Valentine's Day Raspberry Hand Pies

These heart-shaped Raspberry Hand Pies make the perfect treat for Valentine's Day. A flakey sweet shortcrust pastry is filled with sweet raspberry jam, fresh raspberries and white chocolate and baked to golden perfection. Topped with more white chocolate you'll find it hard stopping at only one!

Any opportunity to make sweet shortcrust pastry and I'll take it! I made a super-comprehensive guide to eliminate any intimidation that you may have to make the pastry. This type of pastry forms the perfect foundation to make these delectable mini Raspberry Hand Pies. And it couldn't be easier!

Treat your loved ones with this cute as anything heart-shaped hand pies. The pastry bakes up to buttery, flakey perfection and inside you'll be surprised with a combination of fresh raspberries and beautiful raspberry jam. There's a layer of gooey white chocolate that also gets spooned over the top of the hand pies for an added chocolate flavour.

The combination of sweet white chocolate and sticky raspberry jam is heavenly. The pairing of flavours is universally known to be perfect. So why not use it in these raspberry hand pies! They taste spectacular and look gorgeous making this the perfect snack or dessert on any day of the year, not just for Valentine's Day.

Ingredients needed

As mentioned above, you only need ten ingredients to make these delicious hand pies. That's pretty good going considering you are making sweet shortcrust pastry from scratch!

Sweet short crust pastry

• Flour: Plain or all-purpose flour is the way to go here.
• Icing Sugar: As this is Sweet Shortcrust Pastry, the dough requires sweetening in a form of sugar. You can use granulated or caster sugar but I prefer powdered icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) as the lack of granules gives a much smoother dough.
• Salt: This is optional really. Why add salt when it’s a sweet pastry? With any of my baking, I love the balance that comes with adding salt to a sweet dish. The seasoning balances the sweetness and enhance the flavour of the other ingredients. It's as simple as that!
• Butter: I use unsalted as I like to add the salt into the recipe but by all means uses salted butter if you like, just omit the salt later on.
• Egg: The egg yolk in particular gives the crust a lovely richness but also increases the crumbly texture of the dough. Different recipes ask for just egg yolks or a combination of egg yolks and egg whites. I’ve found that 2 whole eggs makes the perfect consistency. An extra egg is needed for egg wash.
• Water: This needs to be ice cold. The reason is to then keep the butter as cold as possible. If the butter melts, the pastry will lose its flakiness which we definitely don't want!

Raspberry white chocolate filling

• Raspberry jam. Get the best quality raspberry jam or conserve that you can. My favourite brand to use is Bonne Maman Raspberry Conserve. With so few ingredients, the high quality flavour is everything.
• Fresh raspberries. These aren't vital to the raspberry fillining and if you can't buy them then just omit them. I add them as bitting down onto fresh juicy raspberries in the hand pies is gorgeous. Don't sub with frozen as they omit too much moisture whilst baking and make the pastry soggy.
• White chocolate. Again use the best quality possible. I use Lindt, Green & Blacks or Menier White Chocolate. They melt up beautifully when baked.
• Freeze-dried raspberries. A sprinkling of freeze-dried raspberries for extra raspberry flavour but also looks uber pretty on the top. Not essential so leave out if you can't find it.

Step-by-step instructions

There are two main steps to making these Raspberry Hand Pies. The first is making the shortcrust dough from scratch and the second is filling and baking it. Luckily the dough can be made ahead of time and refrigerated making the process of filling and baking quick and easy. You'll see process shots and images below, but if you really want to learn the ins and outs of making Sweet Shortcrust Pastry, then check out my comprehensive How-To guide with loads of tips.

*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*

Make sweet short crust pastry

1. Rub the butter into the flour. Sift your flour and powdered icing sugar into a bowl and add in the salt. Softing will remove any lumps, particularly from the icing sugar. Give them a quick mix together

Add in the butter. Your butter needs to be cold when adding it in at this stage. Toss the butter through the flour mixture until it's fully coated. Then use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse bread crumbs with some larger hazelnut-sized pieces. (Image 1 & 2)

2. Add in egg and water. Make a well in the mixture and add in the two lightly beaten eggs. I use a fork to mix it in but use a spoon or just your hands if you prefer. Mix it in until the dough is lumpy. There will probably still be some dry bits at the bottom.

Then it's time to add the ice-cold water. Every dough needs a slightly different amount of water. This is due to the different flours used, different types of moisture in the butter, and how humid your surrounding air temperature is.

So my recommendation is to not add in all the water at once. Add in half of the water and mix in, then add in 1 tablespoon more at a time as needed. When adding the water, start to bring the dough together. Use your fingers with a little extra water to pull in any dry bits at the bottom of your bowl. The dough should start to clump when squeezed together.

3. Bring the dough together and refrigerate. Tip your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to gently push the dough together until it becomes smoother and more manageable. If you have to need the dough, then only do this a couple of times so as not to overwork it. (Image 5 & 6) Use your hand to form it into a disc and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap before refrigerating for 1 hour. (Image 7 & 8)

Roll out and stamp out pastry

1. Roll out the dough. Take the dough out of the fridge, unwrap it and leave it out on a floured surface until it becomes easier to roll out. Trying to roll dough that is too cold will only result in it cracking. At the same stretch, don't leave it out so long that the butter softens and makes the dough sticky!

Roll the dough with a lightly floured rolling pin until it's the thickness of a coin. (Image 9) It will look like a lot of dough. If you struggle to roll out this amount of dough in one go, then just divide it into two and roll out the two pieces separately.

2. Stamp out the shapes. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter and stamp out the shapes in the dough. (Image 10) You'll want to end up with an even number f of hearts to match the top and bottoms. Pull together the scraps of dough and re-roll and stamp more hearts. Only do this once as after this the dough starts to get tough from working the dough too much. With the re-rolled dough, if you find it shrinking when you roll it out, then just let it rest for ten minutes or so and continue.

Place half of the hearts onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper (Image 11) - these form the base of the hand pies. The remaining hearts form the top of the hand pies. Cut out steam vents in the top pieces by using a mini cutter as I did (Image 12), or cut a small X shape (Scroll down to Image 19 and you'll see how I did this).

Fill and bake raspberry hand pies

1. Mix raspberry jam and fresh raspberries. I prefer to do this so that the fresh raspberries get fully coated in the jam which makes them even more juicy and delectable in the middle. Also though I can crush the fresh raspberries slightly so that they aren't so large. It distributes them more in the hand pie but also makes the hand pie less domed which is easier to cover with the top half of the dough. (Image 13)

2. Make egg wash. The only way for the hand pies to stick together is to create a seal and we do this with the egg wash that we'll use to brush the hand pies later. Whisk one egg in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of water 9or milk for that matter). Lightly brush around the edges of the heart bases on the baking tray. (Image 14)

3. Fill with white chocolate and raspberries. Into the centre of each heart base, spoon a tablespoon of chopped white chocolate. The smaller the white chocolate is chopped, the easier it is to distribute within the heart (it also melts easier too!). Leave a space around the edges where the egg wash is.

Then spoon a tablespoon of the raspberry mix over the top of the white chocolate. (Image 16)

4. Cover, seal and refrigerate the hand pies. If you tried to place the tops over the filling, they would be too small as they have to fit over the mound of white chocolate and raspberries. Use your finger to gently stretch the heart and place it over the filled base.

Use your fingers to press down the dough (Image 17 &18) and then use lightly floured tines of a fork to crimp all around the edges of the heart creating a firm seal. (Image 19). If you find the edges of the heart have become slightly miss-shapen then trim them with a sharp knife 9not necessary but it will give you neat looking hearts).

Now refrigerate the tray with the hand pies on it for 30 minutes. This allows the butter in the dough to resolidify ensuring perfectly shaped hand pies once baked.

5. Egg wash and bake hand pies. Brush egg wash all over the hand pies (Image 19) and bake for 25 to 35 minutes. They'll be ready when the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling. (Image 21 below)

Note: If you aren't decorating the baked hand pies with white chocolate then once the tops are egg-washed, sprinkle them with turbinado (coarse) sugar before popping them into the oven.

5. Decorate the baked hand pies. Melt the white chocolate and spoon it over the hand pies. You can use the back of the spoon to smooth the chocolate to cover the hand pie in the shape of the heart. Then finish with a sprinkle of freeze-dried raspberries and set to one side for 20 minutes until the chocolate has set ..... or enjoy straight away!!!

Variations

There are many different variations that you can make for these hand pies. I love how versatile they are. Here are just a few combinations that I love:

• Apricot Hand Pies: Swap out the raspberry conserve for some apricot jam/conserve and add in a couple of chopped apricots into the filling. Dust simply with powdered icing sugar or coat in a simple vanilla glaze.
• Blackberry and Apple Pies: Mix grated apple through blackberry or blackcurrent jam. Add in some Autumnal spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg for real fall vibes.
• Strawberry Dark Chocolate Hand Pies: Sub the fresh raspberries and raspberry conserve for fresh strawberries and strawberry conserve. Instead of white chocolate, add chopped dark chocolate 70% into the filling and then drizzle the baked hand pies with somemore dark chocolate. These Strawberry Dark Chocolate Mini Pies would also make fab Valentine's Day treats.
• Blueberry Lemon Hand Pies: Add lemon zest to your pastry dough before rolling out and then fill with blueberry jam

Frequently asked questions

How to store and freeze

To store: Store in an airtight container for up to three days or in the refrigerator for up to 6 days. To warm, place in a pre-heated oven for 10 minutes until warmed through.

To freeze: Once baked and cooled, freeze Raspberry Hand Pies in an airtight container for up to 3 months. To thaw, place in the refrigerator to defrost then bake in a pre-heated oven for 10 minutes until the pastry is warm and crunchy.

Equipment you’ll need

• Medium mixing bowl: To mix and bring the dough together.
• Rolling Pin: Needed to roll the dough perfectly flat.
• Heart-shaped cookie cutter: The number of hand pies will depend on the size of your cookie cutter used. If you don't have a heart-shaped cutter then use a round one about 6cm in diameter. For the tiny small heart cutter that I used from the steam vent on the top of the hand pies, I used the small part of a Linzer cookie cutter.

More Raspberry inspired recipes that you may like.

• Coconut Raspberry Cake
• Chocolate Raspberry Popsicles
• Raspberry Swiss Roll Cake

This post was originally published in April 2020 but has been updated with new photos, new content and a revised recipe.