Raspberry Sweetie Pies

Buttery pie crust cut into the shape of a heart and filled with raspberry preserves make for a delicious and easy to make Valentine’s Day treat.

Guys, we got more snow yesterday in Boston! The banks of snow around the city are already double my height so I’m not sure where we are going to store this extra foot of snow. Luckily, Boston is so gosh darn beautiful or else I’d really be second guessing myself! 🙂 When the winter’s are long, cold and snow-filled, it’s easy to wish for  spring and summer and hope winter passes us by quickly. Unless you are really into winter sports, after Christmas, I sometimes feel like there isn’t much to look forward to until spring. I’m all about fighting this urge by planning lots of fun to keep my winter blues away. It can be something simple like trying a new restaurant in Boston or binge watching a new to you tv show during the storm (hello, House of Cards!) or something bigger like planning a trip to warmer weather.

This is another reason why I love Valentine’s Day- it’s something to look forward to right smack dab in the middle of those winter blues! No matter if you are single or taken, Valentine’s Day is a day to tell the people you love how you feel about them and also show yourself a little love! My Raspberry Sweetie Pies are the perfect treat to share with your Valentines.  What’s cuter than a hand held pie (or 12- the recipe makes a dozen)? Not much I don’t think!

xoxo, Jenna

You’ll Need:

Makes 12  sweetie pies

•  Pie dough for one pie crust (my fave recipe from my recent Sur La Table Cooking Class below)
  • 1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 of a  cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold
  • 1/4 of a cup cold water, plus additional as needed
• Flour for work surface and rolling pin
• 6 tablespoons raspberry preserves
• 1 large egg
• Sugar for sprinkling
• Heart shape cookie cutter

To Make:

To make the pie dough, mix flour and salt together.

Add to a food processor with the cold butter cut into cubes and the cold water.

Pulse to combine. After turning off processor, feel clumps to see if they are holding together.

If not, add more water one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture starts holding together when squeezed.

Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes before rolling.

Prepare a work space slightly dusted in flour.

Pre-heat oven to 350 Degrees and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Remove pie dough from refrigerator and roll until about 1/2- 1/4 inch thick.

Using your heart shape cookie cutter, cut 24 hearts out of your dough. Be careful about how you cut the shapes making sure you use the majority of the dough with little waste in order to get the full 24.

Place half of the heart shaped pieces of dough onto prepared baking sheets.

Drop 1/2 of a tablespoon of raspberry preserves onto the center of the hearts on the baking sheet. (This is the measurement that worked best for the size pies I made- you’ll want it to be filling up most of the heart, with just a bit around the edges as it will leak out- see picture above)

Cover raspberry preserves with another heart shaped piece, using a fork to press down and seal the edges.

Whisk together one large egg and a few drops of water for an egg wash. Brush each pie with the egg wash to get a golden brown color when baked.

Sprinkle a bit of sugar on each pie.

Place in oven and cook for 20-25 minutes or until golden (mine were done around 22 minutes).

Remove from oven, allow to cool for a few minutes on baking sheet before transferring to wire rack.

Dig in and enjoy or share with your sweetie pie!