Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies

I remember this one time after college I ended up in Alaska with a friend.... it was summer, so there was an abundance of daytime, so the plants in her grandma's garden were growing like wild.  She had a rhubarb plant in her yard that was the size of a hedge!  So naturally, she fed us a bunch of delicious basked goods with rhubarb in them.

Anyways, there was a birthday on my team at work, and as per tradition I came prepared with a favorite baked good to celebrate.  When I heard their favorite was pie with rhubarb, I knew I had to try to make it.

I'd never bought rhubarb before, so I had to ask where to find it in the produce section.  They had it cut (the leaves are toxic!) and placed next to their partner in crime, strawberries.  Yum!

In case you don't know what rhubarb looks like, red stalks.

SUGAR!  This photo is the batch that later turned to soup.

I started with a recipe I found in my Woman's Day magazine, replacing raspberries with strawberries and cooking the mixture.  Well, that turned into soup (instead of thick filling... I think the strawberries had more water than raspberries would have) so I started from scratch with a new recipe I found online.  I cheated a little bit... I used a mini food processor to chop the fruit up, and a store-bought refrigerated pie crust to cut down the amount of work.

These little pies were a hit!  They were tart and delicious, and not overly sweet.  Aside from pumpkin pie, I tend to stay away from making pie in general, mostly out of pie crust frustrations.  But I may have to try my hand at more pies in the future, since they feel a little less naughty than cupcakes.

Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies

adapted from Southern Living

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups rhubarb, finely diced

1 1/2 cups strawberries, finely diced

2 T. cornstarch

4 T. sugar

Egg, beaten, for egg wash

Refrigerated Pie Crust, rolled to 1/8" thick (or make your own!)

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 375*F.

2.  Combine the rhubarb, strawberries, cornstarch, and sugar in a medium sized bowl.

3.  Use a biscuit cutter to cut circles of pie crust, two per pie.  Cut a small "x" in the circles that will top the pie.

4.  Scoop a rounded teaspoon of filling onto the bottom pie circle, then top with "x" circle.  Use egg wash to seal, and a fork to crimp around the edges.

5.  Place pies onto cookie sheet (I sprayed mine with cooking spray) and brush egg wash over tops.

6.  Bake for ~18 minutes or until the tops look nice and golden.

7.  Cool for 10 minutes before serving.