Vegan Mini Raspberry Fig Hand Pies

I love any sort of pie with a flaky crust, filled with fruit, and sometimes I just want a little 2 bite serving.  Enter: the mini hand pie.  I kind of wanted pie, and I kind of wanted cookies, so I made little pies that were the size of cookies.  Mini hand pies.  2-4 bites of deliciousness.  I was craving something with jammy raspberries, but the dried figs I had bought were amazing too, so I made a raspberry fig filling. It was so sweet on its own, it didn't even need any other ingredients!  I had extra and I ended up using it as a delicious jam.

For the crusts, I used my usual gluten free pie crust enhanced with a bit of pecan butter along with the coconut oil for a nice rich, nutty tasting dough.  It was delicious.  I cut the dough out into little hearts, and I felt kind of like a little girl playing with play dough.  Although a bit more careful since pie dough is more fragile.  I made the hearts into little mini pies, popped them into the oven, and they smelled amazing.

They turned out so cute and really they were easier to make than they probably look.  The filling was sweet and delicious and the crust flaky.  As I stood in my warm kitchen watching the sparkly snowflakes trickle to the ground outside and enjoyed my warm pie, I was happy.

Vegan Mini Raspberry Fig Hand Pies

Makes 18

Crust:
2 1/2 cups all purpose gluten free flour
1/4 cup coconut sugar or maple sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp coconut oil in its solid state
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp pecan butter
about 6-7 Tbsp cold water (or as needed)

Filling:
2 cups raspberries
1 cup dried figs, soaked in water for 45 minutes, and drained

To make the crust, in a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, sea salt, and spices. Cut in coconut oil with a pastry blender or 2 knives until it is in pea sized pieces. Mix in  just enough water to create a smooth dough that holds together but isn't too sticky. Add more water if needed, and knead slightly until a smooth dough is created. Roll out into a large rectangle 1/8 inch thick using parchment underneath and floured rolling pin, and cut into 36 hearts with a cookie cutter. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To make filling, combine raspberries and figs in a blender, and blend until smooth (if you prefer it a little sweeter add a tsp or two of maple syrup, but I like mine as is because the fruit is pretty sweet). Spoon the filling by the tsp onto half of the prepared little crust hearts, and cover with the top pieces of dough (I used a small spatula to carefully move them), pressing the edges and crimping with a fork. Bake for about 30 minutes until the crusts are starting to brown lightly. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack until warm.