These ham and cheese hand pies are a delightful party snack or easy weeknight dinner idea. Made with a simple homemade crust, cheddar cheese and ham!
Let’s Make Ham and Cheese Hand Pies
You are going to absolutely love how tasty and easy these ham and cheese hand pies are to make. But we’re not skipping the homemade crust! Trust us, this crust uses simple ingredients and is perfectly flakey and foolproof. Fill it with ham and cheese, and voila! Ham and cheese hand pies.
why you’ll love ’em!
Easy prep: whip together a batch (or two!) of these ham and cheese hand pies with easy peasy prep.
Basic ingredients: this hand pie recipe is made with less than 10 ingredients.
Easy to freeze: batch make this recipe and freeze them to enjoy later.
Ingredients for Ham and Cheese Hand Pies
Crust
- All-purpose flour: we do not recommend swapping this flour for another variety as we have not tested it!
- Salt: don’t skip the salt! It brings out the flavor of this flakey hand pie crust.
- Unsalted butter: you’ll dice the butter into large pieces and cut the butter into the flour — this will help give your crust a yummy flakey texture!
- Cold water: you’ll want to use COLD water to prevent the butter from melting at all.
- Egg: you’ll whisk an egg and then brush it on the outside of your hand pies before baking to get that perfectly golden brown crust.
Filling
- Diced ham: got leftover ham? Dice it up for these hand pies! If not, store-bought diced ham will work just as well.
- Diced cheddar cheese: Pepper jack or other similarly firm cheeses could be substituted for the cheddar cheese. We do not recommend American cheese — it completely liquifies when baked.
How to Make Ham and Cheese Hand Pies
Make the dough
Add the flour, butter, and salt into a large bowl. Using a dough cutter, cut the butter into the flour until it is crumbly.
Add the water to the flour mixture, and using a rubber spatula or your hands, bring the dough together forming a ball. Form a disk with the dough and wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Roll Out dough
Roll the dough out into a rough 12×12-inch rectangle and fold it in half. Roll the folded dough into another rough rectangle and fold again. Continue this process until you have completed 6 folds. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.
Assemble Hand pies
Roll the dough out to a 12×12-inch rectangle. Cut it into 4 evenly sized pieces. On one side of the hand pie, place the diced ham and cheddar cheese.
Dip your finger or a pastry brush into a bowl of water and trace around the edges of each hand pie. This will help seal each hand pie. Fold the hand pies closed and pinch all around the edges to seal.
Bake hand pies
Brush the tops with the egg wash and bake until lightly golden.
Top Tips for Ham and Cheese Hand Pies
- If you substitute for store bought crust: our recipe uses a homemade puff pastry. If you use a store-bought crust instead, check the oven temperature and baking times as it might differ from ours.
- If you substitute the cheddar cheese: pepper jack or other similarly firm cheeses could be substituted for the cheddar. We do not recommend processed cheeses like American cheese, as it will completely liquify and leak out of your hand pies when baking.
FAQs
What is a hand pie?
A hand pie is a pastry filled with either savory or sweet ingredients and baked. It gets its name from being able to hold and eat them with your hand.
What is the difference between a hand pie and a turnover?
Turnovers are made from a folded piece of dough while most hand pies are either circular or square and pressed closed on all sides.
How do you seal hand pies?
In this recipe, we seal our hand pies by brushing with an egg wash and then pressing closed around the edges using a fork or your fingers to ensure a tight seal.
Storage
Let your hand pies cool completely before placing them in an airtight container. They will last 5-7 days in the refrigerator.
To freeze these hand pies, place them in a freezer safe container or bag after they have cooled. Freeze them for up to 3 months!
Ham and Cheese Hand Pies
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter diced into large pieces
- ⅓ cup cold water
- 4 oz. diced ham
- 4 oz. diced cheddar cheese (~1 cup)
- 1 large egg whisked
Instructions
- Add the flour, butter, and salt into a large bow. Using a dough cutter, cut the butter into the flour until it is crumbly.
- Add the water to the flour mixture. Using a rubber spatula, bring the dough together forming a ball. If the dough is not quite forming a ball, you can use your hands to bring it all together. Form a disk with the dough and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Next, remove the dough from the fridge and lightly flour your work surface. Roll the dough out into a rough 12×12-inch rectangle and fold it in half. Roll the folded dough into another rough rectangle and fold again. Continue this process until you have completed 6 folds. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.
- When the dough is ready, gather your filling.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Roll the dough out to a 12×12-inch rectangle. Cut it into 4 evenly sized pieces.
- On one side of the hand pie, place the diced ham and cheddar cheese.
- Dip your finger or a pastry brush into a bowl of water and trace around the edges of each hand pie. This will help seal each hand pie.
- Fold the hand pies closed and pinch all around the edges to seal. We like to pull and fold over the ends to ensure everything is fully closed.
- Brush the tops with the egg wash and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Tips & Notes
- This recipe uses a homemade puff pastry. If store bought is substituted, check the oven temperature and baking times for variations.
- Pepper jack or other similarly firm cheeses could be substituted for the cheddar. We do not recommend American cheese. It completely liquifies.
So fun! We used store bought puff pastry and followed the baking time on the box and they turned out great.