Almond Frangipane Hand Pies
Homemade all butter pastry dough, rolled thinly and layered with almond frangipane, baked until flaky and crisp.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Ingredients
Pastry Crust
- 1 recipe all butter pie dough
Frangipane
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup finely ground almond flour
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg white, lightly beaten with 1 tsp water
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Make the pie dough, then wrap it in plastic wrap to chill and rest for 45 minutes, before rolling it out.
- You can refrigerate the dough up to 3 days in advance, or freeze it for up to 3-6 months.
Make the Frangipane Filling
- With an electric mixer (stand or hand held), beat the softened butter with the sugar for several minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Scrape down the bowl and beat in the eggs, almond extract and vanilla extract; the mixture will be lumpy.
- Add the almond flour, all purpose flour and salt. Beat for several minutes until thick and smooth. Set aside until needed.
Roll out the Dough
- Working with half the dough at a time, roll the dough out onto a clean, floured work surface. Use as much flour underneath and on top of the dough as you need, to keep it from sticking to the counter or your rolling pin.
- You need to roll it very thinly, about 1/16 of an inch thick.
- Use a ruler and a sharp knife or a rolling pastry wheel cutter to cut squares measuring 6x6 inches.
- Gather up the dough scraps, press them into a ball again, and wrap the dough ball in plastic to let it rest while you work with a new piece of dough. If the dough is over-worked, it can be resistant to rolling out, so I set aside all the scraps until the end, then rolled them out again to continue cutting squares of dough. If you roll your dough thinly enough, you should be able to cut 15 6-inch squares of dough.
Assemble the Pies
- Use a sharp knife to cut a square of dough as shown in the photos, by cutting the top left and bottom right quadrants into 8 equal strips, taking care not to cut all the way through the center. Use a ruler if you need to measure your dough while making your cuts, so that everything is even.
- Spread several teaspoons of the almond frangipane filling over the bottom left quadrant of dough, stopping 1/4 inch from the edge, then use a pastry brush to lightly brush the egg wash over the edges around the filling.
- Fold the top right quadrant of dough diagonally towards the bottom left, lining up the edges and gently pressing them with your fingers to seal the edges together.
- Repeat the step of spreading several teaspoons of the almond frangipane filling over the bottom left quadrant of dough, stopping 1/4 inch from the edge, then use a pastry brush to lightly brush the egg wash over the edges around the filling.
- Now start folding the strips of dough in an overlapping pattern, so that they cover the filling, trying to keep the strips of dough as straight and even as possible. Start with a strip at the top, folding it down to the bottom. Then a strip on the right, folding it across to the left. Repeat this pattern until you only have one strip from the top and one strip from the right remaining.
- Brush a little egg wash along the bottom and left side of the pie, then fold the last two strips down, pressing them gently to seal the edge.
- Use a sharp knife or rolling pastry wheel cutter to trim the edge along the left and bottom sides, if it looks uneven.
Bake the Pies
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange the pies several inches apart on the baking sheets, then set the baking sheets in the refrigerator to chill the unbaked pies for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Position two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
- Lightly brush the chilled pies with egg wash, then sprinkle with granulated sugar.
- Bake the pies for about 40-45 minutes, rotating the pans between the upper and lower racks halfway through, until golden brown.
- Let cool for several minutes, then serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
After cooling the pies completely, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Store leftover frangipane filling in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/