Fall has always been my favourite time of the year. From the colours, to the crisp air, to the rustic baking and home cooked meals, it makes me have all the feels.
This is also the time of year the fresh local prune plums are available. We grew up with a prune plum tree or two in our yard and one of my fondest memory every Fall was the Plum Pierogi’s my mom would make. Sometimes I’d try to eat twenty of them in one serving (it’s true). Of course she made other pierogi’s too, but these were and remain my all time favourite.
If you can’t find prune plums, use whatever plums are in season in your local grocery store. Plums are an excellent stone fruit to have around. They are full of antioxidants giving them their colour, they become prunes aka dried plums and are heart healthy and low in calories!
We are in the kitchen working with Feel Good Syrup this month to create another delicious recipe using their Elderberry Syrup. Last month we made No Bake Elderberry Syrup Power Balls just in time for back to school lunches.
You can bake and cook with the Feel Good Syrup or you can take it by the spoonful to help with colds and the flu. We always keep a bottle on hand for those moments well feel the sick coming on as a preventative maintenance!
I’ve had hand pies in my thoughts lately plus a basket of prune plums in the fridge meant for pierogi. Thinking about the plum flavours inspired me to create these plum hand pies. Our typical hand pie recipe calls for pie dough however these plum hand pies are made using puff pastry, an easier way to go.
Frozen puff pastry is a kitchen lifesaver and ingredient you can be thaw and use in many recipes making you look like a rock star. It’s buttery, flaky and crispy when baked and an easy solution when you do not want to make pie dough. There are two sheets of puff pastry in a package which will make a total of six decent sized hand pies.
- 2 cups prune plums, stone removed and diced
- ¼ cup Feel Good Elderberry Syrup
- 2 tbsp plum jam
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 package puff pastry thawed
- 1 egg, beaten
- In a bowl mix together plums, syrup, jam, cinnamon, sugar and salt. Once combined mix in cornstarch and set aside.
- Unwrap and unroll puff pastry. Lay flat. Cut each sheet into six relatively equal rectangles giving you a total of 12.
- Lay 6 puff pastry rectangles on a baking sheet lined with parchment. On each rectangle spoon a good serving of the plum filling. Do this with all six rectangles. Don't worry if the filling spills over the edge.
- Place the remaining pieces of puff pastry over each piece to cover. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal in all the filling. Don't worry if it oozes out. Chill the pies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 375 F.
- Remove hand pies from refrigerator and brush egg on each one. Make two slits on top to allow steam to escape.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove pies from oven and allow to cool in pan. Enjoy immediately or once cool wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in refrigerator for up to five days.
We are working in collaboration with Feel Good Syrup on this post. All opinions, views expressed and recipe development are, as always, my own.
