Mushroom Hand Pies
Savory pie people, these mushroom hand pies are for you. Mushrooms, charred scallions, sesame, and miso come together in these portable pockets of deliciousness. You get creaminess from a bit of cheese, and each bite delivers the magic of a golden, flaky pie crust.
I haven’t been this excited about a recipe in a long time. These mushroom hand pies are something special. I mean, just look at them! Deeply roasted mushrooms and charred scallions are tossed with a lemony-miso paste and tucked into a golden pastry crust spiked with just enough cheese to make things creamy. If you like a bit of kick, add some chili crisp or Calabrian chili paste. So good!
The Inspiration
This is basically a pantry recipe at its core. I had a lot of mushrooms on hand, I also had dough ready to make one of my favorite pie crusts, so those were the two set variables. Also, these peach hand pies were so fun to make recently, I decided a savory hand pie was in order! From there, other ingredients I keep on hand entered the equation - miso, toasted sesame oil and seeds, scallions, lemon. I felt like roasting was the call here on the cooking front, it concentrates the flavor in the mushrooms and scallions with the bonus benefit that baking drives off much of the extra moisture in those ingredients. If you had a grill going with a griddle on it, you could cook the mushrooms and scallions that way as an alternative.
Mushroom Hand Pies: Ingredients
- Mushrooms: This is your substantial base, and main player. The mushrooms bring earthy savoriness, and you can use whatever varietal(s) you love - oyster, maiitake, cremini, whatever! Or use a blend of types for a mix of textures. Also, I like to slice the mushrooms thinly for this filling, but you could also chop them for a different texture if you like.
- Miso: Brings depth, flavor, umami-boost, and savoriness. The miso here helps bind the filling and bridges all the ingredients.
- Charred Scallions: The scallions bring the green here. As well as onion-y goodness that works so well with mushrooms. The kiss of browning and char is flavor bliss and brings a bit of edge to the whole medley.
- Sesame: I double down on the sesame flavor here using both toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds. And while I’m normally judicious with toasted sesame oil use (because it can be overpoweringly strong), I go hard here so the flavor stands up to the pastry and other mushroom filing components.
- Cheese: Strong flavor and a creamy way to bring everything together - these are the goals with the cheese here. My preference is gruyere or white cheddar to complement the mushrooms.
- Pie Dough: Your hand pies are only as good as your pastries. I use this pie crust. And because today's mushroom hand pie recipe is savory I leave the sugar out of the pie crust.
How To Make Hand Pies
Here's the step-by-step of how to make these hand pies. You start out by roasting your mushrooms and scallions and then combining it with a miso-lemon paste and some grated cheese for a strong filling. (photo below)
You roll out your pie dough and then use a cookie cutter to set the shape for your and pies. (photo below)
Load up the circles of pie dough with mushroom filling and be sure the edges are brushed generously with egg wash so the edges of the pie crust seal nicely.
The home stretch! Arrange another pie dough circle over the filling, seal well by pressing with your fingertips and/or using a fork around the edges of each hand pie. Allow to chill in a freezer for a bit, then brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds and slash to allow steam release. (pictured below)
Bake until beautifully golden and gorgeous!
Make Ahead:
The two main components here are the pie crust and the filling. Both can be prepped ahead of time.
- Pie Dough: If you keep pie dough in the freezer, transfer it to your refrigerator a day before you want to roll out and fill your hand pies.
- Filling: You can make the mushroom filling a few days in advance of filling your hand pies.
- Freezer Hand Pies: Once you’ve assembled your hand pies, they freeze wonderfully. Freeze in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet or plate. Transfer to a container for up to a couple months. When you’re ready to bake the hand pies, brush them with eggs, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and cut a couple slashes in the top of each pie before placing in the oven.
Make It Pretty
I just want to call this detail out - the egg wash is key. It helps make your pies golden and glossy. It’s also the glue that enables the sesame seeds to stick through the baking process.
Mushroom Hand Pies: Variations
- Spicy: if you don’t have chili crisp, use your favorite heat-boosting go-to. This could be Calabrian chile paste, curry paste (thinned out somehow), shichimi togarashi, etc.
- No Scallions?: You can substitute onions, shallots, or leeks.
- Toasted Nori: If you have some toasted nori on hand, crush it into small flakes and sprinkle a couple teaspoons it into filling.
More Pie Recipes
- Shaker Lemon Pie
- Pumpkin Pie
- Deep Dish Quiche
- Shaker Apple Pie
- Vegan Samosa Shepherd’s Pie
- Vegetable Pot Pie
- Berry Pie
- Peach Hand Pies
- Coconut Cream Pie
More Mushroom Recipes
- Mushroom Ragù
- Stuffed Mushrooms
- Mushroom Lasagna
- Mushroom Casserole
- Mushroom Stroganoff
- Mushroom Scallion Tartine with Poblano Yogurt
- Baked Mushrooms with Miso Butter
- Roasted Mushroom Sandwich
- all mushroom recipes
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Mushroom Hand Pies
Grate the cheese here on a box grater, or something with the big holes (as opposed to a microplane grater). This way you will get strong streaks of cheese throughout. This is the all-butter pie crust recipe I use for these hand pies, I swear by it. Make it minus the sugar for this savory pie. To shape the pies, I use a 3 1/2-inch round cookie cutter. You’re aiming for something in the range of 3 1/2 or 4-inches, ideally.
- 1 recipe all-butter pie dough
- 1 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 6 scallions, trimmed and halved lengthwise
- 2 tablespoons white or yellow miso
- 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup / 75g grated gruyere or strong white cheddar cheese
- Chili crisp, (optional)
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
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Pre-heat oven to 400°F with racks in the top and bottom third.
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Start by making the filling, arrange the mushrooms in single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the toasted sesame oil, sprinkle with the salt, and toss well. On another baking sheet drizzle the scallions with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil, and arrange in a single layer. Bake the mushrooms until golden, about 25 minutes, tossing once or twice along the way. The scallions will likely take a similar amount of time - you want them deeply browned at the edges for that good flavor. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
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In a small bowl whisk together the miso and lemon juice. Use a sharp knife or kitchen scissors to snip the scallions into flecks and transfer to a medium bowl along with the mushrooms. Drizzle with the miso mixture and toss well. Sprinkle with the grated cheese, toss again. Refrigerate until ready to fill the hand pies.
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When you’re ready to assemble the hand pies, if your pie dough is in the refrigerator, let it sit out for a few minutes. Long enough to be receptive to a rolling pin. On a lightly floured counter, roll the pie dough out to about 1/8-inch thick. Thinner than you might be inclined. Make sure it isn’t sticking to your surface - flour and rotate all along the way. If it gets too warm, re-chill.
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Assemble your hand pies. Cut or stamp the pie dough into large circles or squares, about 3 3/4-inches in diameter. Transfer half of the circles to the baking sheets. Brush each of these with the egg wash. In the center of each square, leaving a border around the edges, top with a few tablespoons mushroom mixture (as much as you can get in there and still get the lid on). If you want to add a kiss of chili crisp, this would be the time to do it.
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Brush the remaining circles with egg wash, along the edges (so you get a nice seal when pressed together). Put the lid on each hand pie, gently pressing down, using your finger to press the dough together along the edges. Crimp with a fork as well if you like, so the filling doesn’t leak from the sides.
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Pop the pies in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Brush each pie with egg wash, sprinkle generously with sesame seeds, and use a knife to cut a couple slashes in the top of each. Bake for 15-20 minutes,or until golden, crisped, and beautiful! Allow to cool a bit, and enjoy!!
Makes 10-12 hand pies.
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Comments
These sound delicious. I’m not familiar with hand pies (they don’t seem to be a thing in NZ) – are they a snack, or could you serve with salad for dinner? Thanks Heidi.
Exactly Nicky – I love having them alongside a big, bright salad for lunch or dinner. And you can play around with the size of your hand pies to make them as large or small as you like.
Wonder if there’s a substitute for miso— partner with a lot of food issues, which include soy. Can’t have tomatoes or yogurt either…? Would love to make these.
There are some chickpea misos that are really good. Keep an eye out for one of those.
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