Sinful without the sin- thats the best way describe these little babies. And easy to make. I highly recommend adding them to your pile of cookies this year. Freeze and then thaw them as you want. Because they are sugar free its safe to say they are perfect as part of any meal- breakfast included. Throw one into your kids lunch box, they will love you forever.
If you have more than one person in your household triple the recipe if you hope to have a single morsel to yourself. I had to literally hide the last three just to get a picture to share with all of you.
If you haven’t experienced the magical flavor combo of cherries and almond. Now is the time.
Cherry Almond Hand Pies
Make one batch of: Grain Free Pie Crust
Cherry Almond Filling:
1 /2 Cups Frozen Cherries (Or fresh pitted)
3 Tbs Water
2 Tbs Xylitol (Or other natural sugar of choice to taste)
1 Tsp. Almond Extract
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Tsp Starch (Tapioca, Arrowroot, Potato or Cornstarch)
- Make one batch of my Grain Free Pie Crust recipe. Set aside the dough to make the filling.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a saucepan combine all of the filling ingredients. Whisk and heat until thickened.
- Using two sheets of parchment paper roll out the pie crust. Using a circle cutter (Biscuit cutter, or the top of a wide glass) Cut the dough into circles. I cut mine at a 4 inch width. Spoon a heaping Teaspoon into the center of a circle of dough. Cover with a second circle and then use a fork to pinch and seal the edges.
- Carefully place the mini pies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. (Optional: Brush each pie with a little beaten egg to give the crust some golden color.) The crust will be just fine without the egg- if you choose to skip this step.
- Bake 12-15 minutes.
Yields 10 mini hand pies. Store room temperature in a sealed bag or container or freeze for another day.
To Make a Glaze: Combine powdered sugar and water. Simple. Even better yet add a few drops of Almond and or Vanilla Extract instead of water.
But what about sugar free? Simple. Throw the natural sugar of your choice (xylitol etc.) into a high powdered blender or into a coffee grinder and process until it becomes a fine powder. Add a pinch of starch (tapioca, potato, arrowroot or cornstarch) and you are good to go.
Remember: Glazes only need a TINY bit of liquid. If you add too much they will become watery.
Recipe Notes:
- If you’re in the mood for one big pie- triple the filling recipe and double the crust recipe.
- Stevia can be used as the sweetener in the filling. Add it to taste (a few drops at a time).
- If you prefer baking with gluten free grains vs. almond flour use my : Patee Brisee. Flaky, Easy to work with Pie Crust. Recipe Instead. It is: (Gluten/Dairy/Corn/Soy Free).
-Brittany-
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks beautiful and festive. The apple pie was deemed a hit and the kiddo says I can make your crust any time.
These are gorgeous! They would be good with any filling, but that cherry almond sounds delicious!
Yum! They look delicious and pretty.
Those are so purty! And the pie crust recipe looks phenomenal.
I got to taste test these beauties YUM so good and the crust is awesome!
you are killing me. if i was lazy would cherry jam work? (if I can find sugar-free)
I love these!! What a great and simple recipe. I cannot wait to make some hand pies now. I think this will be a holiday MUST for me
Oh how exciting!! I have been testing out GF crust recipes for hand pies for weeks now… and all of them crumble and fall apart. (I’ve used varieties of coconut flour/almond flour so far). Do these ones hold up well while making them? And while baking, transferring to plates, and eating them? I’m going to try your Patee Brisee next (since that is my total fave GF crust recipe ever!!!) but would this one hold up better?
Thank you so much for your recipes, you are a holiday lifesaver!
Both crusts were designed to be flexible without falling apart! So either should work perfectly!
Oh thanks Brittany! I am going to try at least one of them this weekend! Yours looks so cute… hopefully I can duplicate it!
Is is really just a 1/2 cup of cherries? I made the filling and it seems like not very much? Thanks
I’ll double check but I think that’s correct.. You Wont need a lot of filling as the our crust recipe is only for 1 large crust.
Okay, thanks. I’m making your Patee Brisee crust (I love it!!), so is that double the amount of crust that is needed for this?
Yeah- that’s correct. I would probably double the filling good catch! I had forgotten that the pate brisee recipe made 2 crusts.
I think i found the perfect Christmass gift to all my family. thank you.
Making this tonight… can’t wait to see how it turns out!
I tried these with arrowroot as the starch and it was way too gummy. Had to toss and use new cherries. Sometimes arrowroot is like that. Just wanted to note so no one else had a disaster like me.
Oh. My. God. The best thing ever! I did these with mulberries of our tree and omitted the guar gum, and I am serious when I say these are the best. I am making a triple batch tomorrow to take to a party and I know they’ll be a huge hit.
Thanks Brittany!
Update! I made it. Everyone loved it and wanted the recipe. Even if I didn’t want to I would have been forced to make it again as everyone liked it so much.
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