Gimme a Hand, It’s Pie Time

Hand pie time, that is.  There’s something satisfying about a hand pie.  Maybe it’s that it’s all yours, and you don’t have to share.  Maybe that it’s portable (I did have one on a rush out the door this week).

I am pretty darn happy about this crust…especially considering it contains no butter!  The secret is chilling some coconut oil.  It took quite awhile to figure out a crust that as tender, and even, dare I say, flaky.  Now this isn’t croissant flaky, but it’s not a croissant!  Anyway, this is, by far, the best healthy pie crust I’ve come across as of yet!  This time I made hand pies, because I picked up a cute little hand pie press a few months ago that yet to be used.  I am excited to make a full sized pie in the near future using this crust recipe, especially with so many berries being in season!

Another reason I’m happy to have my own homemade pie is because it really doesn’t need any extra sugar.  Really, there is no sugar, no stevia, nothing added to this, and it tastes perfect.  Pie is one of those things where I find the store-bought variety has too much sugar for absolutely no reason!  It’s a little time consuming, but well worth having your own pie.  Here we go!

Before we begin: no worries, you don’t need a pie press.  You can simply pinch along the edges to bind. Although, I have to say that having a pie press in the cupboard might just make you want to make pie.  And you tummy will thank you for that.

This recipe made 12 hand pies for me.  Each about 4″ in diameter.
Ingredients for crust:

• 3 c. flour (I used spelt)
• 1/2 c ground flax seeds
• 1 t sea salt
• 1 c. coconut oil chilled in the freezer for 10 mins
• 1 cup greek yogurt

Ingredients for the filling:

• 6 apples sliced twice (once into big slices, then across into fry-like pieces)
• 4 ripe bananas

How to crust:

• pulse together dry ingredients for crust in food processor while coconut oil is chilling
• when coconut oil is ready, break of bits with a fork (the idea is to mimic cubed butter)…really I just chipped away at it, adding it to the flour mixture until it’s all in there…and then PULSE AWAY until it’s a crumbly mixture
• finally, add the greek yogurt and pulse, then mix until it’s a big happy dough ball
• remove from food processor, and shape into a disc like shape.  Wrap in plastic wrap, and refridgerate for 1 hour.

While the crust is chilling, you can:

• cut the apples
• mash the bananas
• sautee apples in banana mixture over medium low for about 20 minutes, then transfer to a bowl and allow to cool

When the crust is ready:

• preheat the oven to 350
• take out the dough and prepare a floured surface and flour your rolling pin (I like to have a small bowl of flour right there, so it’s easy to add more as I go)
• break up a piece of the dough, and roll it into a ball, about the size of a ping pong ball
• roll out it

Cut off the edges, or use a mould to cut a pattern.  Also make sure to create a hole in every other piece you roll.  The pieces with the holes will act as the ‘top’ of each pie.

Fill one half with apple mixture:

If you’re using a press, press it closed…if not, add another piece of rolled out and cut dough, and pinch all the edges.  Here is the beauty of the press:

My press makes it look like a strawberry!  The pattern gets pretty much lost in the baking, though.
Bake for 25-35 minutes.
Here they are, all ready to go:

Ready to eat:

Or, is this way up?

Either way, they are delicious!

Enjoy!

Next time, I will take a totally different spin on maki.  Or is it a totally different spin on risotto?