Turkey Hand Pies

The best part about Thanksgiving is it gives us the opportunity to come together with our family and/or friends and enjoy great food with great company. Making Thanksgiving dinner also produces a lot of leftovers. Over the years, I’ve come up with many ways to use the leftovers. My favorite has to be making turkey hand pies because they can be premade and frozen. This gives the opportunity to eat the pies at a later time, so you don’t have to eat turkey day after day after day….you get my point. That can get boring. The hand pies can be frozen for a month or 2 and are very easy to cook in the oven. The fact that they can just be put on a tray and placed in the oven to cook makes them very convenient.  So give this recipe a try, have fun, and enjoy!    

Turkey Hand Pies Recipe 

(Makes 6 large hand pies)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 batch of pie dough (See Recipe HERE)
• 10 oz of turkey (other meat or vegetarian/vegan alternative)
• 2 1/2 cups of stuffing
• 2 ½ cups of mushroom gravy (See Recipe Here)
• 1 ½ cups of mashed potato
• ½ cup of corn (or other vegetables)
• 1 egg white plus ¼ cup of water

NOTE: the ingredients are adjustable based on whatever you had leftover. Some type of gravy is important as it helps maintain the moisture of the other ingredients during the baking process.

TOOLS NEEDED:

• A cutting board
• Baking sheet(s)
• Rolling pin, spoon, fork, knife, and spatula

VIDEO DEMONSTRATION / INSTRUCTIONS

Pie Dough Recipe Video:

Turkey Hand Pies Recipe Video:

BRIEF DIRECTIONS (See the video demonstration for detailed instructions):

1. Take the pie dough and cut into 6 equal portions (or more if you want smaller pies). Then take each portion and roll it into a ball. Next, leave one portion out to work with and cover the remaining dough portions with plastic wrap so they aren’t exposed to the air or they will dry out.
2. Now on a lightly floured surface, take one of the dough portions, press it down to flatten it, and use the rolling pin to roll out the dough to 7 ½ inches across and ¹/₈ inch thick. Use your fingers and hands to round off the sides.
3. Next start filling the pie by adding 2 tablespoons of mashed potato mixed with corn and spread out evenly leaving an inch of space empty on the outer edge of the pie dough. Then add 2 tablespoons of stuffing, some mushrooms from the gravy, and a drizzle of gravy (about 1 or 2 tablespoons). Lastly, add turkey slices to the top and put 1 or 2 tablespoons of gravy on the turkey (Note: Don’t put too much gravy as it will make it difficult or impossible to seal the pies when the dough is folded over).
4. Now carefully fold over the pie dough and use a fork to press in the filling so you can keep the outer inch of the dough empty. Then use your fingers to pinch the outer edges of the dough together to seal the pie. Next, take a fork and press down on the outer edge to create the crimping pattern and to fully seal the edges of the pies. Take a knife and cut 3 slits on top of the pies to allow steam to ventilate when the pies are cooking. Then place the pie on a lightly greased baking sheet. Repeat the process for all of the pies.
5. When all of the pies are set up, you can either cover them with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for a later time, or you can cook them. To cook the pies, place them in a 375°F oven for 40 to 45 minute. After 20 minutes of cooking, take the pies out of the oven and brush them with an egg wash consisting of one egg white and a ¼ cup of water. Then place the pies back in the oven for another 20 minutes or until golden brown.
6. When finished cooking, take the pies out of the oven and let sit for 2 or 3 minutes before serving.