Rustic Savory Breakfast Hand Pies

Who doesn’t love pie? In honor of Pie Day we’re featuring a recipe from our friend Emily at Recipes to Nourish, a wife and mommy who is dedicated to making nourishing food and using safe products for her family.

Rustic Savory Breakfast Hand Pies are a fun and delicious way to enjoy breakfast. These beautiful mini pies are filled with shredded meat, Brussels sprouts, flavorful celery root, sweet apples, vibrant thyme and a hint of maple.

Pies are just one of those things that are celebrated and loved by all. Everyone loves pie!

Most of the time when we hear the word pie, we think of delectable sweet treats like seasonal fruit pies, meringue pies or autumnal/holiday custard filled pies. But pies can be so much more than just sweet.

If you think about it, just about every different culture has their own version of meat stuffed pies or pastries. Latin cultures have empanadas, Eastern European cultures have pirozhki, the French have quiche, the Chinese have bao, and on and on.

So why not enjoy pie for breakfast?!

Savory breakfast hand pies are rather easy to make and so worth the time. All you need to do is make a simple, basic pie dough. Only one layer of dough is needed for each little hand pie. Fill them up with delicious savory goodness and fold the edges of the dough around the filling.

I love making little hand pies instead of large pies because there isn’t as much pressure to roll out a perfect pie crust. Hand pies are meant to be rustic and homey. They don’t need to be perfect and look just as good with imperfections. And most importantly, they’re fun to eat!

These little breakfast hand pies will make your loved ones feel special, cared for and fill their bellies with nourishment.

Ingredients:

For the Pie Crust

- 1 ½ cups cassava flour (my preference) or all-purpose gluten free flour

- 8 tbsp cold or frozen grass-fed butter, cubed (cut into small pieces)

- 2 tbsp organic maple syrup

- 1 pastured or organic egg

- ¼ cup ice cold filtered water

For the Filling

- 1 ½ cups leftover shredded ham, pork, chicken or beef

- 2 tbsp grass-fed butter, ghee or avocado oil

- 15 Brussels sprouts, halved

- 1 small celery root, peeled and diced

- 1 large apple, cored, peeled and diced

- 1 fresh garlic clove, minced

- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

- ½ tsp sea salt

- 6 tbsp organic maple syrup, divided

Instructions:

1. Add the cassava flour and cubed tablespoon pieces of very cold butter to a food processor fitted with a “S” metal blade. Pulse about 10 to 15 times or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the maple syrup and egg through the feed tube, then turn off the motor. Add the cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing about 3 to 5 times between each tablespoon of water, just to make the dough come together (the dough should be moist, but not wet - if the dough looks moist enough, stop adding the water).

2. Pour the dough onto a large piece of unbleached parchment paper. Form the dough into a ball and flatten into a round disc. Place the dough in the freezer while you make the filling.

3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper then set aside.

4. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt healthy fat of choice then add the Brussels sprouts, celery root, apple, garlic, thyme and sea salt. Cook for about 3 minutes, just until everything starts to slightly soften and become fragrant. Remove from the heat, add the shredded meat, give it a stir and set aside.

5. Remove the chilled dough from the freezer. Place the dough on a large piece of parchment paper. Place another large sheet of parchment on top of the dough (this helps keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin). Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a large circle, about 11 to 12” round. Gently remove the top piece of parchment paper. Using a paring knife or a 5-6” circle cookie cutter, cut circles in the dough. Repeat the process until all of the dough is used (I made 6 circles).

6. Spoon about ½ cup of the meat-veggie filling into the center of each pie dough, making sure to leave about 1 ½ to 2 inches of bare dough around the edges. Gently fold and crimp the boarder of the dough over the filling (about 1 ½ to 2”), forming an edge. Don’t worry if the dough breaks some, because it will, just use your fingers to pinch the dough and seal up any tears or significant cracks.

7. Carefully transfer each hand pie to the lined baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of maple syrup over the filling on each hand pie.

8. Bake the hand pies for about 17-20 minutes, until the crust is light golden brown and the filling is tender. Let the hand pies cool on the baking sheet for at least 20 minutes before serving. Set the baking sheet on top of a wire rack to cool quicker.

Notes:

- Yield: 6 mini hand pies

- I used shredded ham for these hand pies because it’s a favorite breakfast meat in my home, but any leftover shredded or pulled meat will work.

- Grain Free Version: These hand pies use my favorite grain free flour, cassava flour. I find that it’s the most similar to regular all-purpose flour. The bonus of this grain free flour is that is has resistant starch. When eaten cool, resistant starch is full of prebiotics that feed probiotics, which helps support digestion and the gut. Cassava flour is not tapioca flour, it’s 100% Yuca, a root vegetable. It’s a whole food; the entire root, minus the peel.

- For a gluten free version use an all-purpose gluten free flour.

- Tip: Look around your kitchen, you might have a container with a lid or a bowl that works perfectly as a circle “cookie cutter”.

Stay tuned for more healthy & yummy recipes from Emily!

About Emily:

Emily Sunwell-Vidaurri is a water kefir and chocolate loving, holistic-minded wife and mom. She’s the founder and voice behind Recipes to Nourish, a gluten free blog focusing on Real Food and Holistic Health. Having her daughters changed her life. She became mindful of everything that went into her body and started eating real food, making home-cooked meals from scratch and living a natural life. As a wife and mommy who is dedicated to making nourishing food and using safe products for her family, she works to empower her readers by showing them that there is a healthier way of eating and living. Her passion and mission is to make healthy, natural living as uncomplicated and enjoyable as possible. Emily lives in California with her husband and two children. Her first cookbook, The Art of Great Cooking With Your Instant Pot releases October 2017. Find Emily’s latest recipes and natural living tips at Recipes to Nourish. Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter plus grab her free eBook Holistic Tips to Keep Your Family Healthy.