Baker Mama Love: Marion Berry Hand Pies

I went berry picking the other day and I wasn't very successful. The heat wave we had a couple of days ago must have killed all of the flowers. Husband loves berry pies and I was hoping to get enough to make one for him. Well, I didn't get very many and they were small berries at that. I decided that the tiny berries I picked would be great in hand pies. Hand pies have been a fascination of mine What better time than now to try making some?

Husband loved them. He got home when they were hot out of the oven and very quickly there were only two left. I thought I would get more pictures of these beauties but they disappeared before I got a chance!

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 1/2 cups marion berries
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold water

Mix sugar and corn starch. Mix in berries and heat on medium, stirring frequently until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for one minute. Remove from the heat and allow to cool as you make the crusts.

I made my own very simple butter crust. If pie crust seems to difficult you could buy pre-made crust. (Remember, "easy as pie" makes sense because pie is so easy compared to other baked goods!) To make my crust, mix the flour and salt together. Cut in your softened butter into your flour mixture. You should end up with bits of dough the size of small peas. Mix in the water a little bit at a time until it all sticks together.

Divide your dough into four pieces. Roll one piece out into a circle. Place it on a cookie sheet. Spoon some berry filling into the center and quickly fold the dough over.

Use a fork to press down on the edges to seal your pie. Repeat for the remaining pies. I didn't make perfect circles so I trimmed the edges of my pies with a knife.