I have had a shit ton of rhubarb in the freezer all winter and the other day I just needed it gone so I made a big old batch of rhubarb jam. I was actually saving the rhubarb to make the mr a pie for his birthday, but that was like 2 months ago and he ended up with ice cream sandwiches and that is why the rhubarb was still there. Oops. But now we have rhubarb jam. And I think I was feeling a little guilty about not making the pie so I, like the nicest girlfriend in the entire universe (self proclaimed yes, but so so true), used that jam to make little hand pies. And in the shape of hearts no less because hearts are amazing and it doesn't hurt that it is Valentine Day next week.
Valentines Day. What does that even mean? I think the primary meaning of Valentines Day is that all things should be in the shape of hearts. The rest is to be determined by however you may feel about the day. Whether you hate it or love it, (we love it, It's an excuse to take the day off and cover the house in hearts) you get to make the day yours. Just make sure that whatever you do, you make it with hearts. And with pie.
These heart pies make for great little additions to hand made Valentines day cards ( I see maybe for a kids class), are great for breakfast because they are basically just like heart shaped pop tarts, or even for an evening of bindge watching Netflix with a loved one or by yourself. It's pie my friends. Eat it whenever, and with whomever you want.
Also, hearts are not just for Valentines Day. And pie sure the hell isn't either. They both just happen to work for the occasion.
The stuff. Basically just pie crust things. Flour, a little sugar, salt, coconut oil, and ice water. Then you need jam. Jam or perseveres of any flavor(s) you like. I used grape and rhubarb and had raspberry here, but I didn't use it because I didn't want to open it.
Make the crust. Flour gets mixed with the salt and sugar and the the coconut oil gets cut in until it looks all crumbly.
The water is added in tablespoons until a shaggy from forms.
Dump the dough onto the counter to gather all together and rest for a bit. Or if you like, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for up to a day or two.
After the dough got a good rest, roll it out and cut your hearts out. (Not your actual heart. Please and thank you)
Half of the hearts get a dollop of jam
Then each heart gets a top and crimped together with a fork. Poke a little hole into the tops to allow for steam to escape then all of the hearts get stuck into the fridge (or place on the back porch) to get nice and cold for a bit.
After the chill, off they go into the hot oven to bake and be.
Look at these cuties. A little jam overflow, but all is good.
I decided last minute that they needed a little something. Powdered sugar, lime zest, and lime juice. The easiest of glazes. You could do lemon, or vanilla, or almond, or even melt a little chocolate and drizzle that on. Next time I will do chocolate because because.
Drizzle that glaze all over.
There you have it. The cutest little hand pies ever .
Share if you like, or just eat them all. They are your hearts so do what you will.
-C
Jam Heart Hand Pies
makes 18 three inch pies
- 2 1/4 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salr
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 8 tablespoons ice water
- 3/4 cup solid coconut oil
- about 1 1/4 cups of some sweet ass jam (any kind you have)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 lemon or lime
Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. add coconut oil in large chunks then with a pastry cutter or a fork (I used a fork) cut the oil into the flour until the flour looks crumbly and there are lots of tiny little chunks of coconut oil throughout the mixture. Add in 5 of the tablespoons ice water, toss around, then add in another 3. Mix around until the dough starts to come together when squished. If it still seems too dry, add in a tablespoon or 2 more water. (I always end up using a little more in the winter months) You want the dough to just be able to come together. Dump dough onto counter and press and smoosh dough into a ball. Let dough sit for 1/2 hour or wrap in plastic and place in fridge and using within the next day or two.
After the dough has had some time to sit, flour the counter and roll it out to about 1/2 inch thick. Take a cookie cutter ( I used a 3 inch at the widest part heart cookie cutter) and cut out the hearts (or whatever shape you want) Make sure you have 2 cutouts for each hand pie. After you have cut out as many as you can, gather dough into a ball and roll out again. Repeat until dough it gone.
To assemble.
Place a tablespoon of jam into the middle of half of the cut out hearts . Gently place the remaining heart cut outs on top of those. . Take a fork and press the edges together and then with the fork or a knife, pierce of cut a small slit into the tops to allow the steam to escape while baking. I did this directly on the baking sheet but found out after it was easier to do on the counter and then move it to the baking sheet. Do what ever it easier for you. Once they are all assembled and on the baking sheet, refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350
After the time in the fridge, remove and place directly into the hot oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the bottoms are a nice golden brown. The tops will be slightly pale so check the bottoms.
Remove and let cool on the baking sheet.
While they are cooing, make the glaze. Zest the lime and juice the lime and combine with the sugar. If it is too runny, add a little more sugar, too dry, add in a splash of water. Once the pies are cooled, drizzle each one with icing.
Now you have a bunch of cute little heart shaped hand pies and you should probably eat one (or a few)
I swear I didn't plan this, but today is officially Pi Day! Pi being the mathematical constant of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its dimeter (did I say that right?) 3.1415…… And today's date is 3.14.15. 
The chilled pie crust gets rolled out, placed into a pie plate, trimmed and made all pretty. The bottom is sprinkled with a 1/4 cup of sugar and stuck back into the fridge while the oven preheats to 350. Now is a good time to dice the rhubarb into inchish chunks. Once the oven is preheated, remove crust from fridge and add in the diced rhubarb.
The remaining sugar and flour get mixed together in a bowl and dump on top of the rhubarb. Give it a tiny toss with you fingers just to get some of the mixture to sink down a little. (Don't worry, the filling will be perfect when you do it like this) I also cut up the pie crust trimmings and placed on top… not necessary, but looks pretty and is a good use of the scraps.
And then you take it from the oven and marvel at the beauty.