Flaky pie crust filled with vegan lemon curd and topped with lemon frosting. These little lemon hand pies are easy to make and the perfect springtime dessert or snack.
These mini pies are made with a few simple ingredients and flavoured with lots of lemon zest and luscious vegan lemon curd. These hand pies are fun and easy to make and they’re ready in less than an hour. I’ve used some yellow icing to decorate them like lemon slices, but you can decorate them however you wish. These pies are the perfect combination of buttery, flaky pastry, creamy lemon curd, and fresh lemon flavour – everything you could want in a springtime dessert.
What is a hand pie?
A hand pie is a small pastry, usually a round or rectangular shape, formed with pie crust and a spoonful of either sweet or savoury filling - such a lovely way to get your pie fix on the go!
Why you'll Love these Lemon Hand Pies
They’re crisp outside and buttery soft inside
They're bursting with delicious citrusy flavour
They're completely vegan
You won’t need any fancy baking equipment
They’re ready in around 1 hour!
They're fun and easy to make
They can me made days in advance and stored for up to 2 weeks
Ingredients Lemon Hand Pies
Flour - you'll need all-purpose flour to make these pies.
Caster Sugar - Caster sugar dissolves quicker in the dough so this is what I use for most of my baking recipes, but you could use granulated white sugar instead. I wouldn’t suggest using any type of brown sugar as it’ll darken the colour of the pies.
Vegan block butter - I used the Flora vegan butter block, but any plant-based butter will do. using a block butter will give the pies a light and crumbly texture. I wouldn’t recommend margarine as it won’t create the same outcome.
Oil - You'll need 1 tbsp of vegetable oil or any other neutral tasting oil.
Lemon zest - You'll need the zest of 1 whole lemon. Make sure to use an unwaxed lemon.
Lemon curd - You'll need 2-3 tbsp of homemade or shop-bought vegan lemon curd. Make sure to use a good quality, thick set lemon curd. A runny lemon curd will result in a soggy crust, and you want the crust to remain nice and crisp after baking.
Icing sugar - You can totally skip the icing, but if you'd like to decorate your hand pies you'll need around 250g icing sugar.
Plant-based milk - I've used soya milk to make the lemon icing, but any plant-based milk will do.
Yellow food colouring - if you'd like to give the icing a vibrant yellow colour you'll need some vegan yellow food colouring. I've used a gel food colour but a powder or paste will work just fine.
How To Make Lemon Hand Pies
STEP 1:
To make the shortcrust pastry, place the flour, sugar, lemon zest, vegan butter, sunflower oil and cold water in a large bowl and rub until the ingredients start to come together. Knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth. Cover the dough with cling film and place in fridge to chill for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F/gas mark 4. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
STEP 2:
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/2 cm thickness. Using a 3-inch, round cookie cutter, cut out 6 rounds. Re-roll the pastry scraps and cut out 6 more rounds. Place 6 of the pastry rounds on the baking tray. Add a heaped teaspoon of vegan lemon curd on the centre of each of the rounds.
STEP 3:
Top each round with the remaining pastry rounds, creating a sandwich. Press the edges down using a fork to seal (make sure not to fill the pies with too much lemon curd as they might burst open as they bake).
STEP 4:
Bake the pies for 13-16 minutes until lightly golden. Place the pies on a cooling rack and allow them to cool down completely.
STEP 5:
Prepare the icing by combining all the icing ingredients. Pipe or spread the icing onto the cooled pies. Allow the icing to set for 20 minutes, then enjoy!
What you'll need
3-inch round cookie cutter - this will create around 6-7 pies; you could use a larger cookie cutter but you’ll get fewer pies.
A rolling pin to roll the dough out.
How to store Lemon Hand Pies
Store these hand pies in an airtight container and they’ll stay good for up to 2 weeks at room temperature. These pies are not suitable for freezing once they’ve been baked, however, you can freeze the dough for up to a month, and then once you’re ready to use it, simply defrost it, shape the pies, and bake.
Can I Use Store-Bought Shortcrust Pastry for these pies?
Yes, ready-to-roll shortcrust pastry can be used instead of making your own, but I promise you it won’t taste as good as a homemade pie crust.
Tips for making these lemon hand pies
Make sure to use chilled water and butter when making the dough..
I'd recommend using the gram measurements rather than the cup conversions. When it comes to baking, accuracy is key, and cups conversions are never as accurate as grams.
Alternatives: This shortbread recipe is a great base for any flavour hand pie. If you’re unable to find vegan lemon curd or you prefer not to use it, you can try using jam instead.
Don’t lift the pies from the baking tray when you take them out of the oven - these pies might feel a little soft even after baking, so don’t let that fool you into thinking they’re undercooked. They’ll harden as they cool down, but if you try to move them when they’re fresh out the oven, I can guarantee they’ll break, so make sure you let them cool down on the baking tray for 5 minutes or so before transferring them to a wire rack.
When rolling out the dough, make sure to keep it about ½ cm thick – if the pastry is too thick, it won’t cook through
