These Cherry Bakewell Reindeer Hand Pies make the perfect treat for Christmas. They are vegan, gluten-free and egg-free! A flakey puff pastry is filled with a delicious sweet cherry pie filling, then baked until golden and topped with an almond icing and glaće cherry. How can I forget, they’re also decorated into reindeer with a glaće cherry nose.
Cherry Bakewell Reindeer Hand Pies
You will fall head over heels in love with these cherry bakewell reindeer hand pies, trust me! They are flakey, light, flavourful and super quick and easy to make. They are vegan, gluten-free and egg-free.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- They’re vegan
- They can be made gluten-free
- Easy to make
- Fun to make and decorate
- Minimal prep needed
- Delicious bakewell flavour
- Yummy homemade cherry pie filling is only 4 ingredient
- Only 10 minutes to bake
- Great for kids to decorate
- Fun bake for Christmas
- Great as gifts
What pastry to use?
To make this recipe super quick and easy, I use shop bought puff pastry. I mean, who has the time to make homemade puff pastry at Christmas?! I don’t know about you but I’d rather use shop bought, them have spare time to watch a Christmas film – haha!
My favourite puff pastry is the JusRol Reasy RollPuff Pastry Sheet. It is also vegan friendly. You can also get their gluten-free version which is the one I use for this recipe to make it 100% vegan AND gluten-free!
How to make cherry pie filling
You will jump for joy at the taste of this scrumptious cherry pie filling for these cherry bakewell reindeer hand pies. It’s sweet, juicy and keeps its delicious thickness even when baked!
- You’ll simply add all of the ingredients into a medium sized saucepan and allow to simmer until thickened. You’ll want to stay with the pan and give the mixture a stir every few minutes to prevent any sticking. The mixture will begin to thicken and jellify. It will turn super thick.
- All you’ll need to do once it’s thick, it remove it from the pan and pour into a heat proof bowl to cool down before use. I love this filling so much. It’s versatile and could even be used as a filling for some cupcakes or in the middle of a crumbl cookie.
How to decorate a reindeer pastry
How cute are these pastries.. like seriously. It’s super simple yet effective.
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Once the pastries have baked and cooled, you’ll want to make some icing. All the icing sugar, almond and milk into a bowl and mix until thick. The consistency you’re looking for is to be like a thin tooth paste. When it’s on a spoon, it should drizzle into the bowl, not drip.
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Remove a tablespoons worth of icing and transfer into a separate bowl, colour this with brown food gel. You could even colour this with cocoa powder. You want a light brown colour. Transfer this into a piping bag and snip off the tip.
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Transfer into a piping bag, snip off the tip and pipe the white icing all over the pastries. While the icing is still wet, press on a glaće cherry for the reindeer nose.
Tools you’ll need to make these cherry bakewell hand pies:
This recipe is easy and doesn’t require many tools at all which is always amazing! I have linked the tools I used to help make this recipe below:
Tips and tricks
- Don’t use too much filling. Each hand pie one only needs around a tablespoon of filling. Otherwise it might ooze out the sides of the pastry when baking.
- Remove the pie crust from the fridge 5-10 minutes before rolling. Allowing it come to room temperature softens the pastry so it’s less likely to tear when you roll it.
- Brush the edges of the pastry around the filling with some dairy-free milk before adding on the other pastry shape. This will seal in the filling and prevent any oozing.
- Flavour the icing with some almond extract to give it a classic cherry bakewell flavour.
Recipe FAQ
Is this recipe vegan friendly?
It sure is! The pastry, filing and icing doesn’t require any animal based ingredients. I use a vegan and gluten-free puff pastry from JusRol also. Just make sure to check every single ingredient you use to make sure they are 100% vegan!
Can I make this recipe gluten-free?
YES! The only gluten that would be found in this recipe is the pastry. Thankfully there are gluten-free puff pastry! I use JusRol Ready to roll gluten-free puff pastry. It’s light, flakey and delicious! Again, just triple check all ingredients you use are gluten-free to make sure the recipe is 100% gluten-free.
Can I make this recipe with other flavours of pie filling?
Of course you can! This cherry bakewell hand pie recipe is delicious with just about any flavour pie! Apple, Blackberry, raspberry, peach or even a vegan Nutella would be amazing!
Can you freeze hand pies? Before or after baking?
Yes, this hand pie recipe is freezer friendly. I prefer to freeze them after baking without the icing on, then ice them once they are fully defrosted. Keep frozen and enjoy within 1-2 months.
Can I make fruit hand pies ahead of time?
These cherry hand pies taste best if eaten fresh same day they are made. You can keep them covered at room temperature for the first day. After that, transfer the hand pies into a sealed container in the fridge and store for up to 2-3 days.
Looking for more christmas recipes? Check these out:
Vegan Melting Snowman Pop Tarts
How to make a Giant Vegan Mince Pie
No-Bake Vegan White Chocolate Snowman Cheesecakes
‘Super popular’ Vegan Polar Bear Cupcakes
Easy Vegan Gingerbread man Cupcakes
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram and Facebook!
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Cherry Bakewell Reindeer Hand Pies
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Vegan Cherry Hand Pies are shaped like Reindeer for the holiday season! You only need a few ingredients to make festive hand pies with a flaky crust, juicy filling and sweet topping.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the pastry
- 2 sheets of JusRol Ready Roll Puff Pastry (Vegan + gluten-free)
- Dairy-free milk (for glaze)
Ingredients for the cherry filling
- 200g of frozen cherries
- 90g of caster sugar
- 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of cornflour/ cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Ingredients for the icing
- 100g of icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon of almond extract
- 1/2 tablespoon of dairy-free milk
- Brown food gel
Instructions
Method (cherry pie filling)
- Place the cherries into a medium-sized saucepan and sprinkle over the sugar, cornflour / cornstarch and lemon juice.
- Place on top onto the hob over a medium to high heat and bring to the boil. This will take around 5-8 minutes. Keep stirring with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon to prevent the mixture from sticking and burning, being careful not to burst the cherries too much as you want some to stay whole. It will start to turn thick. Once thick, remove from the heat and allow to cool before using. As it cools, it will thicken up even more and turn jelly-like.
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. As the pie filling cools, it’ll turn thick. If this happens, give it a gentle stir before using.
Method (pastry and assemble)
- Preheat oven to 200°C fan and line 2 large baking trays with grease proof paper.
- Unroll the pastry sheet leaving in baking paper. Use a rolling pin to slightly flatten out any wrinkles in the pastry.
- Using a large gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut out your shapes. Roll out the scraps to cut out a few more shapes.
- Transfer these pastry shapes to the refrigerator while you cut out the other sheet.
- Turn the gingerbread man upside down so ‘legs become for the antlers’. This is what creates the reindeer shape. make sure they are spaced out on the tray as the pastry will puff up.
- Fill the center of half of the shapes with a tablespoon of the cherry pie filling, leaving a small border around the edge.
- Brush the edges with dairy-free milk and place another shape on top to sandwich in the filling.
- Dip a fork in some flour and crimp the edges of the pastry together (watch the tutorial here). This prevents the filling from oozing out when baking.
- Brush the top of each pastry with some dairy-free milk.
- Place the tray one at a time in the oven and bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until the pastry is golden in colour.
- Once fully baked, remove the tray from the oven and place the other tray in to bake and repeat.
Method (icing)
- In a small bowl, sift in the icing sugar and add in the almond extract and milk. You want the icing to be a little thinner than tooth paste consistency. You might need to add in a splash of more milk.
- Remove a small amount of the icing and transfer into a separate bowl. You want the majority of the icing to be left plain white. Colour the icing with a dot of brown food gel. Transfer into a piping bag and snip off the tip.
- Transfer the white icing to a piping bag and snip off the tip. Pipe white icing over the top of the entire pastry, and press on a glaće cherry for the reindeer nose while the icing is still wet. Allow this to set for 5- 10 minutes.
- Once set, using the brown icing, pipe on two small dots about the nose for the eyes and antlers. Allow to this dry / set for a further 5 minutes.
Notes
To store: Store the pastries in the fridge in a sealed container. Allow to come to room temperature before enjoying. Best enjoyed within 4 days of making.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10-12 minutes
- Category: Tarts and pies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
