Blackberry Hand Pies Recipe With Homemade Chocolate Blackberry Jam

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Blackberry Hand Pies Recipe With Homemade Chocolate Blackberry Jam

Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's melancholic masterpiece, The Raven, this blackberry hand pie recipe features an easy chocolate blackberry jam and a homemade flaky, all-butter pie crust.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Blackberry Chocolate Jam, Blackberry Hand Pies, Mini Blackberry Pie

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45

Other Time: 2 15

Servings servings

Calories 268kcal

Author Faith Gorsky

Ingredients

Blackberry Chocolate Jam:

9 ounces fresh blackberries (rinsed)
150 grams granulated white sugar (150 grams of white sugar is about 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon good-quality balsamic vinegar
1/16 teaspoon salt
50 grams 70% dark chocolate (finely chopped)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pastry Crust:

235 grams all-purpose flour (235 grams of flour is about 1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I do a slightly heaping 1/2 teaspoon salt)
3/4 cup unsalted butter (chilled and diced)
1/2 cup ice-cold water (more or less as needed)

Other:

1 egg lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water (for the egg wash)
1 1/2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (for topping)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the Blackberry Chocolate Jam:

Cook. Add the blackberries, sugar, vinegar, and salt to a 3-quart pot over medium heat. Cover, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover, turn the heat down to medium-low, and continue cooking until thickened, about 5 minutes more, stirring frequently (TIP: don't thicken it too much; it will thicken more as it cools).
Add the finishing touches. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate and vanilla extract until smooth.
Cool. Cool completely, at least 2 hours. (TIP: If you have the time, let this chill in the fridge overnight before making the hand pies. This does two things: 1) allows the jam to fully thicken, and 2) keeps the butter in the crust cold until the moment it goes into the oven for the flakiest pastry.)

Make the Pastry Crust:

Make the pie dough. Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a fork, a pastry cutter, 2 butter knives, or your fingertips. It should look crumbly, with some pieces of butter the size of small peas. Drizzle the water in a little at a time, mixing as you go (you can use a fork to mix, but mixing with your fingertips works best here). Add just enough water so it comes together to form a ball of dough (you may need more or less water).
Chill the pie dough. Shape the dough into a ball, flatten it slightly into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes (or up to 3 days).

Assemble and Bake:

Prep. Preheat the oven to 400F.
Roll out the dough and stamp out circles. Working from the center out, roll the dough out to a rectangle about 3 to 4 mm thick (about 1/8-inch). Stamp out the dough into 3-inch circles, gathering the scrapes and re-rolling the dough as needed (you should get 12 dough circles).
Assemble the hand pies. Add a slightly heaping 1 tablespoon of jam to the center of each dough circle. Dip your finger in water and lightly wet half of the outer circle, and then fold the dry portion of dough over onto itself to form a half-moon, pressing to help seal the edges. Arrange the pies spaced evenly apart on 2 large baking trays. Crimp the edges with a fork, and use a paring knife to poke 3 small slits in the top of each so that steam can vent (and it looks a little bit like a bird's footprint!).
Chill the assembled hand pies. Pop the trays into the freezer for 15 minutes. After that, lightly brush the tops of the pastries with egg wash and sprinkle on the turbinado sugar.
Bake. Bake until golden, about 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the trays once halfway through.

Notes

Recipe Yield: The blackberry chocolate jam recipe makes about 1 cup. We use the entire batch for the hand pies (so make a double batch if you want some for toast!).
Storage: Cool to room temperature, and then layer the mini pies in an airtight container between pieces of parchment paper. Store at room temperature for up to 2 days, in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating: To reheat, thaw if frozen. Reheat in a 350F oven for about 10 to 15 minutes or in a 325F air fryer for about 5 minutes.

Nutrition