Instructions

To Prepare the Crust

1. WHISK DRY INGREDIENTS: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the crust (flour, granulated sugar, and salt) until well combined.
2. CUT IN FAT: Cut the cold butter into small pieces. It is essential that the butter is cold for the flakiest crust. Add the cut up butter into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it is the texture of coarse meal.
3. MIX IN WATER: Add ice water to the bowl 1 tablespoon at a time and use a fork to gently nudge the flour into the water. The amount of water needed for your dough will vary depending on the day. Do not aggressively stir or mash the flour and butter down. Be as light and gentle as possible. Once large clumps of dough start forming, gather the dough up and press it together. If it crumbles then you need to add a little more water. If it holds together then you are ready to chill.
4. CHILL: Press the dough together into a ball. Wrap the dough in a piece of plastic wrap, pressing it down into a disk, and refrigerate for one hour. This step is key to relaxing the gluten and allowing the dough to hydrate properly. If you want to prep the crust ahead of time and want to let it chill for longer than one hour, let it set out at room temperature until it is cool but almost room temperature before proceeding.

To Prepare the Filling

1. PREP RASPBERRIES: Wash the fresh raspberries and allow to drain completely. Frozen raspberries do not work very well in this filling because they release too much liquid.
2. MIX FILLING: About 5 minutes before rolling out your crust, combine the raspberries with the sugar, cornstarch, and salt for the filling. Gently stir together, taking extra care not to break the raspberries. You don't want to mix this together too early or the raspberries will start releasing too many juices.

To Assemble

1. ROLL OUT CRUST: On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into 12 fairly equal pieces. You can use a kitchen scale if you want to be very exact, but I typically just eyeball it. Working with one piece of dough at a time, gently roll the dough out into a circle about 1/16th of an inch thick. This does not need to be perfect. Turnovers are rustic by design.
2. FILL PIES: Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and place 6 pieces of rolled out dough on each pan. Place about 2 TBSP of filling in the center of each piece of dough. Fold the dough in half, leaving about 1/2" of extra dough on the bottom. Fold the bottom piece of dough over the top and press the seal. Use a fork to press into the dough and crimp all around the edge.
3. EGG WASH: Whisk together an egg with 2 TBSP of water until well combined for the egg wash. Score each hand pie with 3 small slashes and then lightly brush the egg wash on each. Sprinkle each hand pie with sugar. Before the hand pies go into the oven, I like to place them in the freezer for about 10 minutes while the oven preheats. This will really help firm up the dough and make for the flakiest crust, but this is optional.
4. PREHEAT: Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C).
5. BAKE: Bake the hand pies at 375 F (190 C) for 25-35 minutes, until golden brown. I prefer to bake one sheet at a time, but if you are baking two sheet pans at once, rotate them from top to bottom on the racks about half way through.
6. STORE: Store hand pies that are completely cooled loosely covered at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 4 days. Alternatively, you can freeze them for up to 3 months.