Cute Hand Pies with Creamy Chicken Filling

Handliche Mini-Pies mit Hähnchenfüllung

Today I introduce you to cute hand pies with creamy chicken filling. These hand pies are perfect for a buffet, as finger food, snack, but can also be served as a main with a salad on the side. The chicken filling is creamy, the pastry dough comes together quickly and is spiced with some herbs. In my opinion the perfect combination when you have company coming over.

Handliche Mini-Pies mit HähnchenfüllungSince we moved from Hamburg to Munich, I am also in charge of our dinners and so I had to think about what to make during my one month I have off. I usually prefer making desserts to dinners, so I thought why not bake something instead of cook something. That’s how I came up with these hand pies. I love making hand pies, you can check out a recipe for blueberry hand pies with a hint of lavender here. I love those hand pies, but this time I wanted to try something savory. If you are scared of making pastry dough, I give you ten tips how you can manage that dough successfully, the most important using cold ingredients and trying not to overwork the dough.

Handliche Mini-Pies mit HähnchenfüllungInstead of making one giant chicken pie, I decided for hand pies instead since it is so much easier to freeze. On top of that I also wanted something fun for a brunch, a buffet, for company coming over, or for whenever you need some fingerfood. I believe I have accomplished that with these cute little hand pies with the creamiest chicken filling. In fact, I love the filling so much, I’ve considered making it with pasta and see how that tastes, it just is so rich with heavy cream, sour cream and simply delicious.

Handliche Mini-Pies mit HähnchenfüllungAs always I would love to hear if you try the recipe. If you have any problems, let me know, maybe I can trouble-shoot.

Cute Hand Pies with Creamy Chicken Filling

Serves: About 10-12 hand pies, depending on size
Cooking Time: 1 hr preparation + 1/2 hour chilling time + 20 min baking time

Ingredients

  • Pastry Dough
  • 300 grams of all purpose flour
  • About 1 1/2 teaspoons each of dried sage, thyme, and rosemary
  • 3/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 200 grams of cold butter
  • 1 egg, some cold water if need be

  • Filling
  • 500 grams of chicken breast
  • Butter for frying
  • 1 onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 leek
  • 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
  • 100 grams of sour cream
  • 100 grams of heavy cream
  • 100-200 grams of milk
  • One teaspoon each of sage, tyme, and rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of spicy paprika powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 bunch of chives
  • 150 grams of ground Gouda/Cheddar or Gruyère
  • 1 egg for egg wash

Instructions

1

For the pastry dough mix flour, spices and salt in a large bowl. Cut butter in pieces on top and work into crumbs, I like doing this by hand but you can use a mixer. Add the egg and work quickly into a ball, if need be, add a little bit of cold water, a teaspoon a time. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least half an hour or overnight.

2

For the filling cut the chicken in small pieces and fry in a little butter in a large frying pan. Take out chicken and brown cut onion and minced garlic. Add the leek cut into pieces. Once everything is nicely soft, add the chicken again and sprinkle everything with a tablespoon of flour. Cook for about a minute, then add sour cream, heavy cream and milk, all the spices and salt and pepper to taste. After about 15 minutes you should get a nice creamy consistency. If need be, add more milk. Once cream is nice and thick, add the cut chive and cheese and let simmer for about five more minutes. Set aside.

3

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line one baking sheet with parchment paper. Take out dough, cut in half and put one half back into the fridge. Roll out the other half on a floured surface. Using a glass or similar, cut out circles with about 8-9cm in diameter. Place chicken filling on half of the circles generously. Using your finger, pat water all around the edges. Roll out the second set of circles a little bigger and place them on top of the ones with filling. Seal first with your hands and then with a fork, going all around the edges. Cut a cross into the middle. Repeat with remaining dough. Brush with egg wash and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. These hand pies taste great warm, reheated and also cold.

Notes

Yes, these hand pies require a bit of work, but the good thing is that you can easily make parts in advance. The chicken filling can be made one day in advance, you can also make the pastry dough about a week in advance if keeping it in the fridge or you can freeze it for up to three months. The prepared hand pies can be baked when frozen, baking time may increase but you can also heat them up once made.

Handliche Mini-Pies mit Hähnchenfüllung

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2 Comments

  • Reply
    zorra
    Wednesday March 6th, 2019 at 01:08 PM

    Wie hübsch und der richtige Partyfood für den Event! Danke fürs Mitmachen.

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Wednesday March 6th, 2019 at 06:15 PM

      Sehr gern und nochmal Hochachtung, dass du schon so lange dabei bist und immer noch fleißig Blogevents organisierst!

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