Nutella Mini Hand Pies
Is there any other way to start February than with anything heart shaped?! Enter these flaky and buttery mini hand pies filled with Nutella and dark chocolate chips. I used my trusted pie crust recipe from scratch and had a little fun creating some lovely heart shaped mini hand pies. I wanted something pretty and cute to share with my dear friends and family and hearts and chocolate together sounded like the perfect answer!
I first made these on my virtual “No-Fuss Pie Workshop” (yeap! I’m offering some workshops in case you haven’t heard) and all the participants just loved how cute they looked so I thought it would be fun to bake a batch of these as a gift to some dear friends and family. Nothing like hearts and chocolate to say I love you and put a smile on the people you love.
This is my beloved and trusted pie crust recipe for when I want to make homemade pie crust from scratch. It’s incredibly flaky, buttery and really holds its shape. I use two secret ingredients (not so secret anymore I think) for this amazing pie crust; coconut milk and white vinegar. The addition of these two ingredients were a nice surprise on the workshop and the reviews were simply amazing!
Another cool thing is that this is a pie crust recipe made in the food processor, including the addition of the liquid. Reducing your counter mess and arm work by 50% as we speak! This technique helps preventing overworking the dough plus the butter keeps its consistency longer because you are not warming it by touching the dough with your hands. Those two things are like the big no-no’s when making pie crust from scratch but you’ll not go there thanks to this food processor technique. Now, my step by step guide for making these (literally!) cutie pies:
How to Make Mini Hand Pies From Scratch
It’s really as easy as pie! I like to start by cutting my stick of butter in about 1” x ½” cubes (like cutting a tablespoon of the butter and then cutting it by half) and placing them in the freezer for about 5 to 10 minutes. Enough time to prepare the rest of your ingredients. I mix the coconut milk with the vinegar and put it in the fridge and also serve my water with some ice and place that in the freezer. Remember that you want everything as chilled as possible!
I then serve the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of my food processor already attached to the base and with the blade inside ( yes, I once filled my food processor bowl and then went on to install it : / ).
I barely pulse to incorporate everything. I don’t want to aerate the flour too much in this stage. I then add the butter pieces and again, barely pulse a few times, just enough to cover the butter with the flour. You don’t want pea size butter pieces at this stage neither. Then, with the processor running, I pour the coconut milk-vinegar mixture and the iced water. When everything comes together I just transfer the dough to a floured surface, divide it in two portions and make some disks and flatten them out as much as I can (you’ll see in the steps how I do it). To the fridge they go for at least one hour, but to tell you the truth, the ideal is a few hours or overnight. That’s that for now!
I like to take my dough out of the fridge 10 to 15 minutes before I know I’ll be working it so it’s malleable. Now I have some fun pounding the disks and stretching them out. I make the hand pies by shaping the dough out, filling them and then arranging the pies in a baking sheet. I like to freeze my mini hand pies for 15 to 20 minutes so they hold their shape nicely while in the oven.
After this I just brush them with some egg wash and sprinkle them with pleeeeentyy of sugar on top. Remember that these pies are not going to be glazed so the sugary crust on top is a must! I bake my pies for 20 to 22 minutes but if you are not freezing them beforehand you can bake them from 15 to 17 minutes.
Enjoy your Nutella mini hand pies galore!
These mini treats were such a cute Valentine’s gift and so much fun for everyone! Hope you have the chance to spread some pie love as well with this recipe. If you make them share with me at Instagram please! Love to see your creations! Until the next one!
Nutella Mini Hand Pies
Ingredients
◯ Organic whole coconut milk, chilled - 1⁄4 cup (if the milk separates just mix well and chill for several minutes)
◯ White vinegar - 2 tsp
◯ All-purpose flour (preferably unbleached) - 3 cups
◯ Natural granulated sugar - 4 TBSP + 2 TBSP to sprinkle on top of the pie before baking (you may use for this last step Demerara sugar as well)
◯ Fine sea salt - 2 tsp
Chilled unsalted butter cut into approximately 1” cubes - 1 cup (2 sticks, 16 TBSP)
◯ Iced water - 1⁄4 cup
◯ Nutella - about 1 cup
◯ Bittersweet chocolate chips (or semi sweet) - about 1 cup
◯ A beaten egg with a little water or milk for the egg wash.
Details
Yield:
about 35 mini hand pies if using the whole crust; about 16 if using just one disk of dough
Total time:
2 hours, including 1+ for chilling in the fridge
Active time:
40 minutes, in intervals
Equipment:
food processor, rolling pin, plastic wrap, 9” flute tart pan, pie stamps or small cookie cutters, parchment paper, pastry brush
Steps
To make the pie crust:
Sprinkle some flour on a clean, dry surface, ideally close to where you will be working. Cut two pieces of plastic wrap, without putting them on top of each other, and keep them in your work area.
Mix the coconut milk and vinegar.
Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of the food processor with the blade already in place. Pulse a couple of times to incorporate everything. Add the butter and pulse quickly 4 to 5 times, until the pieces of butter are lightly coated with the flour. With the food processor running pour the coconut milk and vinegar mixture, not too fast but not slow either. Stop the food processor and make sure you have your iced water on the side. Turn the processor back on and add two tablespoons of the water. If the mixture looks too dry, add one to two more tablespoons. Leave the processor running for approximately 10 seconds, just until the bottom of the dough is being pushed up by the blade.
Transfer the dough to the floured surface. If the dough feels tacky because it's too wet, add a little flour to it. Divide the dough by half. Shape each portion into a round shape resembling a disk. Transfer each disk to one of the plastic papers. Flatten them a little bit. Finish wrapping each disk up and press once more, so you have a flat disk of about a half inch. Put them in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably 6 to 8 hours or overnight. (Remember that you can have well wrapped pie crust dough chilled in your fridge for about a week.)
Take the disks out of the fridge about 5 minutes before the hour is up.
Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicon mat and make some space in your freezer to place this tray.
To assemble the Nutella mini hand pies:
Dust a flat, dry surface with flour, just enough so that the surface’s color is not visible. Dust with flour the rolling pin as well. Place the dough on the surface and using the rolling pin, tap it a few times to make it flatter. Stretch the disk from the center out, vertically and horizontally, until the dough is about ⅛” thin. Dough should feel soft but dry. If at any moment the dough starts to feel tacky on some spots, or getting torn by the rolling pin, dust the rolling pin with more flour and over any tacky areas of the dough as well.
Shape your dough. You can cut in in rectangles or shape it using cookie cutters. Cut out dough excess (if using cookie cutter) and arrange the pieces. Reserve dough scraps.
Spoon a bit of Nutella (or dulce de leche if you want to give it a try) in the center of the dough, followed with two or three chocolate chips. Place another shaped piece of dough on top. Gently press the edges and then crimp them using a fork, careful not to tear the dough. Transfer the hand pie to the baking tray. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough. Very gently prick the top dough a few times, preventing from tearing it. Freeze your hand pies for 15 to 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400°. Beat your egg with a drizzle of water and milk for your egg wash.
Using a pastry brush paint the hand pies with the egg wash. Sprinkle lots of sugar on top (remember these will not have any glaze). Bake for about 20 minutes, until pies are golden brown and edges are a bit darker. Retire from oven and let them cool down completely in the baking tray for a super sturdy and crispy bottom. Sprinkle a bit of extra sugar on top if desired. Enjoy them all!!
