Almond-Glazed Blueberry Peach Hand Pies Recipe

There's a lot to love about hand pies — they're easily customizable, handheld, and make for the perfect little pocket for all sorts of sweet treats. In the case of this recipe, brought to us by recipe developer Deniz Vergara, blueberries and peaches make up the filling for these hand pies, offering a sweet, summery, refreshing flavor profile with every bite. Now, before you get too worried about making your own dough from scratch, fear not — this recipe puts store-bought puff pastry to good use, making the baking process much easier. As Vergara tells us, "Puff pasty is so delicious, and it cuts the prep time significantly (versus making homemade pie dough)."

Vergara likes how easy it is to switch up this hand pie recipe. While blueberries and peaches make for a spectacular filling combo, the recipe itself holds potential for countless filling opportunities. "My favorite thing about these hand pies is that they are easy to make and super customizable," Vergara says. "Once you get this recipe down, you can sub the fillings and come up with so many varieties." But, trust us when we say that you're in for a treat with the sweet blueberry-peach duo. If that weren't enough, the final almond glaze is the cherry on top.

No need to worry about making your own dough for these hand pies — a sheet of store-bought puff pastry will do the trick just fine. As for the filling, you'll need a fresh peach, fresh blueberries, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, vanilla bean paste, sea salt, and lemon zest and juice. You'll need an egg to brush over the puff pastry and some turbinado sugar for sprinkling. As for the almond glaze, a simple combination of confectioners' sugar, milk, and almond extract bring it to life.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, add the diced peaches, sugars, cornstarch, cinnamon, vanilla bean paste, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Stir gently until fully incorporated.

On a lightly floured countertop, unroll 1 sheet of puff pastry. Roll it out until it is 12x14 inches.

Cut the sheet into 12 even rectangles, 3x4 inches each.

Arrange 6 of the squares on the prepared tray.

In the medium bowl with the peach mixture, add the blueberries and fold gently until incorporated.

Spoon the peach-and-blueberry mixture on top of the squares, allowing a ½-inch border around the outside edge. Use all of the mixture, dividing it equally between the 6 rectangles.

With a pastry brush or your finger, lightly brush beaten egg around the edges of each square.

Top each square with a second pastry square and use your fingers to gently seal the edges.

Use a fork to crimp the edges of each square.

Brush the tops of each hand pie with beaten egg.

With a sharp knife, score the tops of the pies.

Sprinkle each pie with turbinado sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the pies are golden brown and fruit bubbles from the tops of the pastries.

While the hand pies are baking, prepare the almond glaze: Whisk together the confectioners' sugar, 1 tsp milk, and almond extract until smooth. Add another 1 tsp milk, if needed.

Allow hand pies to cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Do not allow the pies to cool completely on the tray or the bottoms of the pies will be soggy.

Drizzle the hand pies with the almond glaze to serve.

This recipe calls for both fresh peaches and fresh blueberries, which is great if both of those fruits are in season and readily available to you. If fresh fruit can be a little bit hit or miss at your grocery store, however, then frozen fruit may be more of a go-to for your baking needs. Of course, swapping out fresh for frozen fruit in a pastry begs the question: What will happen to the texture? Luckily, you can use frozen fruit and still retain a delightful texture, but Vergara has some tips to help avoid sad, soggy hand pies.

"The only thing to look out for when using frozen fruit is that they will release a bit more liquid," she explains. "In this case, just be sure to use a slotted spoon when you are placing the filling on the puff pastry so the extra liquid doesn't seep out." She also advises to "allow the fruit to defrost at room temperature for about 25 minutes before you start the recipe." And, if you happen to have fresh peaches and frozen blueberries on hand? You can absolutely mix and match; just follow Vergara's slotted spoon tip to avoid soggy hand pie bottoms.

Though the combination of blueberries and peaches is a perfectly summery one, there is plenty of room to switch up what fruits you use or to even introduce totally new fillings into the mix. If you want to go the fruit route, Vergara says, "You can use equal amounts of other fruit like apples, pears, or other berries." As for what types of berries you use, get creative with your favorite ones, such as raspberries or blackberries, and perhaps plan around what's in season to yield the freshest pastry possible.

Now, if a fruit filling just isn't quite enough, you can also jazz up your hand pies with other goodies. "You can add chopped nuts or dried fruit into the mixture. You can even try crumbled almond paste or mini white chocolate chips," Vergara suggests. "In addition, you can spread some sweetened cream cheese or jam on the dough before placing the fruit on top." Not only will these inclusions taste good, but they'll also help add some textural contrast to your hand pies, making for perfectly tasty, on-the-go treats that you can experiment with time and time again.