Celebrate the holidays with these adorable Christmas tree blueberry hand pies! They’re the perfect addition to any Christmas party, a Christmas dessert charcuterie board, or just as a sweet treat for Christmas morning! If you like pie, you’ll like these. If you like blueberries, you’ll like these. And if you just like adorable Christmas treats, you’ll like these too! My sister made them for a recent Christmas movie night, and they were gone in minutes! I just think there is something about mini individual pies that people love, I know I do! These would also make really good summer desserts if you want to make them with fresh juicy blueberries in the summer – just don’t make them Christmas trees!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Simple – this easy blueberry hand pie recipe starts with a refrigerated pie crust and the rest of it is an easy recipe. Just don’t burn the blueberries! Versatile – make this for the holidays, make these for Easter (just using a round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter), or even make this for your summer parties! The flavor of the juicy blueberry filling works for any season, just change the shape! Not too sweet – while the filling does have a little sugar and the you sprinkle the tops of the pies with sugar, these still aren’t too sweet because the pie crusts themselves aren’t overly sweet, and that’s the bulk of the recipe. That makes these mini blueberry pies a great option for a brunch or breakfast as well! If you’re using homemade pie dough that’s sweet, I can’t guarantee anything but refrigerated should be good.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Lemon juice – you can use either fresh lemon juice or bottled lemon juice in this recipe, but I always prefer fresh or at least high-quality juice. Frozen blueberries – while fresh blueberries work, I personally prefer frozen in this since you’re cooking them down to create the filling. I’ve just found that frozen blueberries cook down better than fresh. Pie crust – I just used a typical store-bought pre-made pie crust that comes with two in the pack. If you want to make your own flaky pie crust, you can do that as well but the store-bought pie crust makes these really easy! And this recipe is written using a flaky crust from the store, not a homemade recipe so keep that in mind. Egg – I recommend using an egg wash to help keep these together and also to give these a nice browned look on top, but it’s not absolutely necessary if you don’t have any eggs and still want to make these! Icing – these are best with a simple icing drizzled on top. I make mine out of powdered sugar and milk, so you will also need those ingredients if you want to add a glaze on top of each pie.
How to make blueberry hand pies
The best part about these sweet treats is that while I made these into Christmas tree hand pies, you could make them into any shape that you want just by switching out the cookie cutters! Plus, they’re super easy to make!
1 – Make the Blueberry Filling
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or two cookie sheets if you want to be able to bake these all at the same time. Next mix the sugar and corn starch together in a small bowl until it’s completely smooth (no lumps from the corn starch). Add the blueberries, sugar mixture, and lemon juice to a medium size saucepan and cook on medium heat until the mixture is bubbling and thickened. Make sure to keep the heat at medium so it doesn’t get too hot too fast and burn the mixture. After the blueberry filling has thickened, add a sprinkle of cinnamon and stir into the fruit filling. Heat until the filling is thickened and the blueberries are almost completely cooked down into a filling.
2 – Roll Out the Hand Pies
Roll out one of the pie crusts then place a 2 inch Christmas tree cookie cutter (or any other shape) on top of the pie crust and cut out Christmas trees. After you cut out the Christmas trees, place on the parchment lined prepared baking sheet. Make sure to leave some space around each of the Christmas trees. Repeat with the second pie crust but this time leave the cut out Christmas trees just on the counter (or another piece of parchment paper) until you’re ready to add them on top of the others. Once you’ve run out of pie crust to cut, take the leftovers (from removing it around the other Christmas trees), roll it out again, and continue the process until you’ve used all of the pie crust. If you’re doing 2 inch trees, you should be able to get 12 hand pies. If you’d rather just cut out the ones you can cut without re-rolling the pie crusts (about 3/4 a batch of blueberry hand pies), you can always use the excess pie crust to make these pie crust cookies instead.
3 – Fill the Christmas Hand Pies
Add about two teaspoons of the blueberry pie filling on top of each tree that’s on the parchment lined baking sheet. Whisk an egg together in a small bowl to create an egg wash. Lightly brush the edges of the pie crusts on the cookie sheet with the egg wash then gently place a second tree on top of the one on the baking sheet. Use a fork to gently press together the edges to seal your hand pies. Poke a hole into the top of each tree to let the steam go through. Then lightly brush the remaining egg wash onto the top of each tree. Sprinkle each tree with a light sprinkling of sugar, coarse sugar if you have it. If not, you can still just sprinkle regular sugar on top of these little hand pies.
4 – Bake and Enjoy
Bake the trees for five minutes or until the tops are a golden brown. Don’t worry if some of the blueberry mixture seeps out, it’ll bake into the crust and still be delicious! Once baked, take the tree pies out of the oven and place them on a cooling rack to allow them to cool enough that you can eat them without burning your tongue. While the homemade hand pies are cooling, make the icing by combining 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with a tsp of milk (2 tsps if you’re using whole milk that’s a little thicker). But I don’t recommend waiting too long because these are the best when they’re still warm, also good at room temperature, but they’re amazing while warm! To make the icing, whisk together powdered sugar and milk in a medium bowl until smooth. If you want to give the glaze a hint of lemon flavor, add a 1/4 tsp of lemon juice to the mixture and you’ll have more of a lemon glaze flavor. Once the trees are cooled, drizzle the icing over each of the blueberry hand pies. I like to do this still on the cooling rack so you can just have one dish to clean up later! Remove from the cooling rack and serve immediately while still warm or wait and serve at room temperature later! These make such a delicious addition to any dessert spread, a brunch menu, or even breakfast. They’re one of my new favorite party foods!
Expert Tips
Store any leftover fruit hand pies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. They’ll likely be eaten before then but they are best within three days. Make these without egg wash by using a tiny bit of water to help seal the blueberry hand pies. Egg wash is better but if you’re in a pinch or would prefer to not use egg, water works as well. I do not recommend brushing the tops with water. Freeze these by wrapping each hand pie in a piece of plastic wrap then placing all of the wrapped hand pies in a freezer safe bag and freezing for up to three months.
More Blueberry Recipes
If you like these handheld blueberry pies, you’ll love these other blueberry goodies!
Blueberry cheesecake bars – layers of fresh blueberries, cheesecake, and a crumbly crust all make for one delicious treat! Blueberry whipped cream – add this to your favorite pound cake, angel food cake, or really any cake for a delicious fluffy topping! Blueberry yogurt muffins – these moist muffins are made with fresh blueberries, yogurt, and a delicious crumb!Blueberry lemonade – forget strawberry lemonade and try this amazingly refreshing drink recipe instead!Blueberry compote recipe – a sweet sauce that’s great for dipping things like coconut chicken tenders or for adding to not so sweet treats!
