Receive your own letter into Hogwarts with these fun Harry Potter Letter Pastries! Okay, well not an actual letter into Hogwarts, but a delicious cherry pastry! These Harry Potter Letter hand pies are made to look like Harry’s Hogwart’s letter, complete with an edible Hogwarts chocolate “wax seal”. Vegan ,easy to make, fun for the Holidays!
Harry Potter Letter Hand Pies
A dream of mine is to wake up one morning to a letter through the post, welcoming me to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Wasn’t that everyones dream growing up!? Now you can ‘theoretically’ with these homemade Hogwarts letters. Buttery shortcrust pastry is filled with a sweet cherry pie filling topped with a dusting of icing sugar and a chocolate seal. They are easy to make, simple, yet super effective, and did I mention tasty? A great festive treat to make while watching Harry Potter movie marathon with candles burning and a glass of Butterbeer. Doesn’t that sound perfect?!
If you’re looking for more Harry Potter inspired treats, check out my Vegan Broomstick Pastries, Sorting Hat Cupcakes and Harrys Chocolate Birthday Cake.
Why you’ll love these hand pies:
- Vegan.
- Super easy to make.
- Delicious.
- Melt in the mouth pastry.
- Easy to find / simple ingredients.
- Can be made gluten-free by swapping to a GF flour blend.
- Fun to make.
- Great for Halloween.
- They make great party food.
- Perfect for a Potter fan!
- One ingredient filling.
- Tasty snack.
- It’s a great way to use up any left over jam.
- Great served with a butterbeer for a Harry Potter movie marathon.
Ingredients for Harry Potter Letter Hand Pies:
I wanted to make this recipe as simple, quick and easy as possible, so I used my go-to shortcrust pastry which is only 4 ingredients, along with a 1 ingredient filling and a sugar dusting with chocolate detailing. They couldn’t be easier to make! This is what you’ll need:
- Plain flour : As we don’t need the pastry to rise unlike cake or cupcakes, plain flour is great! You can also make this recipe gluten-free by using a gluten-free plain flour blend. I recommend Doves Farm.
- Caster sugar : Fine caster sugar add’s sweetness, and also helps to bind the pastry. To help the pastry turn golden and have a delicious crisp top, you can sprinkle over some sugar before baking.
- Dairy-free block butter : Cold butter directly from the fridge helps to create the perfect, buttery pastry. My favourite vegan butters are Naturli Vegan Block and Flora Plant Block Alternative.
- Ice-water : To make ice-water, pour water in a bowl and add in a few ice cubes. Stir, and allow to sit for a few minutes so the water turns really cold. Now the water is perfect to use in the pastry. Using ice water helps to keep the fat cold so it doesn’t melt. If the fat ends up melting before the pastry is baked, it’s absorbed into the flour and won’t produce a flakey pastry.
- Cherry jam / conserve : You can use shop bought like me to make things easier, or make your own homemade jam / compote. I have the most amazing jam recipe in my book.
- Dairy-free milk : Brush some milk over the pastry before baking, this will help attach the sprinkled sugar and also helps with the golden colour.
- Icing sugar : Serve the pastries with a dusting of icing sugar. Simply sprinkle icing sugar / powdered sugar over the pastries before serving. It adds sweetness and a gorgeous effect.
- Dairy-free chocolate : Make the little letter ‘seals’ using some melted white or dark chocolate. You can even paint / spray with edible glitter.
How to assemble Harry Potter Letter Hand Pies?
- Roll out the pastry
First step is to roll out the pastry in between two sheets of grease-proof paper, which have been lightly floured. As the dough is similar to shortcrust, the main ingredient is butter so it has a tendency to stick. Roll out the dough until pretty thin, but not too thin.
- Cut the dough
You want to use a sharp knife to cut the dough. Make sure it is sharp as you don’t want to pull on the tough tearing it. Cut a diamond shape (12cm each side). Lift up the shape and place onto a grease-proof paper lined baking tray. I like to fill and shape the pastries on the baking tray as this just makes it easier.
- Cherry filling
You can either pipe the cherry jam / conserve into the middle of the pastries using a piping bag with the tip snipped off, or simply use a small spoon.
- Forming the letter
Brush milk around the edges of the pastry, around the filling. Create the letter shape, following the folds of a real envelope, fold in the left, right, and bottom flaps over the cherry jam, leaving the upper flap open (alternatively, you can fold all the edges over). Brush milk over the pastry then sprinkle over sugar, bake until golden.
- Chocolate seal
Melt some chocolate, spoon onto some grease-proof paper. Use a chilled letter stamp / press to create the shape, peel off. Paint or spray on some edible glitter, stick to the pasty letter with some melted chocolate. Serve and enjoy!
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, TikTok and Facebook! And if you want to pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!
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Harry Potter Letter Hand Pies
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Delicious Vegan Harry Potter Letter Hand Pies, with buttery pastry and a Cherry pie filing. Perfect easy bake for Halloween / Potter Fans.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 240g of plain flour ( you can use gluten-free)
- 2 tablespoons of caster sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
- 220g of dairy-free block butter (cold and cut into small cubes)
- Ice-water (see method)
- 1 jar of cherry jam / conserve
- 4 tablespoons of dairy-free milk
- 40g of dairy-free chocolate (white or dark)
- Edible glitter (optional)
- Icing sugar (dusting, optional)
Instructions
Method (pastry)
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour and sugar. Add in the chilled / cubed butter and mix until it resembles sand. You can mix by hand or in a food processor.
- Add in the ice water 1/2 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. It may require 1-2 tablespoons of ice-water. You want the dough to be smooth and slightly sticky, but not too dry or wet.
- Wrap the dough in some grease-proof paper and place into the fridge for 30 minutes or until it feels firm. This will help to prevent sticking when you roll it out.
- Preheat oven to 170°C fan and line 2 baking trays with grease-proof paper.
- Lay a sheet of grease-proof paper on your worktop and dust with some flour.
- Roll out the dough in-between 2 sheets of floured grease-proof paper until its a large rectangle. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into a diamond shape (approximately 12cm on each side). Place on the lined trays. Repeat until you’ve used up almost all the dough.
- Spoon a teaspoon or two of cherry jam / compote into the middle of the diamond shapes. Brush dairy-free milk around the edges of the pastry, around the filling. Fold three of the corners into the centre (sides and bottom) so that the pastry looks like an open envelope. Press the corners in to seal the jam in (refer to the video for example). Alternatively, you can fold over all four sides to make a closed envelope.
- Brush the pastry with some dairy-free milk and sprinkle over some sugar, this will help give the pastry a golden colour and will also make it crispy on top.
- Bake the pastries in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown in colour.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool. The pastry will be a little soft when first out of the oven, but will crisp up beautifully.
Method (chocolate seal)
- Fill a small saucepan 1/4 full with water and place on the hob over medium heat. Add the dairy-free chocolate into a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl over the pan, creating a bain-marie. Allow the chocolate to melt, stirring with a heat proof spatula. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
- Spoon some chocolate on to a plate lined with grease proof paper. You want little circles of the chocolate. If you have a letter stamp, you want it to be frozen before use. Press the stamp on the chocolate, leave it for a few minutes then lift off. (see video for example). If you don’t have a stamp, simply spoon the chocolate on the paper and swirl around to create a ‘not so perfect’ circle.
- Decorate with chocolate seals with some vegan friendly edible glitter or brush on some edible gold paint. Allow this to set.
- Use some chocolate to stick the seals to the pastry.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
To store: Best enjoyed within 1-2 days of making. Keep fresh by storing the pastries in an air tight / sealed container in the fridge. Can be enjoyed directly from the fridge or at room temperature.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20-25 minutes
- Category: pastry
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
