Puff pastry makes these handheld cherry pies a piece of cake pie to prepare.
GUESS WHAT. I made little handheld pies! And I have to say/type that these simple cherry pastry pies are my favorite dessert of the summer. That says a lot considering s’mores tartlets.
So about the pastry pies. They’re hand pies! And also sort of like toaster strudels, which is enough reason to make a mad dash to the kitchen like, right now. But what makes them even better than store-bought toaster strudels is that the filling is made from actual real fruit. Summer sweet cherries to be exact.
We’re using frozen puff pastry today. Store-bought puff pastry is a lifesaver in the kitchen. Buttery, crisp, flaky, and convenient all in one. One package of puff pastry comes with 2 sheets. You’re going to cut each sheet into 6 rectangles, like so:
So, you’ll end up with 12 rectangles. 6 will be the bottoms of the pastry pies and 6 will be the top. Following?
Now you’ll layer on a homemade cherry filling. The great thing about this filling is not only are you using real cherries, you can use frozen cherries. Making my adorable cherry pastry pies a year-round treat.
Now, layer the remaining rectangles on top. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal all that cherry goodness inside. Which will still likely ooze out a little. Embrace the slight spillage. It’s yum.
The cherry pastry pies turn a beautiful golden brown as they bake. Before going into the oven, brush them with a little egg wash, which gives the tops a beautiful sheen. A sprinkle of coarse sugar adds a little sparkle.
Clearly, a necessity in my kitchen.
Since they’re sort of like toaster strudels—and totally like pop-tarts too—I’m having one for breakfast to shake up my very blah morning. If you are in more of a pop tart mood you can (and should!) try my chocolate pop tarts or brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts!
If you love baking with cherries, you’ll also love my cherry pie, cherry pie bars, cherry almond linzer cookies, and cherry pastry pies.
PrintSimple Cherry Pastry Pies
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 6 pies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
The shortcut is in the frozen puff pastry!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 box (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, thawed in the refrigerator*
- egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 2 teaspoons milk
- coarse sugar for garnish
Filling
- 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons room temperature water
- 12-ounce bag frozen cherries OR 2 and 1/4 cups (500g) fresh cherries, pitted and stemmed
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the filling: Mix the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl until combined and milky. Set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine the cherries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, cook over medium heat until the cherries begin to release their juices—about 4-6 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch mixture, then bring to a boil while stirring often. Once boiling, let boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat then stir in the vanilla. Allow to cool completely at room temperature. The filling can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. On a lightly floured surface, lay out one pastry sheet. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut sheet into 6 rectangles. 3 of these rectangles will be the bottom pastry pie crust, 3 will be the top. Transfer the 3 bottom rectangles to the prepared baking sheet. (Make sure there will room for all 6 pastry pies—if not, use a second baking sheet.) Using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the bottom rectangles with the egg wash. Spoon 2-3 Tablespoons of cooled cherry mixture onto each of the 3 bottom rectangles. Place the top rectangles over the cherry filling, lining up the edges as best you can. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal shut. Repeat this entire step with 2nd pastry sheet so you have a total of 6 pastry pies. Slice 2-3 slits in the tops for air vents (use a super sharp knife to do that). Use my photos in this post to help guide you in this step.
- Brush the tops of the pastry pies with egg wash, then sprinkle with coarse sugar. Chill the pies in the refrigerator for at least 25 minutes or up to 1 day.
- During the last few minutes of chill time, preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Bake the pastry pies for 30-35 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Make sure to rotate the baking sheet once or twice during bake time. Remove pies from the oven and allow to cool on the pan until ready to handle and serve. Wrap each leftover pastry pie up tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The filling can be made up to 5 days ahead of time; see step 1. The pastry pies can be assembled up to 1 day ahead of time; see step 3. You can also prepare and bake the pastry pies in advance and store the baked pastry pies in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat in the microwave or a 300°F (149°C) oven for 20 minutes before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Medium Saucepan | Rubber Spatula or Wooden Spoon | Baking Sheet | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Pastry Brush
- Puff Pastry: I always use Pepperidge Farm brand frozen puff pastry. It’s the perfect balance of buttery, flaky, and crispy without being greasy. Always thaw it in the refrigerator. I recommend thawing overnight.
Hi Sally,
I’d love to make this recipe, however, frozen puff pastry is not available in my country (India) and it would be awesome if you could share a from scratch puff pastry recipe.
I usually follow your recipes rather than any other because they come out perfect!
Hi Gloria, This is my Homemade Danish Pastry Dough or you can use homemade pie crust to make these apple hand pies.
Excellent! Made 18 small turnovers by cutting each puff pastry sheet into 9 squares. Used scant one T filling on each. Folded over to make triangles. Baked for 15-18 mins at 375. Calories =144.
I didn’t see the need for the step to refrigerate the assembled pies for one day before baking. It seems to me this would make the bottom soggy. I totally skip this step, and they worked wonderfully
Can the pastry filling be frozen by itself before making the pies?
Definitely. Up to 3 months. Thaw completely (or only slightly until spoon-able) before using.
Sally, could these be made using dried tart cherries, perhaps soaked in orange juice for a little while? Please advise. Thanks!
I can’t see why not!
Just put these together and can’t wait to bake !!!! First time using puff pastry….. I’ve been watching great British bake show and couldn’t wait to try my hand at puff …..
These really are beautiful, easy and tasty! I agree they’re a bit sweet for my taste. Next time I’ll only use maybe 1/3 c. sugar. I also added 1/2 t. almond extract, as it really brings out the cherry flavor. Great recipe. Definitely a keeper!
Made this last night YUM, so delicious definitely keeping this recipe!
Aaaand they were delicious! Like a cherry toaster strudel. Will make these again!
Hi! If I make this with sour cherries, could I skip the lemon juice or is that an important part of the filling combination of ingredients? Or are there otherwise any adjustments you would recommend for using sour cherries instead of the traditional sweet dark red ones?
Hi Ania! If using sour cherries, you can skip the lemon juice. No other changes needed to the recipe– there’s plenty of sugar if you use the sour cherries!
So happy you made them! I bet your kitchen smells AMAZING!
I am wondering if you could use the same filling recipe for blueberries or strawberries.
Sure can!
I’m confused! Liked how easy recipe seemed, and my husband loves cherry pie desserts, so I bought Pepperidge Farms Puffed Pastry as you recommended, and they indeed “puffed” to a good 2” tall!! Nothing like the pocket pies in your pics, seems like regular pie crust would’ve been best??
Hi Kristine! I use puff pastry for these pies, but pie crust works as well. If you decide to try them again, feel free to roll out the puff pastry so it’s a little thinner– and therefore won’t rise as tall!
Can I use canned strawberries or cherries for this recipe?
Absolutely!
I made these today and they are awesome.
What size or thickness to roll each pastry sheet? I imagine if they are too thick, they won’t bake up properly.
Hi Leanne! The puff pastry stays the same thickness as it is sold.
Made these today! Yummy. Used tinned cherries (my own cherries are still ripening on the trees and I couldn’t wait to make these!), to make filling, ended up using about 3/4 c of drained juice, other than that made as written. Kids devoured them!
I love your website, Sally. I have a question about the cherries. They look like dark sweet cherries. Ate they? Thanks,
They are, but you can use any cherries you love best.
Made these today and they turned out awesome! I do have some leftover, though, and wondering if you’ve tried reheating them after a day in the fridge. I assume just a few minutes in the oven would be enough to crisp them up?
The first time I baked these, the puff pastry puffed up way too much; I’ll try to cut more slits into the pies before baking next time, per your advice in the comments section. For my second try, I used store bought pie dough and the finished hand pies looked like the pies in your photos.
I brought a double batch (half with fresh cherry filling and half with fresh blueberry) to a pot luck cookout. When I went to get one about ten minutes after setting them out, they were all gone! Just crumbs in the basket. I had a group of people around me asking for the recipe! Thanks, and I look forward to trying more of your recipes 🙂
I saved this recipe a while back because I love cherry pie but I had never gotten around to making it. I was looking through my pins yesterday trying to come up with a blackberry recipe (we have a crazy amount of wild blackberries bushes and I am starting to run out of things to do with them) when I came upon this recipe. After seeing it I thought to myself I bet I could make it with blackberries instead. They turned out amazing. The filling was awesome and my husband decided this was the best blackberry recipe yet.
I bet they’re SO good with blackberries! Great thinking.
These looked nothing like the picture. The pastry crust puffed up so much that these were about 2 inches thick. Also, the sauce to the cherries never set up or thickened so it made filling the pastries more difficult. So underwhelmed with these!
Hi Alexis, slits should decrease how much the pastry rises. Did you cut slits for ventilation?
Could I use raspberries in my filling instead? These look so good! I love your blog!
You sure can! Same amount.
Sally, love this recipe so easy. Have used cherry pie filling before but this is so much better. This is the second time I have made them. Also used my own homemade vanilla extract. Thank you for your amazing recipes,they always enspire me. ☺
I bet they’re amazing with homemade vanilla extract.
I saw that you said you can make these ahead of time, which would be fantastic for what I am planning. You didn’t find that the puff pastry got soggy with the pie filling? I want to prep these before a dinner party I am throwing so that I can just pop them in the oven while we are eating dinner so that they will be ready for dessert. You didn’t have any issues with soggy puff pastry even when doing them a day ahead of time?
Not soggy at all. They’re so crisp after being in the oven. That’s the magic of puff pastry!
I don’t like canned cherry pie filling. This is the first time I made homemade, what a difference!! These are awesome!! My family loved them! I’ve tried several recipes from your website & have loved them all! Keep ’em coming! Thanks!
For the filling can you use another fruit like say peaches? And how would you make a filling using peaches?
I’m new to baking so still testing the waters so to speak 🙂
Without testing anything myself, I’m unsure off the top of my head. Try searching for a homemade peach filling recipe online. I’m sure there are some fabulous options!
I always have trouble with puff pastry cooking through. The underside always comes out underdone and soggy. My oven temp is accurate (verified with a seperate oven thermometer). Any recommendation other than “cook it longer” (which I do but it makes me crazy to cook things for twice as long as the recipe indicates)?
You can easily flip these over halfway through bake time.
Wow, these look great! I love the idea of using lemon juice in the filling. I’m wondering if you would recommend baking these before I try your Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tart recipe?
Either would be great to try. These are definitely a little easier!
What about some kind of little sandwiches. Like ham and cheese….using the puff pastry?
Do you think these could be frozen for later use? I guess you would have to be careful with using things that might secrete liquid when they bake?
Susan– see make ahead tip for freezing. And ham and cheese puff pastries sound incredible. I’ll have to try something like that!
YUM! These look soo good! They remind me of frozen toaster strudels but so much better cause they’re not frozen.
I’d love to switch the filling for strawberry though; would I need to change the recipe much?
Thanks! 🙂
Nope, just use chopped strawberries instead. Enjoy!