Cranberry Hand Pies
Updated
Updated
These Cranberry Hand Pies are easy, crazy delicious, and the perfect individual serving size dessert. Plus a fantastic use of any left over holiday cranberry sauce!
More uses for leftover cranberry sauce include our favorite cranberry-turkey enchiladas, cranberry chicken, turkey cranberry brie pizza, and cranberry butter (take note for next year, friends!)
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItThis post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we genuinely love.
Easy Cranberry Hand Pie Recipe
My friend’s church had a fundraiser after the holiday, trying to raise money for a trip to Mexicali where all proceeds go toward backpacks full of school supplies to children in need, and also feed the homeless. Wonderful, right? A silent auction was part of the fundraiser and she asked if I would contribute one of my Good Fast Eats cookbooks and some sort of baked good.
I knew I wanted it to be something portable, didn’t need to be refrigerated for a couple days, and could be individually packaged all cute. Hand pies! I took my homemade pie crust, blueberry hand pies, the glaze from my cranberry orange pound cake, some leftover cranberry sauce, and voila! Cranberry Hand Pies for the win.
The fundraiser was a huge hit with 157 tickets sold and $2,380 raised. And no cranberry sauce wasted. Plus a pie recipe for you all. Success!
Ingredients Needed
These cranberry hand pies are the perfect home for that last little bit of leftover cranberry sauce from your holiday dinner. Here’s what you’ll need to make them.
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- Cranberry sauce – I use my homemade cranberry sauce, but canned is fine, too! You’ll need a 1/2 cup.
- Pie crusts – 2 9-inch homemade pie crusts (or 14 ounce box refrigerated pie crusts.)
- Egg + Milk – To make an egg wash for the crust.
- For the glaze – The glaze is a combination of powdered sugar, fresh orange juice and zest.
Tips for Success
- Re-roll the dough scraps. You can roll out any excess dough scraps and if there’s enough, form another hand pie.
- Don’t overfill. Be careful not to pile in the filling or the seal can come undone.
- Crimp the edges. Make sure to securely crimp the pie crust edges together, so the filling doesn’t leak.
- Cut vents in the tops of each pie. This allows the steam from cooking to escape. Otherwise, the excess liquid turns the top crust soggy while causing the filling to get soupy.
Video: Cranberry Hand Pies
Proper Storage
You can serve these while they’re warm or room temperature. Or store them until you’re ready to serve.
- Store Baked and Cooled Hand Pies: store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Or frozen for up to 2 months (Thaw in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before eating.)
- Store Assembled and Unbaked Hand Pies: can be tightly covered and refrigerated up to 2 days ahead or tightly wrapped and frozen for up to 2 months. Frozen hand pies can go directly into the oven or air fryer (no need to thaw first), but they will require extra cooking time. I recommend freezing them without the glaze.
More Pie Recipes:
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Cranberry Hand Pies
Ingredients
- 2 9-inch homemade pie crusts, (or 14 ounce box refrigerated pie crusts)
- 1/2 cup cranberry sauce, (homemade or store bought)
- 1 large egg + a splash of milk, , mixed together for an egg wash
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespon orange juice
- 1/4 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, beat together the egg and milk.
- Sprinkle some flour on a large cutting board and carefully unroll the pie crusts. Using a cookie cutter (or the opening of a tumbler glass) with a 4-inch diameter, cut dough into 8 circles. (Combine the scraps, roll out, and cut into 4 more circles.)
- Drop a heaping tablespoon of the cranberry filling onto the center of 6 of the dough rounds. Brush the edge with the egg wash. Place the remaining 6 rounds on top of the fruit; press the edges gently to adhere the top and bottom dough rounds, then press to seal with a fork.
- Transfer pies to the parchment paper, about 2 inches apart. Brush the tops with the egg wash, and slice two small crisscross vents in the tops.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
- In the meantime, make your glaze. In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, orange juice, and orange zest.
- When the pies have cooled, brush the glaze on top. Allow to cool completely and glaze to harden.
- Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!
These were very popular at my office Thanksgiving potluck! I made the filling from your recipe and it was so delicious! The pomegranate juice really makes it extra yummy!
Super easy and delicious treat for Christmas with leftover cranberry sauce!
Kids had a blast AND tried cranberries!
GREAT JOB!!!
These were so simple and delicious. Really loved them.
What a fortuitous thing that you had to find a way to use it because these are gorgeous!
Always uplifting to hear a positive story such as the fundraiser, and what a great contribution.
These little pies look delicious.
Oh my gosh these were fantastic! Loved that glaze and the crust was so flaky.