flaky apple cranberry deliciousness…can you believe NO butter (vegan or otherwise) in these vegan hand pies?
Vegan Pies – inspired by The Pie Maker in Galway, Ireland
Yes, the title of this section sounds a bit braggy and like I’m some kind of world traveler. Essentially, my usual journeys comprise trips from NJ-NY or NJ-DC as my children reside in both places. But, I digress. Last summer, my family and I took a once in a lifetime trip together to Ireland-specifically the Dingle Peninsula, Kilkee and Galway. We trekked, hiked, biked, drank and ate our way through some of the most beautiful places on earth. One of our favorite eateries was The Pie Maker, in Galway. Yes, most of the menu items were not vegan, but the chef (as I found in most places we ventured) was happy to create an option for me- a lovely salad, but, alas not a pie. 🙁 After eating here, I became somewhat preoccupied by creating vegan pie and vowed to work on that when I got back across the pond 😉
Brian and Tony, posing after their pie-full
But, Can a pie be vegan?
Yes! The answer is…yes! I have made pies, swapping out the butter for Earth Balance and the results were quite good. As long as the process was followed (cold “butter”, gently mixing in the cold liquid , whether it be vodka ala this Cook’s Illustrated version or water) the resulting pie crust would be flaky and delicious and nearly identical to its buttery counterpart. Sure, maybe not the healthiest in terms of processed oils, but the pie tasted like pie and graced the dessert on Thanksgiving (would be so great if I could insert a pic here but I failed to take one!).
Since returning from Ireland and fresh on the heels of completing my course in plant-based nutrition, I have been playing around with the idea of subbing a healthier fat for the butter. I had success with these vegan bad boys ↓
and was hoping to apply the same notion of swapping the vegan butter for cashew butter whilst following the basic principals of pie crust making.
I am thrilled to report that this method was pretty flippin successful and now I can have my pie and (not feel guilty to) eat it, too.
The Process
I admit it, when I embark upon a project (nowadays a recipe) I obsess for a bit and read as much as I can about ingredients, nutrition, history, etc. Past posts don’t lie. This time, I did a deep dive into pie crust making and focused not on pie history (apparently the crusts of the earliest “pyes”in medieval times were referred to as coffyns, designed not to be eaten but to hold or preserve the contents!) but the process. And by process, I mean how does one achieve a good crust?
,author of The Food Lab and this “Science of Pie” article on Food52, guided my process for creating this vegan hand pie crust. Seriously, please read this article! J. Kenji so eloquently debunks the myths of pie crust perfecting and describes the hows and whys of the method I use here.
Weighing V. Measuring
J. Kenji says weigh so I shall weigh! If you don’t have a food scale, I HIGHLY recommend getting one (this is mine). They are relatively cheap and the payoff will be your newfound ability to bake like a goddess (or god, as it were 🙂 ) The process here involves employing the 3:2:1 ratio of flour to fat to liquid. It works. I used 12 ounces flour (and sugar), 8 ounces cashew butter and 4 ounces of water.
ingredients for Crusty McCrusterson
Food Processor makes crusting easy
Process 8 ounces of the flour with cashew butter (1:1) ratio for about two minutes, till it looks like this- kind of clumpy and no visible flour remains. Then add the rest of the flour and pulse 10-15 times, again so you can’t see the whiteness of the flour.
Cashew butter is perfectly “cut” into the flour. The process does NOT make it tough as water is not yet added 🙂
Dump the mix into a large bowl and sprinkle the water on top. Gently fold with a rubber spatula until you get something like this:
Then, divide the dough into two portions, form into 2 inch thick disks and cover with plastic wrap. Now fridge and chill (the dough, not you) but yeah you can chill for an hour or so, too. Feel free to make the filling now or take a break. For these vegan hand pies, I used apples and dried cranberries but, seriously, you could probably fill them with anything- sweet or savory or in between and have an excellent result. Here, tiny diced apples, a dash of orange juice (to keep the apples from browning), and dried cranberries are warmed in a pot for about 5 minutes. I added a slurry of cornstarch mixed with maple syrup to thicken it a bit.
the fillin
Rollin out the dough
This really is the fun part- fun, because this dough is so easy to handle and roll out. I went with just under a 1/4″ thickness, using again my trusty beer glass as a cutter.
Fill ’em, seal ’em and bake ’em
Once you’ve got your circles cut, lay half on your baking sheet and place the filling in the center of each one. Gently lay the top circles of dough on each and crimp together with a fork. I pierced the top of each pie with few slits and finished with a brushing of soy milk to give each hand pie a lovely matte glow.
ready for the oven!
In about 20 minutes, these beautiful vegan hand pies will be ready in all of their golden glory.
The finishing touch is a brush of confectioners’ sugar glaze.
Roughly 100 calories each, these are a fabulous breakfast on the go and pair perfectly with a cup of afternoon tea
These pies are perfect right out of the oven (minus a brief cooling period). They also freeze beautifully and can go directly from the freezer to toaster oven to plate. Hot pie!!
- 12 ounces organic flour
- 1/4 cup organic sugar
- 8 ounces cold cashew butter preferably homemade
- 6-8 ounces cold water
- 4 cups diced apples
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 teaspoon apple pie or pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk
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Add 8 ounces of the flour, the sugar and all of the cashew butter in a food processor.
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Pulse for 1-2 minutes until dough collects in uneven clumps and there is no uncoated flour.
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Add remaining flour and pulse for about 15 pulses until mixture appears homogeneous.
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Pour mixture into large bowl.
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Sprinkle water over mixture. With rubber spatula press down on dough until dough comes together.
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Divide dough in half.
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Form each half into a 2 inch high disk.
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Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours.
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While dough is chilling, peel and dice apples.
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Pour apples into a cast iron pan and sprinkle with the orange juice.
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Mix to coat.
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Add the cranberries and cook over medium heat for about 5-6 minutes to allow apples to soften.
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While the apples cook, make a slurry by whisking the cornstarch and maple syrup together in a small bowl.
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Add to the softened apple mixture and continue to cook on ow for about 10 minutes.
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Allow to cool.
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Preheat oven to 425 F.
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Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Remove one dough disk from the refrigerator.
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Place on a well-floured surface and roll to just under 1/4 inch thickness.
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Cut out 2 1/2" inch (or so) circles and and place on prepared baking sheet.
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Place about 2 tablespoons pie filling in the center of each circle.
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Remove second dough disk from refridgerator and roll out.
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Cut out another set of dough circles.
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Wet the edges of one of the filled crusts on the baking sheet with your finger dipped in water or non-dairy milk.
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Place a dough circle over this one and press the edges together.
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Crimp edges with a fork.
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Repeat with remaining dough.
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Cut 3 slits on the top of each hand pie.
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Brush tops of each with non-dairy milk.
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Bake for 20 minutes until golden.
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While pies bake, prepare glaze by mixing the confectioners sugar with the non-dairy milk in a small bowl.
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Remove pies from oven and cool on rack.
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While cooling, brush with glaze.
