Cherry Cream Cheese Hand Pies

Looking for the perfect dessert for Valentine's Day? This recipe for Cherry Cream Cheese Hand Pies is just what you need. They're delicious, easy to make, and so cute too!

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Valentine’s Day calls for extra-special treats…not just the run-of-the-mill chocolate chip cookies that I normally make. Although, my hubby, Jason, would never turn those down either. In fact, you can find my favorite recipe HERE.

However, I love all things heart-shaped, and what better excuse to make something cute, delicious, and in the shape of a heart, than Valentine’s Day! I know, I know…a lot of folks think it’s a made-up holiday by the greeting card and chocolate companies, but who cares?! It’s a fun day to remind us that we should show the people we love how much we care about them…and enjoy all the cute decorations and yummy treats while we do it! (I’ve had a lot of questions about my pie server. I can’t find the exact one, but THIS one is cute!)

I decided to make some cherry hand pies this year because Jason loves pie—especially fruit pie. I made something similar last year, but they were heart-shaped pies with strawberry jam in the middle. Delicious, but I wanted to do a little twist on them this year.

The recipe I based them on looked easy enough (my kind of baking)—plus, it’s a flexible recipe, you could use any filling you want to, and it’s a budget-friendly recipe too. In addition to the cherry pie filling, there’s also a cream cheese mixture that goes into the middle too. I love anything with sweet cream cheese—so this was a definite win to add to my personal cookbook repertoire.

You could get fancy and make your own pie crust for this recipe, but I think store-bought is just fine. I even bought the Fareway store brand (a local grocery store chain) and they worked great. I also love that the ingredient list isn’t a mile long. I somehow lose interest in recipes when the ingredients start creeping over 10 or so. Also, I’m terrible at following directions, so I’m much more likely to mess up when I have to measure several ingredients. Does this sound familiar to you? Tell me I’m not the only one! (Want a little more Valentine’s Day 2020 inspo? You can find my table scape HERE.)

Okay, now for the fun part…

What You’ll Need:

-2 refrigerated pie crusts

-Cherry Pie Filling (1 can—you won’t use all of it)

-Cream Cheese (8 oz—I used reduced-fat)

-6 TBSP granulated sugar

-1 Egg (beaten)

-2 tsp. Vanilla

-1 cup Powdered sugar

-1/4 cup milk (may use less/more)

-food coloring

-Sprinkles (optional)

-Rimmed baking sheet

-Silicone Liner — THESE are a good deal

-3” heart-shaped cookie cutter — THESE ARE THE EXACT ONES i HAVE

-Pastry brush

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°

2. Place SILICONE liner on baking sheet

3. Blend cream cheese, 4 TBSP. sugar, and vanilla (I used a stand mixer)

4. Roll-out 1 pie crust on lightly floured surface—just until you can get approximately 9 hearts cut from it (Will roll out better if it’s at room temperature.)

5. Cut hearts out of the rolled-out dough—transfer them to the baking sheet

6. Place a dollop each of cream cheese mixture and pie filling (I used approximately 1 TBSP each)

7. Roll-out second pie crust. Cut out the same number of hearts, and then roll-out the hearts individually, a bit more, so they fit over the bottom heart and the filling.

8. Using your finger, trace the outside of the bottom heart with the beaten egg (to create a seal). Lay the other hearts on top and press down. I used a fork to create a crimped design. Cut two small slits to allow steam to escape.

9. Add a bit of water to the remaining egg and brush on top of the pies. This will help create a golden crust!

10. Bake for 15 minutes

11. When pies have cooled, drizzle on the icing (powdered sugar, milk, + food coloring—add milk until you get the consistency you want). You can add flavoring to the icing if you prefer—vanilla or almond would be good. If you’re using sprinkles, add while the icing is still wet.

***Original recipe found HERE.