip the coarse sugar and drizzle baked pies with my easy cream cheese icing thinned with milk.
- Mini pies: Use a 3-inch cutter for two-bite pies. Reduce baking time by about 5 minutes.
Grab These Tools
Here’s the equipment you’ll want on hand.
- Stand mixer or hand mixer: For creaming the butter, sugar, and cream cheese.
- Mixing bowls: One medium for the dry ingredients, one for the berries.
- Whisk
- Parchment paper: Plenty of it, for rolling the dough and lining the pans.
- Rolling pin
- 5-inch round cookie cutter: A bowl or jar lid works in a pinch.
- Two rimmed baking sheets
- Metal spatula: For lifting delicate dough rounds without tearing.
- Pastry brush: For the egg white wash.
- Kitchen scissors: For snipping vents.
- Wire rack: So the bottoms stay crisp as they cool.
How to Make Strawberry Hand Pies: An Easy Guide
The dough comes together fast in a stand mixer. After a quick chill, you just roll, fill, fold, and bake.
Mix the Dough
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. In a stand mixer, cream the sugar and softened butter until fluffy. Beat in the egg, then add the cream cheese, cream, and vanilla.
Chill the Dough
Beat the flour mixture into the wet ingredients on low speed. Dump the dough onto parchment and wrap the paper around it. Shape into a disk and chill for at least 1 hour.
Prep the Strawberries
Toss the quartered berries with sugar and cornstarch in a bowl. Let them sit while the dough chills. The sugar pulls juice out, and the cornstarch will thicken it as the pies bake.
Roll and Cut
Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment on a damp paper towel. The towel anchors the parchment so it doesn’t slide. Cut 5-inch circles, and freeze the sheet for 2 minutes if the dough gets sticky.
Fill and Fold
Mash the strawberries lightly with a fork. Spoon about 2 tbsp of filling onto one half of each circle. Fold the dough over and pinch the edges firmly to seal.
Wash, Vent, and Bake
Brush each pie with egg white and sprinkle generously with coarse sugar. Snip a few small vents in each top with kitchen scissors. Bake at 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.
Make Ahead and Storage
Bake a batch and snack on them all week.
Storing Leftovers
- Room temperature: Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
- Refrigerator: Keeps for 4 days, but the pastry softens a little.
- Refresh: Pop them in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes to recrisp.
Freezing
- Baked pies: Cool completely, freeze in a single layer, then transfer to a bag for up to 2 months.
- Unbaked pies: Freeze assembled pies on a tray, then bag. Bake from frozen, adding 5 to 7 extra minutes.
- Dough on its own: Make the dough up to 3 days ahead and store wrapped in the fridge.
Reheating Strawberry Hand Pies
- From frozen baked: 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes, until warm and crisp.
- From the fridge: 350°F for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Microwave: Works in a pinch, but the pastry will be soft, not crisp.
How to Serve These Strawberry Hand Pies
I love these warm or at room temperature. They’re sturdy enough for picnics and lunchboxes, too. Here are a few of my favorite ways to serve them.
Strawberry Hand Pie Toppings and Add-Ins
- Vanilla ice cream: A warm pie with a scoop on top is so good.
- Whipped cream: Lightly sweetened, with a splash of vanilla.
- Powdered sugar: A pretty dusting right before serving.
- Vanilla glaze: Thin out my easy vanilla frosting with milk for a drizzle.
- Flaky salt: A tiny pinch on top brings out the strawberry flavor.
What to Serve with Strawberry Hand Pies
- Coffee or tea: My favorite pairing for an afternoon treat.
- Strawberry popsicles: For an all-berry summer dessert spread.
- Frozen yogurt bites: A lighter, no-bake option to round out a tray.
- Strawberry icebox cake: For a no-bake centerpiece dessert.
- A big fruit salad: Lightens up the spread for a picnic or potluck.
How to Make the Best Strawberry Hand Pies: Final Notes + Secrets
A few of my food-scientist notes for getting the best result every time.
- Cream cheese tenderizes the dough: The fat and acid in cream cheese coat the flour proteins, which limits gluten formation. That’s why this pastry is so soft.
- Cold dough makes flaky pastry: Cold butter creates pockets of steam in the oven, which puffs the pastry into layers. Skip the chill, lose the flake.
- Cornstarch thickens on heat: As the strawberry juices reach baking temperature, cornstarch gelatinizes. That’s what turns runny juice into glossy filling.
- Vents prevent blowouts: Steam needs an escape route. A few small snips keep the seams sealed and the pies pretty.
- Egg white over yolk: Egg white gives a glossy, golden finish without browning too dark. Yolk can burn before the pastry is fully baked.
- Coarse sugar holds up: The big crystals resist melting in the oven. That’s why they stay sparkly and crunchy on top.
- Quarter the berries: Quartered berries pack into the pies better than halves. Mashing them lightly also helps the filling bake evenly.
FAQs About Strawberry Hand Pies
Just skimming through? Here are some quick answers to the commonly-asked questions.
Frozen strawberries work for hand pies, but you’ll want to thaw and drain them first. Add an extra 1 tbsp of cornstarch to absorb any remaining moisture. Fresh berries hold their shape better, but frozen are fine in a pinch.
Cream cheese pastry is stickier than standard pie crust because it has more moisture and fat. The fix is keeping it cold. Chill for the full hour, and if it warms up while rolling, freeze the sheet for 2 minutes.
Yes, you can make strawberry hand pies ahead of time several ways. Make the dough up to 3 days in advance and keep it wrapped in the fridge. You can also assemble the pies and freeze them unbaked for up to 2 months.
Hand pies leak when the seal isn’t tight enough or the filling has too much liquid. Press the edges firmly all the way around. Make sure to toss the berries with cornstarch. Snipping vents on top also helps release pressure.
A 5-inch round cutter is what I use for these hand pies. It makes a generous two-bite to three-bite pie. A 3-inch cutter makes mini hand pies. Use any round object like a bowl or lid if no cutter is on hand.
You can swap the strawberries for almost any fruit. Try raspberries, blueberries, peaches, plums, or chopped rhubarb. Keep the same ratio of sugar and cornstarch. Tart fruits like rhubarb may need an extra tablespoon of sugar to balance them out.
Hand pies don’t need to be blind baked. The filling and pastry cook together in the same oven. The cornstarch in the berries thickens the juices as the pies bake. Just make sure to snip vents so steam can escape.
Strawberry hand pies are done when the tops and bottoms are deeply golden brown. The berry filling should be bubbling out of the vents. This usually takes 20 to 25 minutes at 375°F. Pale bottoms mean undercooked pastry, so keep an eye on them.
Other Strawberry Desserts You’ll Love
- Strawberry Cobbler
- Killer Strawberry Brownies
- Strawberry Icebox Cake
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
- Puff Pastry Strawberry Tart
- Rhubarb Hand Pies
Strawberry Hand Pies with Cream Cheese Pastry
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 ⅓ cups sugar separated
- 1 egg
- 3 oz cream cheese softened (slightly more than 1/3 cup)
- 3 tbsp cream milk, or buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups strawberries washed, hulled and quartered
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 egg white lightly beaten
- 2 tbsp sugar coarse or raw sugar preferred; regular sugar is fine
Instructions
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the large bowl of a standing mixer, cream butter and 1 cup sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat to combine. Add cream cheese, cream, and vanilla, and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until incorporated. Dump dough onto a large sheet of parchment or waxed paper on the counter. Wrapping parchment around dough (to avoid sticky fingers), form dough into a ball, and flatten into a disk. Refrigerate 1 hour, wrapped in parchment paper.
- Meanwhile, sprinkle sugar and cornstarch over strawberries in a medium sized bowl. Set aside. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment (or waxed) paper and set aside.
- After dough has chilled at least 1 hour, preheat oven to 375 degrees, then dampen a sheet of paper towel and lay it flat on the counter. Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment (or waxed paper) on top of the damp paper towel (to prevent it from sliding around on the counter when rolling). Aim for about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out circles using a large (5 inch) circular cookie cutter, or whatever else you have on hand. At this point I found it necessary to chill the dough, as it became a bit too sticky to work with; I transferred the parchment to a baking sheet and put the whole thing in the freezer for about 2 minutes. Using a metal spatula, lift the dough circles and transfer them to the parchment-lined baking sheets. Make a new ball from dough scraps, and repeat the rolling out and circle cutting.
- Mash the strawberries slightly with a fork or a potato-masher. Spoon approximately 2 tablespoons of strawberries onto one half of each circle. Fold dough over filling and pinch to close. Brush each pie with egg white, and sprinkle with sugar. Use scissors to snip a couple of vents in each pie to prevent the steam from popping open the seams. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes, rotating the pans once during baking if you have two in at the same time. Cool on a wire rack.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can one use raspberries?Would you use more sugar.
Yes you can use raspberries, and I’d keep the sugar the same personally as I like the little bit of tartness with raspberries.