Hilly's XL Mini Apple Cider Doughnut-ish Hand Pies Recipe

Flakey Cinnamon-Sugar Pie Crust Recipe

If forgoing the cinnamon-sugar compound butter, simply replace with 3 sticks regular unsalted butter, chilled.

Cinnamon-Sugar Compound Butter Ingredients:

3 sticks (24 Tbsps) unsalted butter, well softened 

1 Tbsp cinnamon 

1 Tbsp granulated sugar  

Method, compound butter:

-Mix butter with sugar and cinnamon until fully combined and no streaks of cinnamon remain. 

-Flatten butter onto parchment paper or plastic wrap lined tray or plate (anything that can fit into your freezer), wrap well and place in freezer until ready to use, butter should chill until completely firm to the touch before use, approximately 15 - 20 minutes in the freezer.

-Compound butter can be made up to one week in advance, stored in freezer.

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Method, pie crust:

-Mix together AP flour, salt, and sugar in large bowl until combined. 

-Cut cold compound butter into vague tablespoons and add to your bowl. Toss with hands until butter is coated in flour mixture.

-Smash, squeeze, and break cold butter chunks with your fingers until a lot of the mixture resembles a coarse meal but there are still plenty of pieces of butter about the size of blueberries in the mix. Flatten some of these blueberry sized butter chunks by smearing between your palms (this will help ensure a flakey crust).

-If the butter has gone soft at any point and has begun to stick to your hands, place entire bowl into fridge for freezer for 15 minutes to firm up. Otherwise, proceed.

-Mix vinegar and ice water together, then add to flour mixture one tablespoon at a time, tossing with hands in between additions. 

-The amount of water you will need varies —  so add water until mixture holds together when pressed into a ball, but is still a little crumbly, and isn’t sticky to the touch. 

-Once ideal texture is reached, pour your shaggy mixture onto a lightly floured surface

-Fold your dough: Roll out dough into a long rectangle-ish shape — short side facing you. The sides of your dough may have cracked a little, that is totally fine at this step.

-Fold the dough like a letter: fold the far side down towards you, then the side closest to you on top of that.  

-Press it all back together, rotate the dough 90 degrees, Then repeat the roll and fold. Sprinkling with flour as needed to prevent sticking. These folds are similar to what you would to to make a croissant -- this is what is going to create all your flakey layers! 

-Once you have competed your folds, divide your two in two (just eyeball it!) 

-If making a full double crust pie, form each piece into a rough disc, if making hand pies, form into rough rectangles.

-Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in fridge to chill. Chill for at least an hour before use. 

-Pie dough can be made up to a month in advance, stored well wrapped in the freezer. Upon use, defrost in fridge for 24 hours before rolling out..