I'm so excited to share these cookies with you. I love hearts (isn't it obvious?) and I LOVE YELLOW!

Also, it's the second year for our Valentine's event to benefit Cookies for Kids' Cancer! Bloggers from all over signed up to participate, they donated, they created recipes and I'm so excited to share them with you. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom and click over to check out the recipes!

Did you know that childhood cancers are the #1 killer of children in the U.S.?

Did you know that there are 12-13,000 new childhood cancer diagnoses each year?

Did you know that for every $1 of cancer research only 3 pennies goes to childhood cancer research.

This is why Cookies for Kids' Cancer exists! This is why they do what they do. They sell cookies to fund the researchers who are trying to find cures and better treatment options for children suffering through cancer today. They also encourage all of us to hold bake sales to raise much needed funds.

Please consider donating today: Donate Now

Also, watch this video to learn more about what Cookies for Kids' Cancer does! A huge thank you to them for what they do for children!

I want to shout out to these companies because they are matching what we raise up to $3000 total. THANK YOU, Dixie Crystals, Mediavine and OXO!!

Now back to the cookies…

Yellow makes me smile, what about you?

Of course, I used Dixie Crystals powdered sugar and my new OXO baking sheet!

Cream the sugar with the butter.

Add the egg yolk and extracts.

Mix until well combined.

I always mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Gradually add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients.

Now we have cookie dough!

It looks perfect!

Add the sprinkles and mix again. I love these ones!

I like rolling cookie dough in between two pieces of parchment paper so I don't have to add more flour to the dough.

See how easy?

It's perfect!

I used a 1.5 inch heart cookie cutter.

Remove the dough surrounding the cut outs and then use a cookie spatula (like this one) to move the cut out to your baking sheet.

These are so small, they only take 5 minutes in the oven!

I used Bridget's royal icing recipe for the icing to decorate these cookies. And here's a quick video of how I decorated them!

I used drops of lemon yellow and a couple of drops of orange to get the yellow color I wanted! I used a #3 tip to outline the cookies and then a #4 tip to flood the cookies. These are so sunshiney happy smiley cookies, I love them!

They are pretty easy to make, be sure to follow Bridget's tips for the royal icing!!

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Yellow Heart-Shaped Rainbow Funfetti Cookies

Prep Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 Dixie Crystals confectioner's powdered sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/4 cups plus 2 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking power
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles
• 1 batch of royal icing I used Bridget's recipe
• Americolor lemon yellow soft gel paste food color
• Americolor orange soft gel paste food color

Instructions

• Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using an electric hand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar and whip until well combined. Then, add the egg yolks and extracts and mix until also well combined.
• Combine and mix together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add in batches to the wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.
• Then, add the sprinkles and mix until just combined.
• Divide the dough in half and roll between two pieces of parchment paper using a rolling pin, until the dough is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters. (I take the excess dough and roll up and re-roll until I have no dough left).
• Place on a silicon mat or parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes (or longer for bigger shapes).
• Make royal icing and color the icing. Pipe outlines and then flood the cookies. Allow for them to dry overnight.

Notes

I just halved this recipe for Rainbow Funfetti Cutout Cookie Recipe from Sweet Sugarbelle.

Check out the other recipes from bloggers who participate this year!

Peanut Butter Cookie Cake from Julie of Julie Blanner
Cherry Coconut Macaroons from Miranda of Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt
Brownie Cookies from Mel of Mel's Kitchen Cafe
No-Bake Chocolate Candy Cookies from Debi of Life Currents
Double Dark Chocolate Chery Black Forest Cookies from Jamie of Southern Revivals
White Chocolate Valentine Madeleine Cookies from Marlynn of Urban Bliss Life
Pillowy Soft Sugar Cookies from Stephie of Stephie Cooks
Steak with Pink Peppercorn Sauce from Sonja of Ginger & Toasted Sesame
Creamy Beet Risotto from Rachel of Copper & Verdigris
Valentine's Day Chocolate Sugar Cookies from Denise of Chez Us
Red Velvet Donuts from Gwynn of Swirls of Flavor
S’mores Brown Butter Panbanging Cookies from Marybeth of babysavers
Gluten-Free Chocolate Kiss Cookies from Audrey of Mama Knows Gluten Free
Gluten-Free Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies from Brianna of Flippin' Delicious
Rose Meringue Cookies from Kirsten of Comfortably Domestic
Raspberry Chipotle Chicken Curry from Shashi of Savory Spin
Double Chocolate Meringue Cookies from Dee of Meatloaf and Melodrama
White Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie from Sarah of Sarah Cooks the Books
Cream Wafer Cookies from Kelly of Live Laugh Rowe
White Chocolate and Raspberry Cookies from Wanda of My Sweet Zepol
Raspberry Fudge Cookies from Jessica of A Kitchen Addiction
Raspberry Cookies from Courtney of Know Your Produce
Syltkakor Raspberry Jam Cookies from Megan of Stetted
No-Bake Chocolate Tart from Rachel of Rachel Cooks
Heart-Shaped Chocolate Chip Cookies from Angela of About a Mom
Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies from Lisa of TasteCookSip
Chai Latte Shortbread Hearts from Sue of It's Okay to Eat the Cupcake
Soft and Sweet Sugar Cookie Bars from Carlee of Cooking With Carlee
Strawberry and Cream Cookies from Ashley of A Cup of Charming
Cherry Cream Cheese Cookies from Lisa of Blogghetti
Galete Waffle Cookies from Shaina of Food for My Family
Almond Shortbread Cookies from Denise of addicted 2 recipes
Easy Strawberry Fudge from Chrysa of Thrifty Jinxy
Valentine's Day Mug Hug Cookies from Aimee of Southern From Scratch
Doughnut Sandwich Cookies from Bree of Baked Bree
Chocolate Nutella Cookies from Melissa of Modern Honey
Easy Crinkle Cookies from Amy of The Nifty Foodie
Chocolate Sugar Cookies from Becca of The Salted Cookie
Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies from Sara of Confectionary Tales
Meringue Cookies from Sara of My Imperfect Kitchen
Rose White Hot Chocolate from Susannah of Feast + West
Gluten Free Lavendar Shortbread Cookies from Carolann of Apron Warrior
Fruit Filled Chocolate Waffle Cones from Nicole of For the Love of Food
Chocolate and Vanilla Sweetheart Cookies from Sheila of Life, Love, and Good Food
Raspberry Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies from Nancy of The Bitter Side of Sweet
Chai Spiced Snickerdoodle Cookies from Ashley of Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen
Heart Happy Valentine Cookie Chocolate Cheesecake from TammyJo of The Chocolate Cult
Persian rice cookies from Caroline of Caroline's Cooking
Chocolate Dipped Espresso Shortbread Cookies from Julianne of Beyond Frosting
Fudgy Chocolate Sixlets Cookies from Barbara of Barbara Bakes
Bake Chocolate Donuts with Cherry Glaze from Deb of Taste & Tell

There are affiliate links in this post.

The post Yellow Heart-Shaped Rainbow Funfetti Cookies appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

This post is sponsored by Country Crock.

Curtis loves pumpkin pie and until I started making it from scratch, I didn't realize how easy it is to make!

I'm excited to work with Country Crock to bring you this pumpkin pie recipe! I have so many childhood memories food memories related to Country Crock. The big tub was always on our table and when we finished it off, it was used as a food saver container…did you all do the same thing?

Take a minute to watch this video, I show you how to easy it is to make homemade pumpkin pie!

I used Country Crock® Salted Buttery Sticks that I purchased at Publix. You don't have to wait for them to soften, just use them right out of the refrigerator.

First, mix the flour and sugar in a bowl. Then add 6 Tablespoons Country Crock® Salted Buttery Sticks.

It's great for all of your holiday baking needs and I love that it's made with sunflower oil.

I used a pastry blender to the buttery stick into the flour. You can use two forks if you don't have one.

Add 1 tablespoon of ice cold water at a time, up to 2 to 3 of them.

Once a dough starts forming, you know you have added enough water.

Form the dough into a ball.

Add flour to a surface and roll the dough out using a piece of parchment paper.

Once the dough is spread out a little bit, be sure to add flour between the paper and the dough.

Roll it out to a 12-inch circle. Super easy!

Put the pie crust into a pie plate and press down. Crimp the edges and pour the filling in.

Bake and let it cool for at least two hours. I like to serve my pie chilled.

It's so easy…you can do it too! Don't forget to watch the video too!

Print

Easy Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Ingredients

Pumpkin Pie Filling

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 large eggs
• 1 can 15 ounce pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups milk

Flaky Pie Crust

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 6 Tablespoons Country Crock® Buttery Sticks I used salted buttery sticks

Instructions

Pumpkin Pie Filling

• Combine sugar, salt and spices in small bowl; set aside.
• Beat eggs with pumpkin with electric mixer, then beat in sugar mixture. Slowly add milk. Set aside as you make the pie crust.

Flaky Pie Crust

• Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Combine flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add Country Crock® Buttery Sticks and cut into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two forks. You know you're done when you have coarse crumbs.
• Add 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water 1 tablespoon at a time. (I only had to use 2 tablespoons). Mix with a fork until a dough forms.
• Knead the dough into a ball.
• Flour a surface and place the dough between the floured surface and a piece of parchment paper. Roll the dough out to a 12-inch round.
• Press into a 9-inch pie plate. Crimp the edges as you wish.
• Pour the pumpkin pie filling into the pie crust.
• Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees F. Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake 45 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. (Halfway through the baking, cover the pie crust edges with foil to it doesn't over bake.)
• Place on a wire rack to cool for 2 hours. Refrigerate for at least an hour before slicing (or chill overnight).

Notes

from Country Crock

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Country Crock. I only share with you what I love and always share with you my own opinions.

The post Easy Pumpkin Pie Recipe appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

This post is sponsored by While Lily.

I have a thing for shortbread cookies. I love them! But I like them soft.

White Lily sent me a couple of bags of their Enriched All Purpose Wheat Flour and I was excited to try it in a cookie recipe! You can use their wheat flour in any baking recipe and I really love the zip top bag it comes in.

To make these cookies or any cookies, I like to do my chopping ahead of time. These cookies are thin so I chop up the white chocolate chips I used.

Chop up the dried cranberries.

Measure out the flour and mix in the cornstarch and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the vanilla extract and mix.

In batches, add the wheat flour. (If you don't have it on hand, you can use White Lily all purpose flour too.)

The cookie dough is starting to come together!

Mix in the cranberries and the white chocolate.

Split the dough in half.

And roll the dough after you have sealed up the plastic wrap.

I keep a ruler in my kitchen for this very reason. Roll it out so it's even and measure out to be about 7 to 8 inches. Refrigerate for a few hours before baking.

These cookies are so soft and buttery. They are so light and I love them! Perfect for the holiday season and gift giving too! We mailed them to our dear friends in Oregon and they loved them!

You can totally dip these cookies in melted white chocolate too!

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Cranberry White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 45 cookies approx.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups White Lily Enriched All Purpose Wheat Flour
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup chopped white chocolate

Instructions

• Mix flour, cornstarch and salt with a whisk in a small mixing bowl.
• Add the butter and sugar to a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together using an electric hand mixer, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add vanilla extract and mix thoroughly.
• Adding mixed dry ingredients in two batches to the wet ingredients, mix until ingredients are combined (with hand mixer) but don’t over mix. Add the cranberries and chopped white chocolate to the cookie dough and mix with rubber spatula.
• Split cookie dough in half. Add first half to a long pieces of plastic wrap. Shape into 7 to 8-inch logs that are about 1 1/2 inches thick.
• Once shaped, wrap with another piece of plastic and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut into 1/4 or 1/2 inch thick slices and place on parchment paper lined baking sheets for 10 to 11 minutes.

Notes

Notes: Make the dough ahead of time and freeze it. Make the dough ahead and freeze the logs. Slice the cookies and bake (you might need to bake the cookies a couple minutes longer if baking them straight from the freezer).

 

Optional: You can dip them in melted white chocolate too! Melt 3/4 cup chopped white chocolate along with 3 to 4 teaspoons vegetable shortening in a microwave safe bowl on 50% power for 30 seconds and then 15 seconds at a time after that until it’s melted. Be sure to mix with a spoon after each interval. Dip cooled shortbread cookies halfway in the white chocolate and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to set.

 

 

 

modified from these cookies.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by White Lily. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that I work with, it allows me to keep doing what I love; sharing on The Little Kitchen.

The post Cranberry White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

This post is sponsored by While Lily.

True story: I love biscuits. I love making them. I love eating them. I have been making them for a while. But Curtis' notion of biscuits is that they are dry. He would just say they are okay.

So it was a quest for me to make a nice and fluffy and non-dry biscuit. The key is really good flour, I love the self-rising flour that White Lily makes. It's so light and it's perfect for biscuits!

The other keys are butter and buttermilk. And Linda from the test kitchens at White Lily told me that I needed more buttermilk than I was using.

The first thing I do is cut the butter into cubes…and then put the butter back into the refrigerator. Then, I turn on the oven and put my cast iron skillet into the oven to heat up.

Prep the cheese and the scallions.

Measure the flour (I use this technique to measure flour).

Using forks or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour.

That looks perfect.

Then, mix in the cheddar cheese and green onions.

Perfectly mixed.

Add buttermilk.

And you'll have a dough.

Place it on a floured surface. Then, knead it.

Flatten it out.

And use a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds.

Add melted butter to the cast iron skillet.

And add the cut out biscuits.

Brush the tops with melted butter.

Amazing, right?

After they come out of the oven, they are just perfection.

See how the bottoms are crispy?

And the insides of the biscuit is soft and fluffy…and NOT dry. They are so buttery and the salt on top, makes them perfect!

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Cheddar Scallion Biscuits Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 10 to 12 biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups White Lily® Enriched Bleached Self-Rising Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes (cold)
• 2/3 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese cold
• 2 green onions sliced thin
• 3/4 cup cold buttermilk
• 4 Tablespoons salted butter melted, divided
• flaked sea salt for topping

Instructions

• Heat oven to 425°F. Add seasoned cast iron skillet to the oven while it’s heating up.
• Prep the butter, cut into cubes. Grate the cheese. Add both back to the refrigerator.
• Measure flour into a large mixing bowl. Add butter and cut it into the flour with a pastry blender or 2 forks until crumbs are the size of peas.
• Add cheddar cheese and sliced green onions. (Reserve some cheese and green onions for the tops of the biscuits, if desired).
• Add buttermilk, stirring with a fork just until flour is moistened.
• Remove dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough 5 to 6 times. Pat the dough until it’s about 3/4- to 1-inch thick. Cut out 2 1/4 inch biscuits with a cutter. Pat the dough together and flatten out again and cut biscuits until there’s no dough left, about 10 to 11 biscuits.
• Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the microwave. Remove cast iron carefully from the oven and add about 1 tablespoon of melted butter, tilting the pan to distribute the butter.
• Add 5 to 6 biscuits evenly spaced and brush melted butter on top of the biscuits. Bake for about 8 to 9 minutes. Remove the cast iron skillet, brush more butter on top and add flaked sea salt. Bake for another 2 to 4 minutes. (You can bake them all at once if you can fit them in the cast iron skillet, just know that they won’t maintain their round shape. If you’re okay with that, they will course taste the same!)

Notes:

• If not using a cast iron skillet, bake them about 1/2 inch apart on a foiled lined baking sheet for the same amount of time. You can freeze them too! Just reheat in the oven and enjoy!

If you bake all of the biscuits at once, this is how they look. They aren't perfectly round but they are still perfectly delicious.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by White Lily. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that I work with, it allows me to keep doing what I love; sharing on The Little Kitchen.

The post Cheddar Scallion Biscuits appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

This post is sponsored by DOVE® Chocolate.

It's Thanksgiving week and it's always a time I use to reflect on what I'm grateful for.

I'm extremely grateful for my health, earlier this year I was really sick and ended up in the hospital. Now that I'm recovered, I'm extremely grateful for the care I received and am thankful for my health. It's so important to appreciate what you have…I know you know. It's so important and that's what makes a fulfilled life!

Last year, while I was traveling, I had these amazing chocolate blondies with walnuts in them…I filed this away telling myself, one day I have to come up with a recipe for my own version!

These DOVE Chocolate Promises…the milk chocolate ones are the best for this recipe! But if you prefer dark chocolate, you can use those instead!

I unwrap the chocolates and cut them into 6 or 8 pieces each.

It makes about one cup.

I also chop up the walnuts. Then, I measure out the dry ingredients in another bowl.

Beat one egg in another mixing bowl and add the brown sugar.

Mix in the melted butter and vanilla extract.

I mix in half of the flour mixture at a time. Don't over mix!

This is what the batter looks like…and we're almost done!

Add the chopped up DOVE Chocolate PROMISES and the walnuts.

Fold it in…

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spray an angled spatula (I cover the pan for easy clean-up and spray it with baking spray too; makes it really easy to remove the blondies from the pan after baking too).

Smooth out the top.

Before cutting the blondies up, make sure they are completely cool so you can get nice clean cuts. Of course, if you can't wait, that's okay too. But make sure to let them cool at least 15 to 20 minutes then.

You WILL love these! Serve them at Thanksgiving for a different treat. Put them into little baggies and give them out as favors. Your family and friends will thank you!

The holidays always bring us a tremendous amount of joy; the time we get to spend with family and friends, we treasure it. I would love to hear what you do to #ChoosePleasure, share with me in the comments below or on social media (make sure you tag me @thelittlekitchn).

I #ChoosePleasure by baking sweet treats for family and friends. I make sure to make cookie dough ahead of time and freeze it so it's quick and easy; all I have to do is bake them and it makes for a nice sweet treat for when they come to visit.

So tell me: how do you #ChoosePleasure to live life fully?

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Milk Chocolate Walnut Blondies Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 16 to 20 bars

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg beaten
• 3/4 cup 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup unwrapped & chopped DOVE® PROMISES® Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate about 18 pieces
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

• Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Prep the chocolate and the walnuts. (I cut each of the DOVE® PROMISES® Silky Smooth Milk Chocolates into 6 or 8 pieces each.)
• Cover an 8-inch square pan in foil and spray generously with baking spray.
• In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix with a rubber spatula and set aside. In another mixing bowl, add egg and brown sugar. Using an electric hand mixer, cream the egg and sugar together. Add the melted butter and vanilla extract, mix well with the mixer.
• Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix with the rubber spatula. Be careful not to over mix your batter. Add the remaining flour and repeat.
• Add the chopped DOVE® PROMISES® Silky Smooth Milk Chocolates and the walnuts, folding in with your rubber spatula, being careful to not over mix.
• Add the blondie batter the prepared pan. Smooth out the batter so it’s evenly distributed throughout the pan and smooth on top (I spray an angled spatula with baking spray and use the spatula to smooth the batter).
• Bake for 28 to 30 minutes. The top will be dry and flaky and when you insert a toothpick in the center, it should come out with flaky crumbs.
• Carefully remove (because it will be really hot) blondies while holding foil and place on a wire cooling rack to cool. For the best looking squares, allow to cool completely (at least 4 hours). If you can’t wait that long, allow them to cool at least 15 to 20 minutes before cutting into 16 to 20 squares.

Disclosure: This post is DOVE® Chocolate. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that I work with, it allows me to keep doing what I love; sharing on The Little Kitchen

The post Milk Chocolate Walnut Blondies appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

This post is sponsored by Land O'Lakes.

Oh hand pies…delicious little pies. Little pies that you can eat with your hands as a dessert or snack. Little pies that you can take them when you travel or have them on the go. I have made a bunch in the past and have made plenty of pie crusts…but I think this recipe and using the technique of rolling the pie dough in between two pieces of parchment paper with a little bit of flour sprinkled in is the WAY to go!

I'm excited to be partnering with Land O'Lakes yet again to share with you, recipes using their butter! And these hand pies…wowza! Strawberry and chocolate hazelnut spread go together soooo well! I had this little blueberry hand pie with a glaze on top a few months ago that I couldn't stop thinking about.

An all butter crust is necessary…it makes the pie crust so flakey and tender. I remember chatting with the owner of a local pie bakery a while back and she said I ONLY use butter in my pie crusts!

Now, let's start. I'm sharing a ton of step by step photos which I hope you'll find helpful!

First, the butter, I only use Land O Lakes® Butter and I love their half sticks! So easy and convenient when you only need half of a stick of butter! This recipe uses three half sticks.

Cut the butter into slices and then cut them into small cubes. Put the butter into a bowl and put back in the refrigerator. The key is that the butter and dough should be cold. Remember that! I'm going to be repeating that.

I cut up the strawberries in half and then into slices and then freeze them. Don't skip this step…I find that when I'm baking with strawberries, they need to be frozen.

We're using ice cold water. I just add some ice cubes to a measuring cup and fill up with water. At a minimum, you're going to use 1/4 cup of water but maybe a tablespoon or more.

Add the flour, sugar and salt to a bowl and mix together.

I use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour, or you can use two forks.

Once your dough starts looking scraggly like this, you're good to go.

Start adding in water and you'll notice your flour mixture get even chunkier.

Take some of the flour mixture into your hands…

and if you're able to squish it into a ball and it holds together to form a dough, you have enough water. (If not, add more water and keep mixing.)

Split it in half and then use your hands to form two balls.

Flatten it out.

And then wrap with plastic wrap and then refrigerate for at least 45 minutes. (You can even refrigerate it overnight.)

Take two pieces of parchment paper and add a little bit of flour to both sheets.

I want the dough to stay as cold as possible so I roll out the pie crust on my marble pastry board.

Place the dough in between the two sheets and roll with a rolling pin.

I used a ruler and a pizza cutter the first time I made this recipe. I then found a set of rectangular cutters online and found it's much easier…but either way works!

Cut out as many pieces with your first piece of dough and carefully place them on a baking sheet covered with a silicon baking mat or parchment paper.

Now put the baking sheet with the cut out pieces of pie crust in the refrigerator. This helps the dough from spreading a bunch…so make sure the dough stays cold.

Roll the other piece of dough and put the rest of the pieces on a piece of parchment paper and put them in the fridge. Can you see that I just stacked it on top of the other ones?

Now take your baking sheet with the bottoms of the hand pies out, leave the other sheet of pie crusts in the fridge.

Spread the chocolate hazelnut spread on the pie crusts, leaving a border.

Add the frozen strawberry slices and then brush the egg wash on the edges.

I put the pie crust tops on and then pinch down with your fingers to seal the pies. Then, use the ends of your fork tines to make indentations all the way down to further seal your pies.

I also poke the tops with my fork.

While the pies are baking, make your glaze. It takes only a minute to make.

Let the pies cool. If you don't them cool all the way, the glaze will be a little translucent. If that doesn't matter to you, allow them to cool at least 5 to 10 minutes before spreading the glaze.

You can add sprinkles or sanding sugar.

I realized while I was making these they kind of resemble a certain breakfast pastry you might have enjoyed as a kid but I beg to differ, this all butter flakey pie crust and the fresh strawberries and chocolate put them on a different level!

I couldn't stop eating these the first time I made them so when I made them again to test the recipe, I knew I had to share them with friends OR I would eat them all again! You'll totally enjoy these if you make them!

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Strawberry Chocolate Hand Pies

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Resting Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6 hand pies

Ingredients

Pie Crust

• 3 Half Sticks 3/4 cup Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces and refrigerated for at least 15 minutes
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 to 6 Tablespoons ice water

Pie Filling

• 1/3 cup chocolate hazelnut spread such as Nutella®
• 2/3 cup chopped and sliced thin fresh strawberries and then frozen about 12 to 15 strawberries
• 1 large egg beaten

Glaze Topping

• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• sprinkles or sanding sugar optional

Instructions

• Cut the butter into small cubes and refrigerate. You want the butter to be really cold. Cut up strawberries and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze the strawberries for at least 30 minutes.
• Prep a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper. Set aside.
• Mix flour, sugar and salt together in a bowl. Add butter and using a pastry blender or a fork, cut butter into the flour, until they pieces of butter in the flour, about the size of a pea.
• Add ice cold water (just the water, no ice), a tablespoon at a time (about 4 to 5 tablespoons), mixing with a rubber spatula. Mix until dough starts to form (take some dough into your hands to , after adding a few tablespoons, you’ll need to use your fingers. Add more water if the dough is too dry.
• Take the dough and form two balls and flatten each one into a disk. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Take one piece of dough out of the fridge at a time and place between two pieces of parchment paper (that you have lightly floured) and place on a smooth surface, preferably a marble slab or counter top. Roll the dough out into a rectangular shape, being sure that the dough is thin, about 1/16”.
• Cut out 4-inch by 3-inch rectangles (or use a rectangular cutter, I used one that’s 4.5-inches by 3-inches), use a ruler and a pizza or pastry cutter to ensure an even cut.
• Carefully place six of these pie crusts on the baking sheet you prepped earlier about 1 inch apart. (Place in the refrigerator as you cut them out so they can remain chilled before baking. This is key to keep the hand pies from spreading a ton when baking.)
• Do the same with the other piece of dough, for the tops of the pies. (You might need to preroll the leftover pie dough to make enough pieces of pie crust.) Place the other six pieces of pie crust on a piece of parchment paper and put them in the fridge as well.
• Mix egg with 1 tablespoon of cold water.
• Spread 1 to 2 teaspoons Nutella to each of the six pieces of pie crust on the baking sheet, leaving a 1/2-inch border, then place 6 to 7 frozen strawberry slices (or whatever fits) and sprinkle sugar on top. Brush the edges of each piece of pie crust on all four sides with the egg wash.
• Add another piece of cut out pie crust on top and use the tines of a fork to seal it together (pushing down all the way through both pieces of pie crust). Using the ends of the fork tines, stab through the tops of the pie crust 3 to 4 times.
• Repeat until all of the pie crust is exhausted. Brush the tops of the hand pies with the egg wash.
• Bake the hand pies for 22 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and place the silicon baking mat or parchment paper on a cooling rack.
• While the pies are baking, whisk the powdered sugar with the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Whisk together until you get a well mixed glaze.
• Once pies have cooled for at least 5 to 10 minutes, pour or drizzle the glaze on top. Serve immediately or place in a tightly sealed container for 3 to 4 days.

Disclosure: The Little Kitchen has partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of Land O Lakes® Butter. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.

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