These have been spotted all over the place. I have seen different ones at Grace's, Shannalee's, and Nicole's blogs. Cute little pies perfect for a snack, with a cup of tea or coffee, breakfast, brunch, or the lunch box. Whatever you call these little guys they are very good. When I read Nicole's post about her pies I was intrigued by her dough. It has Cream Cheese in it. It reminded me of a recipe I had made years ago, clipped from an old Taste-of-Home magazine, that called for Old English Cheese in the dough. I hunted down that recipe and decided to give them another go since we loved them the first time. They are usually filled with orange marmalade but I wanted something a little sweeter this time so I opted for pineapple preserves. A great combination indeed.
After making and eating a few of these- no you can't have just one- I thought about what others would place inside a savory cheese crust. Bitter orange jam, chutney, apricot preserves, ham and pepper jelly, or taco meat? I bet a little pinch of cayenne pepper in the dough would be nice as that addition reminds me of Cheese Straws, a cheese biscuit popular in the South. So to my clever readers, this basic recipe is for you. See what you can come up with or enjoy them my way.
Mini Hand Pies
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2- 5 ounce jars Old English Cheese
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1- 12 ounce jar pineapple preserves
Mix the first three ingredients together until the dough is smooth and forms a ball. Cover and chill for one hour. On a lightly floured surface, roll 1/4 of the dough out into a circle, 1/8 inch think. It is best to sprinkle the dough and rolling pin with flour. Cut into 3 1/2 inch circles. Place 1 tsp. preserves in the center of the circle and fold over, pinching seams together with a floured fork. Poke two holes in the top of each pie. Continue this process with remaining dough. Bake on an un-greased cookie sheet or baking stone at 350° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Makes about 28-32 pies. 
TIP: "SAVE THE PIECES"
I learned this a while back from my Ma. If your baking stone breaks, save the bigger pieces and keep using. This has been great for small baking jobs. Why waste big broken pieces? 
Have a wonderful weekend! Go Commercials! They are the best part of the Super Bowl, aren't they? Besides the food of course!
27 comments:
I have bookmarked about 10 hand pie recipes around the web. It is now time to finally make some of them.
Love the sweet and savory combo in your pies!
Have a great weekend!!
These look so yummy- I have never had one...I had something similar in Venezuela...an empanada! They use a meat or cheese filling.
The sharp cheese and the sweet pineapple - wow my mouth is watering right now! These look AMAZING!
I find the Old English Cheese as an ingredient, to be very interesting. I agree with Rindy that the cheese and pineapple together would make a yummy combo!!
I just wish I was better at making crusts ;-)
What an interesting combination! Delicious!
Nice work and WOW, your recipe looks so easy! Love that short list of ingredients!!
I am sure to try these out. What a great concept. Thanks for sharing
These look so good, all of your filling ideas sound great!
Robin, Wow, how easy this is! I can't wait to try them. How about some chopped apples and cinnamon with that cheesy dough? Great recipe...I may make a few to send to send with husband for his boy bonding...er...Superbowl party!
Men only...girls do their own thing!
I was half hoping that the surprising ingredient was lard, maybe next time. Thanks for the tip on the stone, I just cracked mine into 3 pieces last night.
How pretty! I've never seen that Old English cheese for sale before. Is it with the chips and dip, the velveeta...?
Joie- The Old English Cheese can be found in the dairy section of your grocer on the top shelf, usually with the pimento cheese.
Like Susan said, these look much like empanadas. Add some beef and diced jalapenos along side a salsa con queso dip or something and yum, yum.
The pineapple and cheese sounds good especially if you add ham, like a luau.
I'll have to look for that cheese - have never even heard of it. I was thinking about making some empanadas just last night and filling them with pumpkin. You can put just about anything in them!
Hmmm Old English cheese scares me a bit...kinda like velveeta, but I bet cheddar would work just as well and I do love cheese and pastry!
I have to try this Old English stuff, I saw it in the store yesterday for the first time! The pies look great.
Pineapple hand pies sound good!
very nice, robin sue! i have a one-track mind when it comes to pies, focusing only on the sweet stuff, but i think a ham and pepper jelly version would be delightful!
Hmmm, you had me at ham and pepper jelly! Yum! I've never heard of Old English Cheese though. Maybe I just never noticed it at the grocery store. I'll have to take a look. And, yes, go commercials because I'm still bummed the Eagles aren't in the game (can you tell WHICH part of PA I'm from o:)
Robin,
you're the best!! what a nice surprise i got when i arrived at school to pick up my daughter! thanks so much for thinking of me. would LOVE to join you on your next supply run! thanks for including me.
ps. i've been eying your ham and cheese rolls. i may try them this weekend. yummers!
What a versatile recipe.. so many great deas for fillings. Love this blog. Your pancake squares look awesome too.
Aw, I`m so glad to have met my name twin! And, your a foodie too. Double kudos!
My mom used to make these for dinner. She`d use her dough recipe and stuff them up with whatever topping we`d like...I guess like a hand held pizza. She even engraved our initals on ours so we knew which ones we designed. *swoon*
Guess I better get crackin in the kitchen. I have a tall stick to measure up to!
Both sounds and looks delicious. Funny, as I read the piece I did remember this style of pastry - must give it a go.
you know this sounds exactly like my kind of combination! I am so making these.
Many years ago at our old church, we asked that people bring pies for dessert. One of the ladies was from England and so she thought we meant a meat pie. They were shaped like these and we had a good laugh when we told her what pie meant in the USA. We all tried some and man, were they good. They were filled with some kind of beef. Mmmm, I still remember them. Ma
Robin,
You inspired my blog post with your German food post. I had to step up after your wonderful video. Thanks, as always, for reading. :)
Yum! I just saw this. Thanks for the shout out. Your little pies look perfect. That Old English Cheese sound so interesting.
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