Sour Cherry Hand Pies

With my favorite sourdough pie crust

Cherry picking day in our family is an honored tradition. We’re blessed to live near a region brimming with both sweet and sour cherries, and every early July we make the short trek over to our favorite family cherry orchard. We spend the morning filling multiple baskets, both for immediate consumption and for preserving until next year’s cherry season.

I don’t bake much with sweet cherries (these blondies are an exception), as my many cherry-loving family members demolish them fresh — rightfully so! The sours, however, are all mine. They’re a fruit I’ve come to appreciate as an adult, especially as a baker. Similar to rhubarb, raw sour cherries are bracingly tart. They are most readily enjoyed once seasoned with sugar and cooked. In other words: a perfect baking fruit.

Softer and juicier than their sweet counterparts, sour cherries are highly perishable and should be used or preserved as quickly as possible. I try to process them all within a day or two (pro tip: use your fingers to pop the pits out, as a cherry pitter can mangle the delicate fruit), then freeze in 500g and 1000g portions. Make sure to include the juices, which hold lots of flavor!

It’s pie time

It’s hard to believe that in over a decade of sharing recipes, I haven’t yet published one for cherry pie. Well, reader, it’s time. Introducing my sour cherry hand pies: Tender, buttery, flaky sourdough pie crust. Bright and tangy sour cherry filling. Perfectly portable, exceedingly delicious.

Baker’s Notes

• I’m including my sourdough pie crust 2.0 (I’ve tweaked my original recipe to optimize it for hand pies). If you don’t have a sourdough starter, use the crust here or substitute your favorite double-crust recipe.

• Ensure your starter is well-chilled before using it to make pie dough. I usually use discard that is no more than a week old (it hasn’t formed a layer of alcohol on top and doesn’t smell overly acidic). If using fresh starter, measure it out and refrigerate it for at least a couple hours before mixing.

• When you first add the starter mixture to your dough it may seem like it won’t incorporate. Avoid the temptation to knead or add liquid right away — just fold the mixture over itself and it should eventually start coming together.

• Respect the chill times! They are key to successful and FUN hand pie assembly.

• This recipe makes nice, generously sized hand pies. You can certainly size them down by cutting smaller squares or shapes. You’ll need to adjust the amount of filling and possibly the bake time.

---

Cherries, previously

• Brown butter cherry blondies

• Black forest cake

• Chocolate and sour cherry jelly cake

• Chocolate cherry tart

• Cherry berry almond crumble

---

Today’s recipe is available below for paid subscribers. To access this recipe as well as all 80+ past recipes in the archive, consider upgrading to a paid subscription for $5/month. Thank you for supporting my work!

Sour Cherry Hand Pies

Makes 8-10 good-sized hand pies